CHARIVARI  , a

French term of uncertain origin, but probably onomatopoeic, for a mock serenade " rough music," made by beating on kettles, fire-irons, tea-trays or what not . The charivari was anciently in France a regular wedding custom, all bridal couples being thus serenaded . Later it was reserved for ill-assorted and unpopular marriages, for widows or widowers who remarried too soon, and generally as a mockery for all who were unpopular . At the beginning of the 17th century, wedding charivaris were forbidden by the Council of Tours under pain of excommunication, but the custom still lingers in rural districts .