Then we will come,
And ride the stang again.
With a ran tan tang,
And a ran tan tan tang," &c.
The conclusion of this local custom is generally ended at the market cross, (if any,) or in the middle of the hamlet; after which, one of the posse goes round with a hat, begging the contributions of those present; they then regale themselves at some of the village ale-shops, out of the proceeds of the day's merriment.— Brand and Strutt mention this custom; as does Brigg, in his "Westmoreland as it was."
J.W.
Preston, Lancashire.
THE SKETCH-BOOK.
[The following characteristic sketch having been presented to me by a friend as, to the best of his knowledge, an unpublished morceau by the celebrated Ettrick Shepherd, I have by his permission the pleasure of adding it, to the many interesting cabinet pictures, already preserved in this department of the MIRROR.—M.L.B.]