High Wycomb is a small town west of London. Every year, the charter trustees elect a mayor, who, upon taking office, is immediately weighed in huge scales by officials wearing period costumes from the Eighteenth Century. At the end of his or her term, the exiting mayor is weighed out. It is imperative that the outgoing mayor not weigh more than at the beginning of the term. If s/he does weigh more, public jeers follow.
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Why? The New York Times tells us that the tradition dates to 1678, when the mayor developed a reputatin as drunken out who had gained fat at the expense of the taxpayers. High increased weight was taken as proof of his profligacy with municipal funds.
Now, the ceremony is an excuse for a party and fun and the expense of the mayor. The macebearer will read out the weight at the beginning of the term and say “and some more” if the mayor has gained weight or “and no more” if the mayor has not.
-via Amusing Planet | Photo: Mayor of High Wycombe
Source: neatorama