Ancient Poems [64]
Lancashire, all traces of their pristine character have departed, and the hymns and prayers by which their observance was once hallowed have given place to dancing and merry-making. At Greenside, near Manchester, during the wakes, two persons, dressed in a grotesque manner, the one a male, the other a female, appear in the village on horseback, with spinning-wheels before them; and the following is the dialogue, or song, which they sing on these occasions.]
''TIS Greenside wakes, we've come to the town To show you some sport of great renown; And if my old wife will let me begin, I'll show you how fast and how well I can spin. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, den, don, dell O.'
'Thou brags of thyself, but I don't think it true, For I will uphold thy faults are not a few; For when thou hast done, and spun very hard, Of this I'm well sure, thy work is ill marred. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, den, don, dell O.'
'Thou'rt a saucy old jade, and pray hold thy tongue, Or I shall be thumping thee ere it be long; And if that I do, I shall make thee to rue, For I can have many a one as good as you. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, dan, don, dell O.'
'What is it to me who you can have? I shall not be long ere I'm laid in my grave; And when I am dead you may find if you can, One that'll spin as hard as I've done. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, dan, don, dell O.'
'Come, come, my dear wife, here endeth my song, I hope it has pleased this numerous throng; But if it has missed, you need not to fear, We'll do our endeavour to please them next year. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, dan, don, dell O.'
Ballad: THE SWEARING-IN SONG OR RHYME.
As formerly sung or said at Highgate, in the county of Middlesex.
[THE proverb, 'He has been sworn at Highgate,' is more widely circulated than understood. In its ordinary signification it is applied to a 'knowing' fellow who is well acquainted with the 'good things,' and always helps himself to the best; and it has its origin in an old usage still kept up at Highgate, in Middlesex. Grose, in his CLASSICAL DICTIONARY OF THE VULGAR TONGUE, London, 1785, says, -
A ridiculous custom formerly prevailed at the public-houses of Highgate, to administer a ludicrous oath to all the men 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 be could get strong, with many other injunctions of the like kind to all of which was added a 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.
From this extract it is evident that in 1786 the custom was ancient, and had somewhat fallen into desuetude. Hone's YEAR-BOOK contains a very complete account of the ceremony, with full particulars of the mode in which the 'swearing-in' was then performed in the 'Fox under the Hill.' Hone does not throw any light on the origin of the practice, nor does he seem to have been aware of its comparative antiquity. He treated the ceremony as a piece of modern foolery, got up by some landlord for 'the good of the house,' and adopted from the same interested motive by others of the tribe. A subsequent correspondent of Mr. Hone, however, points out the antiquity of the custom, and shows that it could be traced back long before the year 1782, when it was introduced into a pantomime called HARLEQUIN TEAGUE; OR, THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY, which was performed at the Haymarket on Saturday, August 17, 1782. One of the scenes was Highgate, where, in the 'parlour' of a public house, the ceremony was performed. Mr. Hone's correspondent sends a copy of the old initiation song, which varies considerably from our version, supplied to us in 1851 by a very old man (an ostler) at Highgate. The reciter said that the COPY OF VERSES was not often used now, as there was
''TIS Greenside wakes, we've come to the town To show you some sport of great renown; And if my old wife will let me begin, I'll show you how fast and how well I can spin. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, den, don, dell O.'
'Thou brags of thyself, but I don't think it true, For I will uphold thy faults are not a few; For when thou hast done, and spun very hard, Of this I'm well sure, thy work is ill marred. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, den, don, dell O.'
'Thou'rt a saucy old jade, and pray hold thy tongue, Or I shall be thumping thee ere it be long; And if that I do, I shall make thee to rue, For I can have many a one as good as you. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, dan, don, dell O.'
'What is it to me who you can have? I shall not be long ere I'm laid in my grave; And when I am dead you may find if you can, One that'll spin as hard as I've done. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, dan, don, dell O.'
'Come, come, my dear wife, here endeth my song, I hope it has pleased this numerous throng; But if it has missed, you need not to fear, We'll do our endeavour to please them next year. Tread the wheel, tread the wheel, dan, don, dell O.'
Ballad: THE SWEARING-IN SONG OR RHYME.
As formerly sung or said at Highgate, in the county of Middlesex.
[THE proverb, 'He has been sworn at Highgate,' is more widely circulated than understood. In its ordinary signification it is applied to a 'knowing' fellow who is well acquainted with the 'good things,' and always helps himself to the best; and it has its origin in an old usage still kept up at Highgate, in Middlesex. Grose, in his CLASSICAL DICTIONARY OF THE VULGAR TONGUE, London, 1785, says, -
A ridiculous custom formerly prevailed at the public-houses of Highgate, to administer a ludicrous oath to all the men 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 be could get strong, with many other injunctions of the like kind to all of which was added a 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.
From this extract it is evident that in 1786 the custom was ancient, and had somewhat fallen into desuetude. Hone's YEAR-BOOK contains a very complete account of the ceremony, with full particulars of the mode in which the 'swearing-in' was then performed in the 'Fox under the Hill.' Hone does not throw any light on the origin of the practice, nor does he seem to have been aware of its comparative antiquity. He treated the ceremony as a piece of modern foolery, got up by some landlord for 'the good of the house,' and adopted from the same interested motive by others of the tribe. A subsequent correspondent of Mr. Hone, however, points out the antiquity of the custom, and shows that it could be traced back long before the year 1782, when it was introduced into a pantomime called HARLEQUIN TEAGUE; OR, THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY, which was performed at the Haymarket on Saturday, August 17, 1782. One of the scenes was Highgate, where, in the 'parlour' of a public house, the ceremony was performed. Mr. Hone's correspondent sends a copy of the old initiation song, which varies considerably from our version, supplied to us in 1851 by a very old man (an ostler) at Highgate. The reciter said that the COPY OF VERSES was not often used now, as there was