A sort of mock proclamation is then made in doggerel
verse at the door of all the alehouses in the parish, or wapentake, as
follows:--
"It is neither for your sake nor my sake
That I ride stang;
But it is for Nancy Thomson,
Who did her husband hang.
But if I hear tell that she doth rebel,
Or him to complain, with fife and drum
Then we will come,
And ride the stang again.
With a ran tan tang,
And a ran tan tan tang," &c.
The conclusion of this local custom is generally ended at the market
cross, (if any,) or in the middle of the hamlet; after which, one of the
posse goes round with a hat, begging the contributions of those present;
they then regale themselves at some of the village ale-shops, out of the
proceeds of the day's merriment.--Brand and Strutt mention this custom;
as does Brigg, in his "Westmoreland as it was."
J.W.
_Preston, Lancashire._
* * * * *
THE SKETCH-BOOK.
[The following characteristic sketch having been presented to me by a
friend as, to the best of his knowledge, an unpublished _morceau_ by the
celebrated Ettrick Shepherd, I have by his permission the pleasure of
adding it, to the many interesting _cabinet pictures_, already preserved
in this department of the MIRROR.
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