4 ON A PAIR OF ANCIENT RAM'S HORNS. 



most travellers from the north entering London by way of High- 

 gate were stopped by the post-boys, and obliged to go through 

 the solemn farce of taking the oath upon the Horns. I have 

 copied an illustration of this ceremony from Woodward's 

 "Eccentric Excursions," published in 1796 (Plate III.), 

 which will explain the process better than any description. The 

 officials, the post-boys, the culprit (if I may so call him) who is 

 taking the grotesque oath, and the old dame coming from the inn 

 laden with a bowl of punch, all indicate a farcical ceremony, 

 followed by an evening of drink. The person who administered 

 the oath was robed in a domino, with wig and mask, and having 

 in his hand the book in which the oath is written, adjusts his 

 spectacles, and goes through the farce. An old inhabitant, 

 formerly an inn-keeper, is reported to have said : — " In my 

 time nobody came to Highgate in anything of a carriage without 

 being called upon to be sworn in. I was obliged to hire a man 

 to do it. I have sworn in 100 to 120 of a day." A century ago, 

 at least, eighty stage coaches passed through Highgate, and of 

 every five passengers three were " sworn upon the Horns." No 

 doubt the ceremony, foolish as it was, brought " grist to the 

 mill," and, therefore, it was fostered by the hosts of the nineteen 

 hostelries then in full work. The passengers alighted from the 

 coach, and then the landlord produced the Horns, which were 

 generally fixed upon a pole five feet long. They were then placed 

 upon the ground close to the person or persons about to be 

 sworn. The oath itself is full of absurdities, and is not worth re- 

 producing. 



The custom at Highgate is supposed to have originated from 

 the circumstance of graziers putting up there in going from the 

 north to London. When any new member of this fraternity 

 arrived, an ox was brought to the door of the inn, and, if he 

 refused to kiss its Horns, he was considered unfit to join the 

 society of the graziers already assembled at the hostelry. 



Not only at Highgate, but at Hoddesden, in Herts, a some- 

 what like custom was observed in the 18 th century. When any 

 fresh wagoner came with his team to the inn a drinking horn 



