Newport weekly independent., 1903-01-16
BRITISH MAYORS DUTIES.
Odd and Romantic Customs Inherited ,yr. from the Old Century.

xt: Amusement were banished out of our country during the latter half of the nineteenth century? asks the London Express. Look at the curious GUS soms that await the new mayors of many of our towns and cities. At High Wycombe the mayor has to be weighed by the corporation officials each 9th of November, except when that day falls on Sunday. The ccre- mony has been performed for some 600 years, and is likely to go on. The members of the council meet at the house of the retiring mayor at a given hour. Thither also repair the beadle of Wycombe and the mace bearer, in costumes-cockcd hats, silk stockings, blue coats and knee brooches. They form a procession with the newly elected mayor at the head, and walk to the town hall.
 Here the head constable of the borough has been waiting patiently. and when the mayor appears at the head of the group the official places him gently on weighing machine, ascertains his exact weight, and en- ters the record of it on special book. At Limerick the mayor receives ton of coal from the colliers entering the port on the 9th.
 The mayor of Cork has to cast dart into the harbor as sign of the corporations sovereignty over its wa ters. This custom is owing to a dis pute that arose long ago from a war ship refusing to acknowledge the power of the Cork authorities. At Cardiff each mayor has to award marriage dowry to domestic servant who, having been in her situation for at least eight years, wishes to marry. She has to declare that the money will be of use to her, and has to pos sess an excellent character The money itself is the interest of a gift of q, 900 by the marquis of Butte, him. self former mayor of the town. Last year the interest amounted to G2S- surely nice present for servant about to marry. When the mayor is presenting the gift to the intending bride she must be accompanied by the intending bridegroom, and his wor- ship has to read passage from the Gospel appropriate to the occasion and to deliver short sermon to the two on the solemnity of matrimony. The mayor of Ripon has to undergo performance which many mayors would doubtless prefer to have omit ted after the first novelty has worn off.
 Each night the old hornblower or wakeman, as he is called, has to re- pair at nine o'clock to the residence of the mayor and blow his horn three times before he proceeds to the mar ket cross to perform the same duty. Of course, in olden times the sound of the horn could easily be heard by all the inhabitants of the minister town on the Ire, but to-day one may well question if quarter of the folks in Ripon hear the nightly blast of the wakeman. But the mayors house. hold hears it every night for year and after the first month it becomes monotonous.
 The lot of some mayors of St. Ives. in Cornwall, is hardly likely to be en- vied by their civil dignitaries. Every five years the gentleman who is then in the mayoralty of the Cornish town has to take the leading part in the eel ebration of the "Knill" ceremonies. which include walking in process sion with ''ten virgins dressed in white and ten old widows" and end ing up the affair with dance with them round the monument known as knill's steeple. The inevitable sup per, of course, brings this affair to close, or else it is difficult to under stand how the mayor of St. Ives would ever get through it at all, even with the help of the town fiddler. who plays the dance music on this historic occa- sion.
 The mayor must be singer, too, for the "Old Hundredth" has to be sung at the steeplc, and he is expect ed to give the lead.
 Wax from Trees.