And "I tindle, O tindle, O tang." From West Somerset we get "Now (Jimsy Hart) if thee disn mend thy manners, And if the tanner, he 'on't tan un well, We'll hang un pon a naal in hell; And if the naal beginth to crack, We'll hang un pon the devil's back; And if the devil winth away, We'll hang un there another day."-Z. 674. When a woman is the offender, the procession and the verse differ from other occasions. A man dressed in female apparel is mounted on the back of an old donkey. He holds a spinning-wheel on his lap, and faces the donkey's tail. Two men lead the donkey, followed by a crowd, using instruments, etc., as before. The man on the donkey says during occasional pauses— "Ranadan, ranadan, ranadan dan, Mrs. Alice Evans has beat her good man, It was neither with sword, spear, pistol, nor knife, But with a pair of tongs she vow'd she'd have his life; We will not ride stang from door to door." Said at Northenden, vulg. Northen, in Cheshire, near Manchester; see also C'Hulbert's History and Description of County Salop, Introduc. p. xxxi., note to second ed. 1838. AR. iv. 262. The above example has many points in common with a custom called "Riding the Skimmington," or "Skimmity Riding," framed for scolds, see Hudibras, pt. ii. ch. ii. The following rhyme and a varied form of the observance in relation to a male offender, are from the North Thirty years ago an effigy was paraded in a cart round the town at night, drawn by young men; the spokesman recited the lines at each stopping place, and finally the figure was burnt opposite the dwelling of the delinquent, if possible "Ran-a-dan-dang It's neither for your cause nor my cause that I ride the stang, But its for yan (one) Dobbin the people all knaw, For he's bang'd his wife, an its again' our law; He bang'd her, he bang'd her, he bang'd her, indeed, There he broyed her till she bled; There he broyed her without rest. If ever he does the like again, as I suppose he will, The next version is from the North Riding. At Grassington, the spokesman was mounted in a cart, and the procession walked three times round Linton church to escape local law. "Heigh dilly, how dilly, hey dilly dang, Its naether for thy part nor my, etc., But it's for Jack Solomon, His wife he does bang. He bang'd her, etc. He bang'd t' poor woman, Though shoo stood him na need: But he up with a besom and knock'd her ower, At Southwell, Nottinghamshire, forty-four years ago, the wifebeater's effigy was placed in a cart, paraded, and burnt in front of the house. With a ran, tan, tan, This man has been licking his good, his good woman; For eating so much when hungry, A more lengthy version from North Notts. is With a ran, dan, dan, Sing o' my owd frying-pan, A brazen-faced villain has been paying his best woman : This is not all I've got to say, If they should chance to faw an' fight another day, And them that wins the day, shall wear the dawbin' breeches. Come all you owd wimmin, come all you wimminkind, Be in a mind your husbands to gang, And you may depend upon't I shall ride the stang. I'll set him on a nanny goat, An' he shall ride to hell. In the Glossary of Dial. of Almondbury and Huddersfield, by Easther and Lees, there is a version for use against a female delinquent With a ran, with a ran, With a ran, dan, dan, Sound of a horn and a owd tin can; Here the cans are beaten and the horns blown, and, silence being obtained— Up stairs and under the bed, Such a life as nivver wor led, Doan stairs and under t' stone, Or There she made him for to groan, With a ran, etc. Hip, hip, hurrah! Upstairs and into bed, There wore such a pail as ne'er were led.-Y. 129. M. Addy, in his Glossary Words Neighbourhood Sheffield, 1888, suggests that rantan = rahnd tahn, i.e. round town, p. 186. The phrase is rather an example of onomatopœia, I think. The stang [Saxon staeng, a pole or staff] proper, is a cowlstaff; the cowl is a water-vessel borne by two persons, on the cowlstaff, which is a stout pole whereon the vessel hangs. "Where's the cowlstaff?" cries Ford's wife when she purposes to get Falstaff into a large buck-basket with two handles; the cowlstaff or stang is produced, and being passed through the handles, the fat knight is borne off by two of Ford's men. BD. i. 6. Longstaffe, in his History of Darlington says-Eric, King of Norway, had to fly from the hatred of his people for inflicting this stigma on a celebrated Icelandic bard. It was then of a most tremendous character. The Goths erected a nidstaens, or pole of infamy, with the most dire imprecations against the guilty party who was called niddering, or the infamous," and was disqualified from giving evidence. WEDDING. 66 "A wedding, a woo, A rhyme used in and near Leeds when making a feint of taking off a shoe to throw after a newly married couple. O. 446. HARVEST. Exod. xxiii. 16, and Levit. xxiii. 99, sufficiently prove the antiquity of harvest feasts. See also Macrobius Saturnal, Die prim. cap. 10, referred to by Hazlitt in his Antiqs., 1870, art. 66 Harvest," etc. In the Life of Eugene Aram, and in most of the later editions of the novel so entitled, there is included a paper on "The Melsupper and Shouting the Churn "-written by the unhappy man himself-which contains much interesting matter, ancient and local. He has been closely followed by modern antiquaries, save in his etymologies. The remarks which serve to elucidate rhymes in the present volume are entered here when necessary. THE KNACK OR NACK. At Werington in Devonshire, the clergyman of the parish informed the author that, when a farmer finishes his reaping, a small quantity of the ears of the last corn is twisted or tied together into a curious kind of figure, which is brought home with great acclamations, hung up over the table, and kept till the next year. The owner would think it extremely unlucky to part with this, which is called a "knack." The reapers whoop and holloa "A knack! a knack! a knack, Well cut, well bound, well shocked!" S And, in some places in a sort of mockery it is added— "Well scattered on the ground." A countryman gave me a somewhat different account as followsWhen they have cut the corn, the reapers assemble together; a knack is made, which one placed in the middle of the company holds up, crying thrice "a knack," which all the rest repeat; he then says "Well cut! well bound! Well shocked! well saved from the ground." And his companions holla as loud as they can. H. 302, 303. "Arnack, arnack, arnack, We haven, we haven, we haven, God send the nack." The labourers sing the above three times, whilst gathered round a pond, gradually increasing in tone, after which they laugh and shout. One keep the "nack" secreted; if one of the farmer's family can't single him out before he crosses the threshold in order to drench him or "wet the nack" as it is called, a larger quantity of beer than usual must be supplied. The "nack" is kept for the year. Knack, Danish = a knob or bunch. CI. x. 359. In Cheshire, "Shutting" was a harvest ceremony when the last field of corn was cut. The men, after permission, proceeded to the highest ground on the farm, or near the homestead, where their voices could be heard, and formed a ring. One spokesman gave out a nominy. First recognized form "O yes, O yes, O yes, this is to give notice That Mester 'Olland 'as gen th' seck a turn, And sent th' owd hare into Mester Sincop's standin corn." They then took hold of hands and bent down, and shouted at the top of their voices a most unearthly howl, "Wow! wow-w!" Other nominies followed. They then had an extra allowance of beer, and in the evening a supper to which their wives generally accompanied them. The custom in West Cheshire is called "Cutting the neck." AB. 315. KERN. Churn-supper. . . is entirely different from Melsupper; but they generally happen so near together, that they are frequently confounded. The Churn-supper was always provided when all was |