the _charivari_ are found almost solely in documents coming from the Roman towns in the south of France, so that this practice was probably one of the many popular customs derived directly from the Romans. When Cotgrave's "Dictionary" was published (that is, in 1632) the practice of the _charivari_ appears to have become more general in its existence, as well as its application; for he describes it as "a public defamation, or traducing of; a foule noise made, blacke santus rung, to the shame and disgrace of another; hence an infamous (or infaming) ballad sung, by an armed troupe, under the window of an old dotard, married the day before unto a yong wanton, in mockerie of them both." And, again, a _charivaris de poelles_ is explained as "the carting of an infamous person, graced with the harmonie of tinging kettles and frying-pan musicke."[29] The word is now generally used in the sense of a great tumult of discordant music, produced often by a number of persons playing different tunes on different instruments at the same time. [28] "Insultationes, clamores, sonos, et alios tumultus, in secundis et tertiis quorundam nuptiis, quos charivarium vulgo appellant, propter multa et gravia incommoda, prohibemus sub pœna excommunitationis."--Ducange, v. _Charivarium_. [29] Cotgrave's Dictionarie, v. _Charivaris_. [Illustration: _No. 53. Continuation of the Charivari._] As I have stated above, the manuscript of the romance of "Fauvel" is in the Imperial Library in Paris. A copy of this illumination is engraved in Jaime's "Musée de la Caricature," from which our cuts Nos. 52 and 53 are taken. It is divided into three compartments, one above another, in the uppermost of which Fauvel is seen entering the nuptial chamber to his young wife, who is already in bed. The scene in the compartment below, which is copied in our cut No. 52, represents the street outside, and the mock revellers performing the _charivari_; and this is continued in the third, or lowest, compartment, which is represented in our cut No. 53. Down each side of the original illumination is a frame-work of windows, from which people, who have been disturbed by the noise, are looking out upon the tumult. It will be seen that all the performers wear masks, and that they are dressed in burlesque costume. In confirmation of the statement of the ecclesiastical synods as to the licentiousness of these exhibitions, we see one of the performers here disguised as a woman, who lifts up his dress to expose his person while dancing. The musical instruments are no less grotesque than the costumes, for they consist chiefly of kitchen utensils, such as frying-pans, mortars, saucepans, and the like. [Illustration: _No. 54. The Tables Turned._]