Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1874-02-02
THE NORMAN BRIDE.

Anglo Saxon sister, the slave. the prop
erty by purchase of her husband. She
was free woman, probably an heiress,
carrying for her dover rich domains.
castles, and vassals, and in her lofty and
erect bearing showed full consciousness
of her independence and self-confdence.
When two parties desired to be married
they were asked three times in church,
as our publishing of bans, unless dis
pensation had been previously procured,
which was new step on the part of the
church to secure its interference in mat
ters concerning marriages. French dress
had varied little from Anglo-Sax times,
but the names of the garments had been
changed. The '.gunna." now become
'.robc," had the body made close to fit
the figure and form the ''surcoat" " The
sleeves. of extravagant proportions, hung
pendant from the arms, and were tied in
knots to prevent their trailing on the
ground and being trodden upon. The
form of them exactly resembled the we'll
known ''mannech' of the Hastings arms.
The high-born Norman maiden wore her
hair long and flowing until a certain
age, when she was allowed to plait it in
two tails, or to bind it with ribbons,
much in the style of pig-tail. On her
wedding day she unplaited it, and let it
hang loosely scattered over her shoulders,
as indicating her noble birth but after
her marriage she cut it off, to show she
accepted the condition of bondage to her
husband. But as civilization advanced,
the sacrifice of the hair was dispensed
with; only brides were required, after
the marriage ceremony, to bind it in
folds round the head. In jewelry and
rich materials for dress, luxury increas-
ed. Silk stufs, called cendal, siglaton,
| samit, velvet, &C., were used considera-
bly,, some home-wrought, others from the
Levant and Sicily, and some from Chi
nese looms, tasty, gauze-like stuffs, ''re-
sembling IN color the flowers of the
meadow, rivaling in fneness the work
I Of the spiders OF these showy text.
ures. the knight wore over his armor a
long, sleeveless gown, slit up almost to
the waist on both sides. In the twelfth
century cotton had been introduced, and
Mosul had gained her reputation for her
textures of cloud-like thinness, which
derive their name of muslin from this
Asiatic city. That the Norman bride
should hold quite Few position may be
inferred from the state of society in this
age of chivalry. Her countrymen mad
become distinguished throughout all
Europe for their military skill, their
love of literature, the splendor of their
attire, and their courteous bearing
courtesy meaning the manners Of the
court: that is. of the society within the
castle walls, as distinguished from the
bourgeoisie, or people of towns. Wo-
men were then the objects of the knights
idolatry; she armed her lover for the
fight. and sometimes led his palfrey to
the field by the bride She attached
her scarf to his arm or his helmet, and
by her encouragement made the coward
bold The knight looked upon woman
as his patron, and himself as bound to
risk his life in her defense Hawking
was one Of the favorite accomplishments
of Norman lady. Mounted on her
richly caparisoned steed. she would 90
forth in pursuit of the game, her hawk
or merlin on her wrist. In the castle.
surrounded by her tirewomen, she would
work at tapestry, and while she listened
to the reading of tales of chivalry, would
reproduce them with the needle to drape
the bare walls of the castle. The harp,
the dance. chess, and the garden were
the other amusements of the day
Londou Society.