Skimmington \Skim"ming*ton\, n. [Etymol. uncertain. Perhaps the
name of some notorius scold.]
A word employed in the phrase, To ride Skimmington; that is
to ride on a horse with a woman, but behind her, facing
backward, carrying a distaff, and accompanied by a procession
of jeering neighbors making mock music; a cavalcade in
ridicule of a henpecked man. The custom was in vogue in parts
of England.
[1913 Webster]