The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1882-10-12
FOR Til. LADIES.



From the earliest times no event tn
human life has been associated with u
more extensive folklore than marriage,
Beginning with lovc-divinationa, these
are of every conceivable kind. the
anxious maiden apparently having left
no stone unturncd IN her anxiety tn
ascertain her lot in the marriage state
Some cut the common brake or fern
Just above the root tO ascertain the
initials of her future husbands name.
Again, nuts and apples are very favor
| ite love tests. The mode of procedure
is for girl to place on the bars of
CRATE nut, repeating this incantation:
If he loves me, pop and fly
Ii he hates me, live and die.
Great is the dismay if the anxious
face of the inquirer gradually perceives
the nut, instead of making the hoped
for pop, die and make no sign. One
means of divination is to throw lady
bird into the air, repeating meanwhile
the subjoined couplet:
| Fly away east and fly away west,
Show me where lives the one like best.
| Should this little insect chance to
fly in the direction of the house where
the loved one resides, it is regarded as
a favorable omen.
Another species of love. divination
once observed consisted in obtaining
five bay-leaves, four of which the
anxious maiden pinned at the four
corners of her pillow and the fifth in
| the middle. If she was fortunate
enough to dream of her lover it was a
sure sign that he would be married to
her in the course of the year.
Friday has been held a good day of
the week for love omens; and in Nor
folk the following lines are repeated
on three Friday nights successfully, as
on the last one it is believed that the
young lady will dream of her future
| husband:
| Tonight, tonight is Friday night,
Lay me down in dirty white:
Dream who my husband is to be,
| And lay my children by my side,
If I'm to live to be his bride.
In selecting the time for the mar
riage ceremony precautions of every
kind have generally been taken to avoid
an unlucky month and day for the
knot to be tied. Indeed, the old Ro-
man notion that May marriages are un-
lucky survives to this day in England
June is highly popular month. Fri
day, on account of its being regarded
as an inauspicious and evil day for the
commencement of any kind of enter
prise, is generally avoided.
In days gone by Sunday appears to
have been popular day for mar
riages. 1t is, above all things neces-
sary that the sun should shine on the
bride, and it is deemed absolutely nee
essary by very many that she should
weep on her wedding day, if it be only
a few tears; the omission of such an
act being considered ominous of her
future happiness.
In Sussex bride on her return home
from church is often robbed of all her
| pins about her dress by the single
women present, from the belief that
whoever possesses one of them will be
married in the course of a year, and
evil fortune will sooner or later inevi-
tably overtake the bride who keeps
even one pin used in the marriage
toilet.
"Flnging the stocking" was an old
marriage custom in England The
young men took the brides stockings
and the girls those of the bridegroom
each of whom, sitting at the foot of
the bed, threw the stocking over their
heads, endeavoring to make it fall
upon that of the bride or her spouse.
If the bridegroom's stockings, thrown
by the girls, fell upon the bridegroom's
head, it was sign that they them
selves would soon be married, and
similar luck was derived from the fall
ing of the brides stockings, thrown by
the young men. There is super
stitiOus notion in some places that
when the bride retires to rest on her
wedding night her bridemaids should
lay her stockings across, as this act is
supposed to guarantee her future
prosperity in the marriage state.