BALLOT BOX PREDECESSORS

Evening Star, Issue 21636, 3 February 1934, Page 4

BALLOT BOX PREDECESSORS

Leicester at one time had a singularly haphazard method of. choosing a mayor. The alderman 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 first 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 were candidates for the office were grouped in an enclosure. Each held a bunch of hay. A calf was also placed in the pound. The man from whom the calf first ate hay was deemed elected. Customs which signified jurisdiction over land swept by the sea were common in more than one place. At New-castle-on-Tyue the . mayor sailed down the river to claim the rights of the city over the foreshore. / When he disembarked he had the pleasnt 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 oyer 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 ” the mace, which the retiring mayor had to find and hand to his successor.

The distribution of largesse was not uncommon. In Harwich the membr—; of the council threw buns from tha mayor’s house to the crowd in tha street.