A ludicrous cavalcade, in ridicule of a man beaten by his wife. It consists of a man riding behind a woman, with his face to the horse's tail, holding a distaff in his hand, at which he seems to work, the woman all the while beating him with a ladle; a smock displayed on a staff is carried before them as an emblematical standard, denoting female superiority: they are accompanied by what is called the ROUGH MUSIC, that is, frying-pans, bulls horns, marrow-bones and cleavers, &c. A procession of this kind is admirably described by Butler in his Hudibras. He rode private, i.e. was a private trooper.
n. the occupationof a Stock-rider (q.v.). 1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 260[F...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
Sitting on the fence, i. e. keeping neutral in politics. The South will not vote for a Northern can...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.