W degrees approached so near, Of horns, and pans, and dogs, and boys,
And kettle-drums whose sullen dub, Sounds like the hooping of a tub; . .
And followed with a world of tall lads, That merry ditties troll'd and
ballads. . . . Next pans and kettles of all keys, From trebles
down to double base: . . . And at fit periods the whole rout Set up
their throat with clamorous
shout." A notice of an old Welsh ceremony appeared in the _Liverpool
Mercury_ on March 15th, 1887, and it will not be without interest
to reproduce it. "That ancient Welsh custom," says the writer, "now
nearly obsolete, known as riding the
ceffyl pren--_Anglice_, 'wooden-horse'--and intended to operate as a
wholesome
warning to faithless wives
and husbands, was revived on Saturday night in an Anglesey village some
three miles from Llangefni. The individual who had drawn upon himself
the odium of his neighbours had parted from his wife, and was alleged to
be persistent in his attentions to another female. On Saturday night a
large party surrounded the house, and compelled him to get astride a
ladder, carrying him shoulder-high through the village, stopping at
certain points
to allow the womankind to wreak their vengeance upon him. This amusement
was kept up for some time until the opportune
arrival of a sergeant of police
from Llangefni, who rescued the unlucky
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