Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1877-01-18
An Auction Scene In Merle England.

An Auction Scene in Nerrle England.
oid traditions linger IA country t
places long after they have persisted
in great towns. We're tho English
10 CROPPED Tor modern ans(
tiuuities, and the sum total presented,
the general reader would be amazed
ct the mass of ancient superstition lin.
gering in modern England. In the
north the mummers at Christmas, of
all days, dance q sword dance which
belongs to the worship Of Scandlnar
Wan God in Northumberland, and
parts of Ireland, the young folks will
make little bonfires and leap through
them on a certain day. though the
practice is forbidden in the Old Tesla
ment as an abomination, Tor this
is no other thing than '.going
through tho fire to Baal," and is one
of the many signs that we Celts are an
Oriental tribe. Any novice wishing
to strike this vein Of lore without
much trouble has only to read the ex.
celleAt book of Mr.. Henderson,, and
grope the index to "Notes and
Queries" strongly recommend the
latter course. ...
For index-reading turns no student pale,
Yet takes the eel Of science by the tail.
My own reading in such matters has
taught me one thing-to respect OLD
tradition whenever ! encounter any
strange practice down in the country.
Why, even rustic Misrepresentation is
often a relic, where it passes Tor an er.
ror. Rusticus calls Coroner's inquest
''crowner's quest" and the education.
al smile superior. But Rusticus Is not
wrong; he is only in arrear. ''Crown'
er's quest is the true medieval form.
and was once universal. Every Eng
lish peasant calls theater q theater,
and young gentlemen sneer. Yet thea
ter is the true pronunciation; and dfoy
years before Shakespeare nobody, high
or low, mispronounced the word into
the.a.ter, as he does and we do.
To the tenacity of old tradition as.
cribe a prevalent notion, in rude parts
Of this country, that an Englishman
and his wife can divorce themselves
under conditions. First, the parties
must consent; second, there must be q
public auction: third, the lady must be
sold with q halter round her neck.
That our rural population ever invent.
ed this law is improbable in itself and
against evidence; there are examples
Of the practice as old as any chronicle
we lave; and really suspect that In
some barbarous age--later. perhaps,
than our serious worship of Baal, but
anterior to our earliest Saxon laws
this ride divorce by consent was the
unwritten law of Britain. :.
The thing has been done In my DAY
many times, and related in the journals,
and observe that it is always done
with similar ceremonies, and that the
lower order of people, though they
jeer, are not shocked at it, nor does
it seem to strike them. as utterly and
profoundly illegal. 1t dates, I appre
bend, from time when marriage wal
partnership at will, and the Roman
theory that marrige is sacrament
and the Eenglish theory that marriage
is not sacrament, were alike unknown
to primitive people.
MY note. book contains numerous ex
amples. select one with a bit o.
color. which was published at the dat'
W0e0 IL occurred:
Joseph Thompson rented farm Of
forty acres in a village three mile
from Carlisle. In 1920 he married ;
spruce, lively girl twenty-five years O.
age. They had many disputes and NJ
children. So after three years the!
agreed to part. The bell-man was sen
around the village to announce tina
Joseph Thompson would sell Mar!
Ann Thompson by auction on Apri
| 5th, 1882, at noon precisely. At tn
appointed hour Joseph Thompson
stood on a table, and his wife littl'
below him on An oak chair, with
halter Of straw around her neck. III
put her up for sale in terms that q by
stander thought it worth while to taxi
down on the spot:
"Gentlemen. have to offer to YOU
notice my wife, Mary Ann Thompson
otherwise Williamson. 1t Is her wisl
as we'll as mine to part forever, an(
will be. sold without reserve to tn
! highest bidder. Gentlemen, the 10
now offered for competition has beer
| to me bosom serpent. took it 70,
my comfort and the good of my house
but it became my tormentOr, domes
tic curse, a night invasion. The lore
deliver us from termagant wives ant
troublesome widows! Gentlemen
avoid them as you would mad-dog. I
roaring lion, a loaded pistol, choler:
morbus, or any other pestilential phe
nOmen0n-''
Here it seems to have occurred t.
Joseph Thompson that he was not go
ing the way to sell his lot at high fig
ure ; so he tried to be more the auc
tioneer and less the husband. ~
However," he said, "now I hav'
told her little defects, will presen
the bright and sunny side of her. SD,
can read novels, milk cows, and laugh
and weep with the same ease that you
could toss off Il glass of ale. What tn,
poet says Of woman in general is true
to hair of this one: -
Heaven gave to women the peculiar
grace to laugh. to weep, to cheat thu
human race. She can make butter and
scold the maid ; she can sing Moore,
Melodies and pleat her own frills and
caps. She cannot make rum, nor gin,
nor whisky /; but she is good Judge OF
aA4 Three AiOm long eApcTltuCo III L1SC
ing them. What shall we say for her,
with all her perfections and imperfec
tions fifty shillings to begin p
There was a dead silence. There
was no bidding at all. Then the auc'
tioneer was angry and threatened to
take the lot home.
The company in general sustained
his threat with composure; but one
Mears conceived hopes, and asked
modestly whether an exchange could
not be made, II have here, said he
ga Newfoundland dog-a beauty. He
can fetch and carry; and If you tall
Id the water, drunk or sober, he'll pull
you OUT 2.sz - r. -
Thompson approved the dog, but OBJ
= A. L NJ. 1-As