Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-11-08

CaSSeiIS fa1fuy magazine LOT November.
Importance was formerly attached to the
colors which the bride wore on her wedding day.
Thus, in an old book entitled Fifteen Comforts
of Marriage" a bride and her bridemaids are
represented conversing together respecting the
colOrs to be used for the decoration Of the
bridal dress. 1t was finally decided, after var
ious colOrs had been rejected, Ito mingle q
gold tissue with grass green this being con-
sidered symbolcal of youthful Jolity.
Again, that the office of bridemaid was in
times past not altogether sine qua non may be
gathered from the fact that during the period of
the wedding festivities which often extended
over week, the bridesmaids were expected to
be in attendance, and to do whatever they
could to promote their success.
Then there was the custom of ''f1inginC the
stocking" at which the bridesmaids took a
prominent lead; ceremony to which no small
Importance was attached. 1t has been made
the subject of frequent alluson by our old
writer's, and one rhyme, describing a wedding,
tells us:
"But still the stockings are to throw;
Some throw too high, and some too low,
There's none could hit the mark"
Nilsson further informs us that If the BRIDE
groom's stocking, thrown by one of the BRIDE
maids, fell upon his head, it was regarded as
an omen that she herself would soon be mar
ried, and a similar prOgnostic was taken from
the falling OF the brides stocking, thrown by
one OF the groomsmen. 1t was the bridemaids'
duty, too, to present the bride with the 'bene-
diction pOsset," so called from the words
uttered over it; a practice thus noticed by Her
rick, in his "Hesperides':
"What short sweet. prayers shall be said,
And how the pOSset shall be made
With cream Of lilies, not OF kline,
And maiden's blush for spced wine"
Sucking thus alludes to this custom:
"In came the bridemaids with the posset,
The bridegroom eat in spighL"
Once more, the bridemaids were supposed to
look after the brides pecuniary interests. Thus,
at the church porch, when the bridegroom pro-
duced the ring and other articles relating to his
marriage, the chief bridemaid took charge of
the ''dowp purse" which was publicly given to
the bride as an instalment of her pin-mOney
Horace Walpole. writing to Miss Berry in the
year 1871, speaks of the dOw-purse as thing of
the past. and writes as follows:
Our wedding Is over very properly, though
with little ceremony, and nothing of ancient
fashion but two bridemaids. The endowing
purse, I believe. has been left off since broad
pieces were called in and melted down.
Ii has been pointed out, however that q
| survival of this usage is preserved in Cumber-
land. The bridegroom provides himself with
gold and crown pieces, and when the service
| reaches the point, with all my worldly goods
thee endOw," he takes the money, hands the
clergyman his fee, and pours the rest into a
handkerchief which the bridemaid holds for the
bride.
In Scotland, the bridemaid is popularity known
as the "best maid," and one of her principal
duties was to convey the brides presents on
the wedding to her future home. The first
| article generally taken into the house was a
vessel Of salt, a portion of which was sprinkled
over the floor, as protection against the "evil
| eye" She also attended the bride when she
| called on her friends. and gave personal inyi-
| tatiOn to her wedding.