Rough music
Encyclopedia
Rampton, Nottinghamshire
Rampton is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 1,269. Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Ramm-tūn = "ram farmstead". It is located in the Trent valley north of Nottingham, in the Bassetlaw district 8 miles east of Retford...
(1909), Middleton Cheney
Middleton Cheney
Middleton Cheney is a civil parish and the largest village in South Northamptonshire, England. It is situated between Banbury and Brackley. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 3,753.-Local amenities:...
(1909) and Blisworth
Blisworth
Blisworth is a village and civil parish in the South Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England. The West Coast Main Line, from London Euston to Manchester and Scotland, runs alongside the village partly hidden and partly on an embankment...
(1920s and 1936), Northamptonshire.
The Skimmington
Skimmington
A skimmington, or skimmington ride, is a traditional custom comprising a public demonstration of moral disapproval of an individual or individuals. The form of the demonstration, and the reasons for it, varied between different places, but the general intent was public humiliation of the victim...
ride or Skimmity ride, as described by Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
in The Mayor of Casterbridge, also known as riding the stang, is a version of this custom. Other local names include "tin-canning", "tin-kettling", "banging-out", "lew-belling" or "lowbelling" (all recorded from parts of Northamptonshire).
Description
Noisy, masked processions were held outside the home of the supposed wrongdoer, involving the cacophonous rattling of bones and cleavers, the ringing of bells, hooting, blowing bull's horns, the banging of frying pans, saucepans, kettles, or other kitchen or barn implements with the intention of creating long-lasting embarrassment to the alleged perpetrator. During a rough music performance, the victim could be displayed upon a pole or donkey (in person or as an effigy), their "crimes" becoming the subject of mime, theatrical performances or recitatives, along with a litany of obscenities and insults.Alternatively, one of the participants would "ride the stang" (a pole carried between the shoulders of two or more men or youths) while banging an old kettle or pan with a stick and reciting a rhyme (called a "nominy") such as the following:
- With a ran, tan, tan,
- On my old tin can,
- Mrs. _______ and her good man.
- She bang'd him, she bang'd him,
- For spending a penny when he stood in need.
- She up with a three-footed stool;
- She struck him so hard, and she cut so deep,
- Till the blood run down like a new stuck sheep!
The participants were generally young men temporarily bestowed with the power of rule over the everyday affairs of the community. Issues of sexuality and domestic hierarchy most often formed the pretexts for rough music, including acts of domestic violence or child abuse. Where effigies of the "wrongdoers" were made they were frequently burned as the climax of the event (as the inscription on the Rampton photograph indicates) or "ritually drowned" (thrown into a pond or river). Ran-tanning would often be repeated for three nights running, unless the humiliated victims had already fled.
A rough music song originating from South Stoke, Oxfordshire
South Stoke, Oxfordshire
South Stoke is a village and civil parish on the River Thames, about north of Goring-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire.The parish includes the hamlet and manor house of Littlestoke, north of the village.-Manor:...
:
- There is a man in our town
- Who often beats his wife,
- So if he does it any more,
- We'll put his nose right out before.
- Holler boys, holler boys,
- Make the bells ring,
- Holler boys, holler boys.
- God save the King.
As forms of vigilantism
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
that were likely to lead to public disorder
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
, ran-tanning and similar activities were banned under the Highways Act of 1882.
Equivalents include the German haberfeldtreiben and katzenmusik
Katzenmusik
-Personnel:* Michael Rother - Guitar, Electronics, Producer, Cover Photograph* Jaki Liebezeit - Drums* Conny Plank - Producer, Recording* Ann Weitz - Rear Cover Photograph* Rike - Design...
, Italian scampanate and French charivari
Charivari
Charivari is the term for a French folk custom in which the community gave a noisy, discordant mock serenade, also pounding on pots and pans, at the home of newlyweds. The loud, public ritual evolved to a form of social coercion, for instance, to force an as-yet-unmarried couple to wed...
. Instances of rough music in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
were known as shivaree
Shivaree
Shivaree may refer to:* Shivaree , a clamorous salutation made to a newlywed couple* Shivaree , an American band formed in 1997* Shivaree , a play by William Mastrosimone...
s.
Similar customs
Many folk customs around the world have involved making loud noises to scare away evil spirits.Tuneless, cacophonous "rough music", played on horns, bugles, whistles, tin trays and frying pans, was a feature of the custom known as Teddy Rowe's Band. This had taken place annually, possibly for several centuries, in the early hours of the morning, to herald the arrival of Pack Monday Fair at Sherborne, Dorset, until it was banned by the police in 1964 because of hooliganism the previous year. The fair is still held, on the first Monday after Old Michaelmas
Michaelmas
Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel is a day in the Western Christian calendar which occurs on 29 September...
Day (10 October) – St Michael's Day in the Old Style calendar
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
.
The Tin Can Band at Broughton, Northamptonshire
Broughton, Northamptonshire
Broughton is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Kettering, in Northamptonshire, England. Its population in 2001 was 2,047 people. The village is located around 2 miles south-west of Kettering, next to the A43 road .Broughton has a long history, being referred to as "Burtone" in the...
, a seasonal custom, takes place at midnight on the third Sunday in December. The participants march around the village for about an hour, rattling pans, dustbin lids, kettles and anything else that will make a noise. The council once attempted to stop the tin-canning; participants were summoned
Summons
Legally, a summons is a legal document issued by a court or by an administrative agency of government for various purposes.-Judicial summons:...
and fined, but a dance was organised to raise money to pay the fines and the custom continues. The village is sufficiently proud of its custom for it to feature on the village sign.
External links
- Notbored.org: Rough music
- Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge (1884), chapters 36, 39. ISBN 0004245350
- Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight (2010), chapter 2. ISBN 978-0-385-61107-7
- Patrick Gale, Rough Music (2000) ISBN 978-0006552208
- Archive.org: John Brand, The Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, (1905 edition) pp. 551–552. Several early examples of rough music, skimmington rides and similar unnamed customs between 1562 and 1790, including one in Seville (1593)
- Archive.org: John Brand, The Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, (1905 edition) p. 563. Descriptions of Riding the Stang, including a ran-tan rhyme