"Last night," says the _Sunderland Daily Post_ of March 1st, 1887, "some excitement was caused in Northallerton by the celebration of the old custom of "riding the stang," which is to expose some one guilty of gross immoral practices, and of a breach of sacred matrimonial rights.
Some hundreds of people followed the conveyance, in which two effigies were erected and exhibited through the princ.i.p.al streets. At intervals, a person in the conveyance shouted out in rhyme their object, and said they fully intended to make a complete celebration of the custom, which is to "ride the stang" three nights in succession, and on the last night to burn the effigies on the green near the church."
The stang was ridden at the ancient town of Hedon, 18th, 19th, and 20th February, 1889.
The house of the culprit is visited several times each night, and the proceedings kept up three nights in succession, and a circuit of the church is also made, as it is believed that those taking part in the ceremony will not be amenable to the law, if they do not omit this part of the custom. If the offence is a very serious one, the offender is burnt in effigy before his own door. In the olden days, the offender himself was often compelled to ride the stang.
Several of the old poets refer to this ancient usage. Allan Ramsay, in one of his poems, published in 1721, says:
"They frae a barn a kaber raught And mounted wi" a bang, Betwisht twa"s shoulders, and sat straught, Upon"t and _rade the stang On her_ that day."
Mr. Geo. Roberts, of Lyme Regis, forwarded to Sir Walter Scott some interesting notes on skimmington-riding. He informed Sir Walter that in the South of England: "About dusk two individuals, one armed with a skimmer and the other with a ladle, came out of some obscure street attended by a crowd, whose laughter, huzzas, etc., emulate the well-known _charivari_ of the French. The two performers are sometimes in a cart, at other times on a donkey; one personating the wife, the other the husband. They beat each other furiously with the culinary weapons above described, and, warmed by the applause and presence of so many spectators (for all turn out to see a skimmington), their dialogue attains a freedom, except using surnames, only comparable with their gestures. On arriving at the house of the parties represented in the moving drama, animation is at its height: the crowd usually stay at the spot some minutes, and then traverse the town. The performers are remunerated by the spectators: the parties who parade the streets with the performers sweep with brooms the doors of those who are likely to require a similar visitation."
Dr. King, in his "Miscellany," thus refers to the subject:
"When the young people ride the skimmington, There is a general trembling in the town; Not only he for whom the party rides Suffers, but they sweep other doors besides; And by the hieroglyphic does appear That the good woman is the master there."
According to Douce, _skimmington_ is derived from _skimming-ladle_, used in the ceremony.
In Butler"s "Hudibras," considerable attention is paid to the custom. A few of the lines are as follow:
"And now the cause of all their fear, By slow degrees approached so near, Of horns, and pans, and dogs, and boys, And kettle-drums whose sullen dub, Sounds like the hooping of a tub;
And followed with a world of tall lads, That merry ditties troll"d and ballads.
Next pans and kettles of all keys, From trebles down to double base:
And at fit periods the whole rout Set up their throat with clamorous shout."
A notice of an old Welsh ceremony appeared in the _Liverpool Mercury_ on March 15th, 1887, and it will not be without interest to reproduce it.
"That ancient Welsh custom," says the writer, "now nearly obsolete, known as riding the ceffyl pren--_Anglice_, "wooden-horse"--and intended to operate as a wholesome warning to faithless wives and husbands, was revived on Sat.u.r.day night in an Anglesey village some three miles from Llangefni. The individual who had drawn upon himself the odium of his neighbours had parted from his wife, and was alleged to be persistent in his attentions to another female. On Sat.u.r.day night a large party surrounded the house, and compelled him to get astride a ladder, carrying him shoulder-high through the village, stopping at certain points to allow the womankind to wreak their vengeance upon him. This amus.e.m.e.nt was kept up for some time until the opportune arrival of a sergeant of police from Llangefni, who rescued the unlucky wight."
[Ill.u.s.tration: Ye Ende]