Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1866-03-22


Cid song.
1t was ancieHtly the custom at mar
riages 10 strew herbs and flowers, ass
also rnshes, from the houses where
persons betrotbed resided, TO the
church, and among the first named,
rosemary was held in high estimation. /
Branches of it, dipped in scented wa
ter, and sometimes giided and hung
with streamers of colored ribbon,
were carried before the bride, and la
the hands of the bridal party, as em.
blems of c0nstancy and remembr-
ance. The fragrant herb had tworold
usage, for it was borne at funerals as
well as at bridal ceremonials and is
alluded to by Decker, in 1908, when
he says: Here is strange altera-
ton for the rosemary that was Dip
ped in sweet water 10 set out the bri-
dal. is now wet in tears to furnish her
burial. ...
The practice of strewing flowers in
the way is still kept up in Kent and
many other parts of England !; but the
custom which formerly prevailed of
crowning the bridegroom aud bride
with chaplets of flowers kept in the
church for the purpose, is now obso-
lete, though the bride still retains
relic of the custom in the marriage
wreath encircling her brow. This, in
the time of Henry Will. was formed OF
wheat ears. occasionally of myrtle,
while, for the present chaplets of or
ange flowers. symbols Of the purity of
the fair bride, we are indebted To the
French.
Another, now obsolete, custom at
marriages, was to sprinkle wheat up
on the head Of the bride as she left
the church.
The wheaton ear was scattered near the perch.
The green bloom blossom slgewed the way from church
When with her newly espoused hus-
baud, she returned home, pot Of
butter and wheaton cake are present
ed, as presages of future, plenty and
abundance of the good things Of this
life. This custom gradually merged
into the present highly important ad
jnnct Of the wedding feast, that pocu.
liar province of the bridemaids-the
bride cake.
A slight trace Of the origin of this
delicate compound is still preserved.
we believe, in Yorkshire to the pres
ent day, where small pieces of the
cake are thrown over the heads of the
married pair, previous to the precious
morsc!s being distributed for dream
bread"
In old plays. frequent allusions are
made to fashion. which we think
has, in modern times, been most Judi
ciously transferred to the wedding
feast at home. We allude TO the knit
ting cup" or nnptial drinking of wine
in the church.
What priest can join two lovers hands.
But wine must seal the marriage bands i
A cup, being first blessed by the
priest, was handed round to the rest
of the comprny, who drank the healths
of the newly espoused pair. The Jews
preserve a somewhat similar custom
to this day and after the bride aud
bridegroom have tasted the wine, the
glass is broken over their heads to re-
mind them of their mortality.
The attendance of bridemaids at
weddings. dates from the time of the
Auglo-Saxons, "among whom" as
Strut informs us, the bride was led
by a matron called the bridcwoman,
followed by a company of young
maidens, who were called the brides
maids" In latter times, it was among
the Offices of the latter to lead the
bridegroom to church, as il was the
duty of the bridegroom's men to con-
duet the bride thither. We read of
LADY being led to the church between
two sweet boys, with bride laces. and
rosemary tied about their silken
sleeves And at the marriage OF
Philip Herbert aud the Lady Susan at
Whitehall, in the reign Of James the
First, the Prince and the Duke OF
Hoist led the bride to the church. On
returning, two married men escorted
the newly-married lady, and for these
services she presented each OF the
gentlemen with gloves during the
time Of dinner.
Gloves appear to have been given
at wedding parties from the time they
were first worn, and in chronicle
bearing the date of 1921, in which an
| inquiry occurs into the visitation
nf ordinaries of churches, one of the
items is, as to whether the curate
can refuse TO solemnize lawful matri-
mony before he have the gift of mon
cy, hose, or gloves u and in the mar