PREDECESSORS OF THE BALLOT BOX

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 17, 20 January 1934, Page 21

PREDECESSORS OF THE BALLOT BOX

Leicester at one'time'had a singular-' ]y haphazard method of' choosing & Mayor. The aldermen 'sat in a group and each put a number of beans into his hat, which was placed in front of him. A sow was driven into the room, and the owner of the fast hat from which the beast began to feed on the beans was raised to the position of Mayor.

Another place where the assistance of an animal was called in was Gromsby. Three persons who wore candidate! for the office were grouped in an enclosure. Each held a bunch of hay. A 1 calf was also placed in the pound. The man from whom-the calf first ate hay was deemed elected.

Customs',which signified jurisdiction' bver land swept -by the sea were common in more than one place. -At N>w-castle-on-Tync the Mayor sailed do%vn' the river; to dlaim the rights of the

city eter the foreshore. When he disembarked he had the pleasant privilege of kissing ; the prettiest girl present and giving her a sovereign as recompense. - • '■'■■;■■■. ■•■■•.'

In Cork it was customary for the Mayor to cast a dart into the sea as a symbol of authority over the coast.

It was the practice in several places to present oars to the civic heads of seaside places. At Yarmouth and Southampton a silver oar was given every year and a golden oar every, twenty years. ..,_■./

In Nottingham it was usual to "bury" tho mace, which the retiring Mayor had to find'and hand to his suel--cessor. t

The distribution of largesse was not uncommon. In Harwich the members, of the council threw buns from the Mayor's' hotiso to tho crowd in the street.