The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-09-14
Marriage Ceremonies.

The ancient practlce OF marriage by
capture, which has left some traces even
in our customs and sports-notable in
the popular game of kissin-the-ring," a
mimic representation of the great game
of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. many illustrations in
Mongol life. Rubuquis, who visited the
hordes of Tartary, and was entertained
in the tent of the immediate successors
of Jenghis Kahn, describes MOngol
marriage thus:
"TherefOre, when any man has bar
gained with another for maid, the
father of the damsel makes him feast
in the meantime she flies away to some
of her kinsfolk to hide herself. Then the
father says to the bridegroom, My
daughter is yours; take her wherever
you can find her. Then he and his
friends seek her till they find her, and,
having found her, he takes her by force,
and carries her to his own house."
This simple form of marriage contract
is still preserved among the Koarks and
Tehuctchus, tribes of northeastern Sbe-
ria. There the damsel is pursued by her
admirer, and hides herself among the
plOges, or cabins made of skins, which
form the internal compartments of their
dwellings,. The womenkind assist her in
her pretended evasion, and not till the
bridegroom has caught his bride, and left
the impression of his finger-nail upon the
tender skin is the betrothal completed.
The analogous customs in ancient
Roman marriages here strike one with
the myth of the rape of the SabiDes;
but we need not go go far away. The
customs of Welsh wedding, up to a
very recent date, included mimic pur-
suit of the bride by the bridegroom, both
on horseback and even in our English
manner, where the bridegroom invariably
goes to seek his bride on the wedding
morn. But the value Of womankind in
pastoral life where there is so much for
her to do in the way of milking, cheese
and butter making, and so on, brings q
further element into the relationship. A
price must be paid for the future COM
panion, and the wedding portion enters
largely into the question.
A more modern Mongol wedding is
described by Hue, the most amusing of
Jesuit fathers. The religious ceremonies
are those of Buddhism. The marriage is
arranged by the parents, who settle the
dover that is to be paid to the father OF
the bride by means of mediators. When
the contract has been concluded, the
father of the bridegroom, accompanied
by his nearest relative, carries the news
to the family of the bride. They pros
trate themselves before the domestic altar,
and offer up boiled sleeps head, milk,
and sash Of white silk. During the re-
past all the relations of the bride receive
piece of money, which they deposit in
a vase filed with wine made of fermented
milk 1--WE have, or had, similar customs
of hiding ring or money in the wedding
cake), the father of the bride drinks the
milk and keeps the money. The lamas,
or priests, fix an suspicious day, when
the bridegroom sends deputation to es-
cort the bride. There is ieigned opposi-
ton to the departure of the bride, who
is placed OH horse, and led three times
(note the three mystic circles) around
the paternal house, and then taken at
full gallop to the tent prepared for the
purpose, near the dwelling of her father
in-law. All the Tartars of the neighbor-
hood repair to the wedding feast and
offer their presents, which consist of
beasts and eatablcs. These go to the
father of the bridegroom, and often re-
coup him the sum he has paid for the
sons bride. Rather shame, one would
think, of that selfish papa, did we not re-
fleet that he will have 10 support his son
and daughter, or, at all events, ret them
up with sheep and cattle from his hocks
and herds.