Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1903-01-08
BRITISH MAYORS DUTIES.
Odd and Romantic Customs Inherited
from the Old Century.

Odd and Romantic Customs Inherited
from the Old Century.
Who says that all romance and
amusement were banished out Of our
country during the latter half of the
nineteenth century? asks the London
Express. Look at the curious Gus
SONS 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 cere-
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
given hour. Thither also repair the
beadle Of Wycombe and the mace
bearer, in costumes-cocked hats,
silk stockings, blue coats and knee
breaches. They form 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-
tiers the record of it on special book.
At Limerick the mayor receivesa ton
Of coal from the GOLFERS entering the
port on the 9th.
The mayor Of Cork has to cast a
dart into the harbor as a sign of the
corporations sovereignty over it's wa
tiers. This custom is owing to 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 a
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 81, 900 by the marquis of Butte, him
self former mayor of the town. Last
year the interest amounted to 928-
surely nice present for a servant
about to marry. When the mayor is
presenting the gift to the intending
bride she must be accompanied blythe
intending bridegroom, and his wor-
ship has to read passage from the
Gospel appropriate to the occasion
and to deliver a short sermon to the
e two on the solemnity Of matrimony.
| The mayor of Ripon has to undergo
a 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
4 pf the horn could easily be heard by
all the inhabitants of the minister
town on the Ure, but to-day one may
we'll 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 a year
and after the first month it becomes
monotonous.. ,..s
The lot Of some mayors of St. Ives,
in Cornwall, is hardly likely to be en-
We'd 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 Gel
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 a dance with
| them round the monument known as
Knill's steeple The inevitable sup
per, of course, brings this affair to a
Fclose, 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
1 the dance music on this historic occa-
sion. .. -.
! The mayor must be singer, too,
/ for the cold -Hnndredthv has ia be