Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-04-03
A Scampanaccfata.

I had often heard of the old Roman
scampanacciata. but had never really
witnessed one till couple of evenings
ago. Now, as do not suppose there
are many if any who have ever seen OF
even knew what q ampanacciata is,
| fiatter myself that for this once, at the
least, have something new to tell you.
A scampanacciata, then, is a serenade
| of knives. forks. fiat-irons, kettles, pots,
pans, drums. tin trumpets and every
other fendish instrument OF oral tor
ture that satirical malice can invent to
lnf1lct upon an unfO tunate couple who
may have thought tit to unite themselves
late in order to spend their latter days
in company together, instead of sittin g
| each alone by a solitary hearth. In a
word. when man and woman past
their prime marry here in Rome their
neighbors resent this tardy union as a
personal insult to themselves, and re-
venge themselves, also, by informing
their friends and acquaintance all over
the town, and then agree together to
give the newly-married pair a scam
panacciata the very first night of their
marriage or the first night after their
return to town, should the poor old
bIiuC DIIucSIOOu VI
the serenade by hiding themselves for q
time in aristocratic manner. The per-
mission of the police is even necessary
for S ampana .ciata. on account of
the numbers of persons employed in it,
which might provoke disturbances of a
different kind if not controlled, and even
protected. by the police authorities.
In former days these scampana- cata
used to be. in at midnight and
lasted until dawn; but as this awoke
and kept awake hundreds of other peo-
pie besides the intended victims the
present Government gives its perm s.
sion Tor an early after dusk, and sets,
also, a limit on the duration of the SER
enade, which the other evening lasted
barely twenty minutes; and even then
nineteen out of the twenty were two
many for the ears and nerves of all
those not personally int ested in the
ce emory. of which nothing more hid
eous can well be mag ned. The very
word scampanacciata portrays the
meaning of the thing--that is, "a dis
eorlant ringing of bells.' in English
we M ght say, ga scampish ringing of
bells" When first the hideous sound
broke the growing silence of the eve
ming hour it sounded as if He'll itself
had opened its jaws and sent it's imps
on earth 10 scare u with the shrieks.
The mind cannot picture to itself lch
a fiendish mixture OF hideous instru-
ments. with hOwls and shrieks, imi-
tat ng cats. dogs, owls, sheep, cattle
horses, and the like. Every window in
the street was thrown open and people
! ale with fright appeared at them.
Their fright soon ceased. however, and
SIN les APP, cared On their scared faces.
Romans en- oy such sights, and are
proud of them on account of their
ancient origin. In fact, sett NO the
noise on one side, the sight of t street
was cur GUS enough. 1t was filled with
a crowd of men, women and children,
all carrying some noisy instrument in
their hands, or torch, or lantern. Every
one. also, either shouted whistled,
hooted, howled, or initiated an mails, as
above stated, The no sc was Internal,
that is fact: and the sight, also. of all
these lighted torches and lanterns in
the dark street was weird and strange
to degree. Nothing like it can be
seen IN any other part OF the world, for
nowhere b t in lone old pagan
ctstoms stall kept up as they arr in
this SO well called Eternal CITY,"
u " III I'm ho"CNCIs tfidI tHfS ulOtlS
scampanacciata is remnant of one of
the most poetic ceremonies of old Pagan
Rome, a es'ige o its nuptal festivi-
ties. when company of youths, called
paranin j, went to snatch the br de from
het' fathers house lin imitation of the
rape of the Sadness! The bride. also,
covered from head to foot with long
veil, pretended to move with unwilling
steps toward her husbands house, and
was followed by her maidens, carrying
her distaff and other household nipple
ments. On each side OF her, also. were
her friends and relatives, who danced
and sang hymns of jov as she went on.
while the paranin filled up the paI,ses |
with cheers Tor the bride, b idegroom,
and hymen ("Hymen, hymenae, by |
men: Hymen AIDES hymenee!"); they |
also carried lighted torches in their
hands.
Wh"n paganism gradually disap- |
peared before Christianity this pagan
nuptial ceremony also disappeared to |
give place to Christian marriage-rt |
only, as the Romans transferred their |
into their Ottobrate, and their |
Carli lie into their st. Johns eve mid
night orgies, and many other old pagan
customs into their modern festivals. so |
they transferred the old Roman nuu-
italia ceremonies into the low, rough, /
vulgar riot, TO turn into ridicue the
of an elderly couple, and to
substitute the old HYMNS of ,oy W tn I'M
seem y shrieks of an mails and d scord-
ant ounds. A low and ill-brei Joke is
all that now remains of the old poetic
Paganism was in this. at
least, more poetical than the modern
,hristianitv of our present Rome