llowed the conveyance, in which two effigies
were erected and exhibited through the principal 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 t