May 21, 1678
The custom of “weighing the Mayor” began in High Wycombe, Bucks, England, after Mayor Henry Shepard in was reported as being drunk and misbehaving himself. The Mayor is weighed upon taking up office, and again a year later when the next incumbent takes on the annual role. The Mayor is be seated on special brass scales – if “and no more” is called out, the crowd will cheer as it’s assumed they have been working hard. If the verdict is “And some more!”, it means the mayor has been indulging in too much good living at rate payers’ expense and the crowd jeers and boos.
