_To the Editor._
_Morley, near Leeds, July 21, 1827._
Sir,--There is a custom prevalent in various parts of Yorkshire, which I
do not remember to have seen noticed in the works of Strutt, Brand,
Fosbroke, or any other learned writer upon such subjects. It is called
“trashing,” which signifies pelting people with old shoes on their
return from church on the wedding-day. There were certain offences which
subjected the parties formerly to this disagreeable liability; such as
refusing to contribute to scholars’ “potations,” or other
convivialities; but in process of time the reason of the thing became
forgotten, and “trashing” was indiscriminately practised among the lower
orders. Turf-sods or mud being substituted for lack of old shoes, and
generally thrown in jest and good-humour rather than in anger or
ill-will.
Although it is true that an old shoe is to this day called “a trash,”
yet it did not, certainly, give the name to the nuisance. To “trash”
originally signified, to _clog_, incumber, or impede the progress of any
one; (see Todd’s Johnson;) and agreeably to this explanation we find the
rope tied by sportsmen round the necks of fleet pointers to tire them
well, and check their speed, is hereabouts universally called the
“trashcord,” or dog trash. But why old shoes in particular were selected
as the missiles most proper for impeding the progress of new married
persons, it is now perhaps impossible to discover.
Yours respectfully,