The Ringley Mock Mayor celebrations involved ducking a 'Lord Mayor' who was elected annually for the privilege, originally in the river but later in canal. He was duly dressed up for the occasion including braid and trident with apiece of toast speared on it. There was also a silly set of rules the newly elected Lord Major had to follow such as 'if comes home drunk & his wife turns him out then he must reside in a pig-sty over night'. The dunking into the canal was his passport to free drink for year. (For a fuller explanation p103 'Ghosts, traditions and legends of old Lancashire' Ken Howarth Sigma 1993.