Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-05-25
VOLUME XXVI,
WEDDING.DAY sUPERSTITIONs.

WEDDING-DAY SUPERSTITIONS.
In olden days, June was held the most
| prOpitiOus month in the twelve for mar
| riage, happy result being rendered
| doubly certain if the ceremony was timed
so as to take place at the full NOON, or
when the sun and moon were in conjunc-
| ton. May is in these later days favorite
marrying month, so that ones matrimoni-
al superstition has gone the way all such
fancies are doomed, sooner or later, to go !;
for May used to be as much avoided by
persons about to marry as June was
favored, that merry month being supposed
to be specially under the influence of ma
lignant spirits delighting in domestic dis
cord. The girls are all stark naught that
wed in May" is the verdict of one old saw !;
another declares
From the marriages in May
All the BARNS die and decay"
third pronounces, "Who marries be
tween the sickle and the scythe will never
thrive" while poet complimenting the
month at the expense of what should be
the ruling passion in marriage
folks, sings
May never was the month of Love,
For May is full of flowers;
But rather April. wet by kind,
For Love is full of showersl
But if old sayings rule the world, there
would be no marrying at all, for a very
old one AYERS that no man enters the holy
state without repenting his rashness before
the year is out; unless, indeed, everybody
determined like the old Norfolk farmer, to
cheat the adage by wedding on the S1st of
December.
1t was considered improper to marry
80 Ia,
GRATED the slaughter of the children by
Herod and it was equally wrong to wed
upon st. Joseph's Day. In fact, the whole
season of Lent was declared sacred from
the intrusion of Hymen's devotees.
MARRY in Lent, and you'll repent" and
there are good people among us still who,
if they do not believe that bit of prov
erbial wisdom to be prophetic, undoubt-
edly think Lenten wedders deserve to find
it so.
We may possibly be doing a service to
some of our readers by informing them
ION the authority of manuscript of the
fifteenth century, quoted in "The Book
of Days,") there are just thirty two days
in the year upon which it is uuadvisable
to enter into matrimony-namely, seven
in January, three each in February, March,
May and December, two each in April,
June, July, August, September and No
vember; and one in October, the best
month for committing matrimony; the
actual unlucky days being these: January
1st, I'd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 10th, 10th; February
9th, 7th, 18th; March 1st, 9th, Sth April
9th, 18th; May 5th, 9th, 18th; June 7th,
Is; July 5th, 10Th; August 18th, 10Th !;
September 9th, 18th; October 9th; No
vember 18th, 18th, and December 15th
10th, 17th. AS to which is the best day
of the week, why
Monday for wealth;
Tuesday for health;
Wednesday the best day of all.
Thursday for crosses;
Friday for losses;
Saturday no luck at all.
Friday is generally considered an un-
lucky day in England; but in France the
country lasses look upon the first Friday
in the month as peculiarly favorable, if
not for the actual ceremony, at least for
determining who will be one of the prin-
cipal actors in it.
Young ladies should abstain from lis
tening to any one, whose surname begins
with the same letter as their own.
To change the name and not the letter,
Is change for the worse and not for the better,
and they would do well to take the pre-
caution of placing their initials in con-
junction with those of any admirer they
luClluG W ldfOI, duu dSh, HkC nldlfOllO,
What should that alphabetical position
portend?' for if, of the united initials, any
word can be formed, they may be certain
the owners of them will never be happy
together.
1t is an unhappy omen for wedding
to be put off when the day has once been
fixed. In Sweden it is believed much
harm will ensue if a bridegroom stands at
the junction of cross roads, or beside q
closed gate, upon his wedding morn. 1t
is a bad sign if the bride fails to shed tears
| on the happy day. or if she indulges her
self by taking last admiring glance at
| the looking glass after her toilet is COM
| pleted; but she may crafty her vanity
without danger if she leaves one hand un-
gloved until beyond temptation. To meet
| priest, dog, cat, lizard or serpent on the
way to church-to look back, or to mount
many steps before gaining the church
door, are alike ominous of future unhappi-
ness and according to north country no
tions, it is courting misfortune to marry
in green, or while there is an open grave
in the church yard, or to go in at one
door and out at another. The weather,
too, has good or bad influence upon
affairs; happy is the bride that the sun
| shines on, and, of course, the converse is
| equally true. Where the Scottish custom is
| followed of the newly welded couple being
welcomed home by the husbands mother
meeting them at the door, and the break
ing of a currant bun over the head of the
bride before her foot crosses the threshold,
it is thought very bad omen if the bun
be by any mistake broken over any head
but that to which the honor is due. If a
| bridal party ventures off dry land, they
| must go up stream; should they be fool
hov.C TO I,x
the bride, the groom, or one of the brides
maids will infallibly feed the fishes. Spite
of the faith in there being luck in odd
numbers, it is belief in the North of Eng
land that one of the wedding guests will
| die within a year, unless the party counts
even.
i The only omens we know of tending to
| encourage adventure in the great lottery
| of life are the meeting of wolf, spider
on the way to church, and cat sneezing
within the brides hearing on the day be-
fore the wedding; but, fortunately, there
are many ways of insuring happy fortune.
In the Highlands of Scotland, the mali
cious influences of warlock and witches
used to be kept at bay by preventing any
unlucky dog passing between the couple
on their road to church, and taking care
the bridegroom's shoe bore no latchet
buckle. By using gray horses in the bridal
carriage, the same good purpose is effected
Swedish bridegrooms sew garlic, olives
and rosemary in their wedding garments,
to frustrate the evil designs Of the trolls
and sprites, and the attendants on the lady
carry bouquets of the same herbs in thei1
hands, while the bride herself fills hel
pockets with bread, which she dispenses
to any poor wayfarer she espies as she
goes to church, every piece she gets rid Of
ayerting misfortune. The gift, however
is of no use to the receiver, since, if he
eats it, he thereby brings the misfortune
| nOcke etfu1 of calf eoua1Iv efficaciOuS