usband hang.
But if I hear tell that she doth rebel,
Or him to complain, with fife and drum
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friend as, to the best of his knowledge, an unpublished _morceau_ by the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.]

ROVER.

Rover is now about six years old. He was born half a year before our
eldest girl; and is accordingly looked upon as a kind of elder brother
by the children. He is a small, beautiful liver-coloured spaniel, but
not one of your goggle-eyed Blenheim breed. He is none of your lap dogs.
No, Rover has a soul above that. You may make him your friend, but he
scorns to be a pet. No one can see him without admiring him, and no one
can know him without loving him. He is as regularly inquired after as
any other member of the family; for who that has ever known Rover can
forget him? He has an instinctive perception of his master's friends, to
whom he metes out his caresses in the proportion of their attachment to
the chief object of his affections. When I return from an absence, or
when he meets an old friend of mine, or of his own (which is the same
thing to him) his ecstacy is unbounded; he tears and curvets about the
room as if mad; and if out of doors, he makes the welkin ring with his
clear and joyous note. When he sees a young person in company he
immediately selects him for a play fellow. He fetches a stick, coaxes
him out of the house, drops it at his feet; then retiring backwards,
barking, plainly indicates his desire to have it thrown for him. He is
never tired of his work. Indeed, I fear poor fellow, that his teeth,
which already show signs of premature decay, have suffered fr