Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, &c./Part 4/Ringing the Pan

RINGING THE PAN.

If a couple be found courting on a Friday night, they are frequently treated to an impromptu concert. The musical instruments usually employed are the frying-pans, shovels, tongs, pokers, and, indeed, any implements which can be made to produce a sufficiently discordant noise. A pretended bellman usually precedes the procession, and at stated intervals calls out—

"Oh! dear a me!
A.B. and C.D. (mentioning names),
Court six neets aot o' seven,
Un corn'd let Friday neet olooan."

The writer saw this ceremony performed in the neighbourhood of Burnley twice during the year 1868. The actors term the ceremony "ringing the pan."

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