"Here," says Dr. Jamieson, 66 we have evidently the remains of a very ancient custom. The Goths were wont to erect what they called Nidstaeng, or the pole of Infamy, with the most dire imprecations against the person -who was thought to deserve this punishment; Isl. Nidstong. He who was subjected to this dishonour was called Niding, to which the English word infamous most nearly corresponds; for he could not make oath in any cause. The celebrated Islandic bard, Egill Skallagrim, having performed this tremendous ceremony at the expense of Eric Bloddox, King of Norway, who, as he supposed, had highly injured him, Eric soon after became hated by all, and was obliged to fly from his dominions. v. Ol. Lex. Run. vo. NIJD. The form of imprecation is quoted by Callender, ut supra.

"It may be added, that the custom of 'riding the stang' seems also to have been known in Scandinavia: for Seren gives stonghesten as signifying the rod, or roddle-horse; vo. ROD."

"To ride," or "riding Skimmington," is, according to Grose, a ludicrous cavalcade in ridicule of a man beaten by his wife: it consists of a man riding behind a woman with his face to the horse's tail, holding a distaff in his hand, at which he seems to work, the woman all the while beating him with a ladle. A smock displayed on a staff is carried before them, as an emblematical standard, denoting female superiority: they are accompanied by what is called rough music, that is, fryingpans, bull's-horns, marrow-bones and cleavers, &c.-a procession admirably described by Butler in his "Hudibras:"

"First, he that led the Cavalcate

Wore a sow-gelder's Flagellet:

Next Pans and Kettles of all keys,
From trebles down to double base.
And, after them, upon a nag,
That might pass for a forehand stag,
A CORNET rode, and on his staff
A smock display'd did proudly wave:
Then Bagpipes of the loudest drones,
With snuffling broken-winded tones,
Whose blasts of air, in pockets shut,
Sound filthier than from the Gut,
And make a viler noise than Swine
In windy weather, when they whine.
Next, one upon a pair of panniers,
Full fraught with that which, for good

manners,

Shall here be nameless, mix'd with grains,
Which he dispens'd among the swains.
Then, mounted on a horned horse,
One bore a Gauntlet and gilt spurs,
Tied to the pummel of a long sword
He held revers'd, the point turn'd down-
ward:

Next after, on a raw-bon'd steed,
The Conqueror's standard-bearer rid,
And bore aloft, before the champion,
A petticoat display'd, and rampant;
Near whom the Amazon triumphant
Bestrid her beast, and on the rump on 't
Sate face to tail, and bum to bum,
The warrior whilom overcome;
Arm'd with a spindle and a distaff,
Which, as he rode, she made him twist off:
And, when he loiter'd, o'er her shoulder,
Chastis'd the reformado soldier.
Before the dame, and round about,
March'd Whifflers, and Staffiers on foot,
With Lackeys, Grooms, Valets, and Pages,
In fit and proper equipages;

Of whom, some torches bore, some links,
Before the proud virago minx,
And, at fit periods, the whole rout
Set up their throats with clamorous
shout."

In Bagford's Letter relating to the Antiquities of London, printed in the first volume of Leland's "Collectanea," p. lxxvi., he says: "I might here mention the old custom of Skimmington, when a woman beats her husband, of which we have no memory but in 'Hudibras,' altho' I have been told of an old Statute made for that purpose." Hogarth's

print, which accompanies Butler's description, is also called the Skimmington, though none of the commentators on "Hudibras have attempted an elucidation of the ceremony.

In "Hymen, &c., an Account of different Marriage Ceremonies," 8vo. Lond. 1760, p. 177, is the following account of a Skimmington: "There is another custom in England, which is very extraordinary: a woman carries something in the shape of a Man, crowned with a huge pair of Horns, a drum goes before and a vast crowd follows, making a strange music with Tongs, Gridirons, and Kettles. This burlesque ceremony was the invention of a woman, who thereby vindicated the character of a neighbour of hers, who had stoutly beaten her husband for being so saucy as to accuse his wife of being unfaithful to his bed. The Figure with Horns requires no explanation; it is obvious to everybody that it represents the husband."

So Misson, in his "Travels in England," translated by Ozell, p. 129, says: "I have sometimes met in the streets of London a Woman carrying a Figure of Straw representing a Man, crown'd with very ample Horns, preceded by a Drum, and followed by a Mob, making a most grating noise with Tongs, Gridirons, Frying-pans, and Saucepans. I asked what was the meaning of all this; they told me that a Woman had given her Husband a sound beating for accusing her of making him a Cuckold, and that upon such occasions some kind Neighbour of the poor innocent injured creature generally performed this ceremony."

A curious little book, the property of Francis Douce, Esq., lies before me. It is entitled "Divers Crab-tree Lectures that Shrews read to their Husbands," &c. 12mo. Lond. 1639. A woodcut facing the frontispiece, representing a woman beating her husband with a ladle, is called "Skimmington and her Husband." This cut is repeated in a chapter entitled "Skimmington's Lecture to her Husband, which is the errand Scold," with some verses, wherein occur the following pithy lines:

"But all shall not serve thee,

For have at thy pate,

My Ladle of the Crab-tree

Shall teach thee to cogge and to prate."

By the above it should seem to appear that the word " Skimmington" signifies an errant scold, and has most probably been derived from the name of some woman of great notoriety in that line. Thus a "sandwich," the "little cold collation," from the Earl of Sandwich, &c. Mr. Douce derives it from the skimming-ladle; and I find the following account of its supposed origin in D. Bellamy's, Gordon's, and other gentlemen's Dictionary, 2nd edit. 8vo. Lond. printed for J. Fuller (without date): "SKIMMINGTON, a sort of burlesque procession in ridicule of a Man who suffers himself to be beat by his Wife. In Commerce it is particularly used for the Membrane stripped off the Animal to be prepared by the Tanner, Skinner, Currier, Parchment-maker, &c. to be converted into Leather," &c.

The following curious passage is taken from Dr. King's " Miscellany Poems:" see his Works, 1776, vol. iii. p. 256 :

"When the young people ride the Skimmington,

There is a general trembling in a Town.
Not only he for whom the person rides
Suffers, but they sweep other doors be-
sides;

And by that Hieroglyphic does appear
That the good Woman is the Master there."

It should seem from the above lines that in this ludicrous procession, intended to shame some notoriously tame husband, and who suffered his wife to wear the breeches, it was part of the ceremony to sweep before the door of the person whom they intended to satirise; and if they stopped at any other door and swept there too, it was a pretty broad hint that there were more Skimmingtons, i. e. shrews, in the town than one.

In Gloucestershire this is called a "Skimmington." Jan. 21st, 1786.

Mr. Douce has a curious print, entitled "An exact Representation of the humourous Procession of the Richmond Wedding of Abram Kendrick and Mary Westurn, 17**." Two grenadiers go first, then the flag with a crown on it is carried after them; four men with hand-bells follow; then two men, one carrying a block-head, having a hat and wig on it, and a pair of horns, the other bearing a

ladle; the pipe and tabor, hautboy and fiddle; then the bridegroom in a chair, and attendants with hollyhock flowers; and afterward the bride, with her attendants carrying also hollyhock flowers. Bridemaids and bridemen close the procession.

In Strype's edition of Stow's "Survey of London," book i. p. 258, we read: "1562, Shrove Monday, at Charing-cross was a Man carried of four Men; and before him a Bagpipe playing, a Shawm, and a Drum beating, and twenty Links burning about him. The cause was, his next neighbour's Wife beat her Husband: it being so ordered that the next should ride about the place to expose her."

In Lupton's "Too good to be true," 4to. Lond. 1580, p. 50, Siquila says: "In some places with us, if a Woman beat her Husband, the Man that dwelleth next unto hir shall ride on a Cowlstaffe; and there is al the punishment she is like to have." Omen observes: "That is rather an uncomly custome than a good order; for he that is in faintnesse is undecently used, and the unruly offendor is excused thereby. If this be all the punishment your wives have that beate their simple husbandes, it is rather a boldning than a discouraging of some bolde and shamelesse dames to beate their simple husbandes, to make their next neyghbors (whom they spite) to ride on a Cowlstaffe, rather rejoising and flearing at the riding of their neighbours, than sorrowing or repenting for beating of their husbands."

The following is an extract from Hentzner's "Travels in England," 1598: "Upon taking the air down the River (from London), on the left hand lies Ratcliffe, a considerable suburb. On the opposite shore is fixed a long Pole with Ram's-horns upon it, the intention of which was vulgarly said to be a reflection upon wilful and contented Cuckolds." Edit. Strawb. Hill, 8vo. 1757, p. 47.

Grose mentions a fair called Horn-Fair, held at Charlton, in Kent, on St. Luke's day, the 18th of October. It consists of a riotous mob, who, after a printed summons dispersed through the adjacent towns, meet at Cuckold's Point, near Deptford, and march from thence in procession through that town and Greenwich to Charlton, with horns of different kinds upon their heads; and at the fair there are sold ram's-horns, and every

sort of toy made of horn; even the gingerbread figures have horns.

A sermon is preached at Charlton church on the fair-day. Tradition attributes the origin of this licentious fair to King John, who, it is said (but what is not said of King John?), being detected in an adulterous amour, compounded for his crime by granting to the injured husband all the land from Charlton to Cuckold's Point, and established the fair as a tenure. An account, it scarcely need be added, too ridiculous to merit the smallest attention.

It appears from "The whole Life of Mr. William Fuller," &c. 8vo. Lond. 1703, p. 122, that it was the fashion in his time to go to Horn Fair dressed in women's clothes. "I remember being there upon Horn Fair Day, I was dressed in my Land-lady's best Gown, and other Women's attire, and to Horn Fair we went, and as we were coming back by water, all the Cloaths were spoiled by dirty water, &c., that was flung on us in an inundation, for which I was obliged to present her with two guineas, to make atonement for the damage sustained, &c."

In an extract from an old newspaper, I find it was formerly a custom for a procession to go from some of the inns in Bishopsgate-street, in which were a king, a queen, a miller, a councillor, &c., and a great number of others, with horns in their hats, to Charlton, where they went round the church three times, &c. So many indecencies were committed upon this occasion on Blackheath (as the whipping of females with furze, &c.), that it gave rise to the proverb of "all is fair at Horn Fair.”

Mr. Lysons, in "The Environs of London," vol. iv. p. 325, says the burlesque procession has been discontinued since the year 1768.

Grose, in his "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," has noticed two customs evidently connected with our present subject.

"HIGHGATE. Sworn at Highgate.-A ridiculous custom formerly prevailed at the public houses in Highgate, to administer a ludicrous Oath to all Travellers of the middling rank who stopped there. The party was sworn on a pair of Horns, fastened on a stick; the substance of the Oath was, never to kiss the Maid when he could kiss the Mistress, never to drink small beer when he could get

strong, with many other injunctions of the like kind, to all which was added the saving clause, Unless you like it best.' The person administering the Oath was always to be called Father by the Juror, and he in return was to style him Son, under the penalty of a bottle."

One or two of the public-houses in this village still (1841) have a pair of horns elevated upon a post standing in front of the house.

"HOISTING. A ludicrous ceremony formerly performed on every soldier the first time he appeared in the field after being married. It was thus managed. As soon as

the regiment, or company, had grounded their arms to rest awhile, three or four men of the same company to which the Bridegroom belonged seized upon him, and, putting a couple of bayonets out of the two corners of his hat, to represent Horns, it was placed on his head, the back part foremost. He was then hoisted

on the shoulders of two strong fellows, and carried round the arms, a drum and fife. beating and playing the Pioneers' call, named Round-heads and Cuckolds, but on this occasion styled the Cuckold's March. In passing the colours he was to take off his hat. This in some regiments was practised by the Officers on their brethren."

The following is from "A View of London and Westminster, or the Town Spy," &c. 2nd edit. 8vo. Lond. 1725, p. 26. The author is speaking of St. Clement Danes :

"There was formerly a good custom of Saddling the Spit in this parish, which, for reasons well known at Westminster, is now laid aside; so that Wives, whose Husbands are sea-faring persons, or who are otherwise absent from them, have lodged here ever since very quietly."

(14) For these different conjectures the reader is again referred to "The Horne exalted, or Room for Cuckolds," pp. 12, 13.

I KNOW not how this word, which is generally derived from "cuculus," a cuckoo, has happened to be given to the injured husband, for it seems more properly to belong to the adulterer, the cuckoo being well known to be a bird that deposits its eggs in other birds'

nests.

The Romans seem to have used cuculus in its proper sense, as the adulterer, calling with equal propriety the Cuckold himself "Carruca," or hedge-sparrow, which bird is well known to adopt the other's spurious offspring. (1)

Notwithstanding this, it is still supposed that the word cuculus gave some rise to the name of Cuckold, though the cuckoo lays in other nests; yet the etymology may still hold, for lawyers tell us that the honours and disgrace of man and wife are reciprocal: so that what the one hath, the other partakes of it. Thus then the lubricity of the woman is thrown upon the man, and her dishonesty thought his dishonour; who, being the head of the wife, and thus abused by her, he gains the name of Cuckold, from cuckoo, which

bird, as he used to nestle in others' places; so it was of old the hieroglyphic of a fearful, idle, and stupid fellow, and hence became the nickname of such men as neglected to dress and prune their vines in due season. So Horace,

Magna compellans voce Cucullum." (2)

I must conclude this subject, which is not of the most delicate kind, with an apology: yet, in speaking of Popular Antiquities, it seemed incumbent upon me to say something concerning it.

To jest concerning a crime which is replete with every evil to society is indeed to scatter firebrands and arrows in our sport. (9) It may be added, there is no philosophical justice in such insults. If the husband was not to blame it is highly ungenerous, and an instance of that common meanness in life of confounding a person's misfortunes with his faults. (4) The cruelty of such wanton reflections will appear, if we consider that a man, plagued with a vicious wife, needs no aggravation of his misery.

(1) Arga, in Sir Henry Spelman's Glossary, is rendered by Curruca and Cucurbita, i. e. Cuckold, or Coucold. For the French call a gourd, coucord; and we only change their r. into 1, as we say Coriander for their Coliander, Coronel for their Colonel, &c. Such a blockhead then that hath caput Cucurbitinum is called Arga, as Paul. Diacon. de Gest. Longobard. perhaps from the Greek ügyos, i. e. one that doth not his work or business, and so Corbita in LL. Longobard. signifies advoutery and whoredom, which Martinus derives from xoven, a tree of a saddle, and says Kurba in the Sclavonian signifies a lewd woman, as Kurvin, to bow down, &c., from curvare, as fornication from fornix, and probably hence comes our word Pumpkin for a silly rude fellow.

Johnson, in his Dictionary, says: "The Cuckow is said to suck the eggs of other birds, and lay her own to be hatched in their place; from which practice it was usual to alarm a husband at the approach of an adulterer by calling 'Cuckoo," which by mistake was in time applied to the husband."

Pennant, in his Zoology, 8vo. Lond. 1776, vol. i. p. 234, speaking of the cuckoo, says: "His note is so uniform, that his name in all languages seems to have been derived from it, and in all other countries it is used in the same reproachful sense:

"The plain song Cuckoo grey, Whose Note full many a Man doth mark, And dares not answer nay.' Shaksp. "The reproach seems to arise from this bird making use of the bed or nest of another to deposit its eggs in, leaving the care of its young to a wrong parent; but Juvenal, with more justice, gives the infamy to the bird in whose nest the supposititious eggs were layed:

"Tu tibi tunc Curruca places.' Sat. vi. 1. 275." Pliny, lib. xviii. c. 26, tells us that vinedressers were anciently called cuckoos, i. e. slothful, because they deferred cutting their

vines till that bird began to sing, which was later than the right time; so that the same name may have been given to the unhappy persons under consideration, when, through disregard and neglect of their fair partners, they have caused them to go a gadding in search of more diligent and industrious companions.

The cuckoo has been long considered as a bird of omen. Gay, in his "Shepherd's Week," in the fourth Pastoral, notes the vulgar superstitions on first hearing the bird sing in the season:

"When first the year, I heard the Cuckoo sing,

And call with welcome note the budding
Spring,

I straightway set a running with such haste,
Deb'rah that won the Smock scarce ran so

fast.

Till spent for lack of breath, quite weary grown,

Upon a rising bank I sat adown,

And doff'd my Shoe, and by my troth I

swear,

Therein I spied this yellow frizzled Hair, (*)
As like to Lubberkin's in curl and hue,
As if upon his comely Pate it grew."

I find the following still more extraordinary in "Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions," by Thomas Hill, 8vo. 1650, cxxvii. "A very easie and merry conceit to keep off Fleas from your Beds or Chambers. Plinie reporteth that if, when you first hear the Cuckow, you mark well where your right foot standeth, and take up of that earth, the Fleas will by no means breed, either in your House or Chamber, where any of the same earth is thrown or scattered." So the "Traité des Superstitions," par M. Thiers, tom. i.

322:

"La première fois qu'on entend le

(a) Thus described in "The Connoisseur," No. 56: "I got up last May Morning and went into the Fields to hear the Cuckoo, and when I pulled off my left Shoe I found a Hair in it exactly the same colour with his."