The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-06-20
WEDDINGS.
How Ehey Were Conducted in OIde
Times.

syria and Persia, and the bridal veil
was worn in Greece and Rome The
Bible does not mention wedding rings,
but it describes the giving of them as
pledges of honor and affection. Pharaoh
gave Joseph ring when he set him
over the land of Egypt, and the prod
igal was given ring upon his return to
his father. Legends relate that Joseph
espoused Mary with q ring in which
was set an amethyst, and of course this
precious relic was found (by miracle)
and performed many wonderful cures,
for the benefit of mankind and the
treasury Of the church.
The young Roman sent the maiden
his family had selected to become his
wife ring in token of his fidelity.
Gold was the usual material but in the
time of Pliny. iron rings set with ada
mant were used to denote the durabil-
ity of the contract. As now, this ring
was worn on the fourth finger of the
left hand. 1t was not always plain, but
dten bore device, as a key to denote
the authority and responsibility of a
wife in her husbands house.
The diamond was much esteemed as
a wedding ring in Italy during the fif-
@t9enth and sixteenth centuries, for that
gem was believed to have a mysterious
power of maintaining happiness between
husband and wife. Silver rings, inlaid
with Niello, were also used.
Gemmed rings were in fashion forty
or fifty years ago. Two and sometimes
three or four delicate rings were hinged
or linked together, and bore upon the
top when closed clasped hands or a
heart, emblem of love and fidelity.
Notices OF posies were engraved on the
inside of these rings. The prettieSt one
[ ever saw read Endless and pure be
our love" The Anglo-SaXons used
these gemmed rings, and they in turn
borrowed them of the French. | for
one would like to know from whom the
French borrowed them, but history is
silent on this point.
The wedding ring has been worn
upon the thumb, and upon the right
hand. But the women of all nations
have been as busy as bees,' and with
spinning and weaving to occupy their
fingers, it is easy to see why even a
princess should put her priced wedding
ring upon the hand and finger which
would keep it the safest. The fancy
that vein or nerve runs directly from
the fourth finger of the left hand to the
heart, is very ancient, and no doubt
helped to make it the bearer of the we'd
ding ring, and there was in the early
days of the church a curious custom of
recognizing the Trinity, by placing the
ring on the first finger or thumb for
the Father, on the second finger for the
Son, and on the third finger for the
Holy Ghost. Then it was placed upon
the fourth finger, from which loving
and superstitious wives never remove it.
Scholars are fond of telling us that
the wedding ring meant the subsection
of the wife, and the placing it upon the
left hand meant more subsection. But
in the past the subsection of women has
needed no sign to emphasize it. 1t was
an accepted and expected fact, and was
perhaps a condition of safety.
In the middle ages the wedding ring
was blessed or hallowed by the oflici-
ating priest, and the form used seems
to me very beautiful: "HallOw, Thou,
Lord, this ring, which we bless in Thy
| holy name, that whatsoever woman
shalt wear it may stand fast in Thy
| peace, and continue in Thy will, and
live, and grow, and wax old in Thy
love. and be multiplied with length of
days. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. "
The service of the Church of England
compels the use of ring, and an odd
story is told of two paupcrs who, too
| poor to buy ring, were securely mar
ried by means of curtain ring, sup
piled by q sympathetic clerk. Two
rings are used in modern Greece. A
gold one for the bridegroom and silver
one for the bride. The inferior metal
marks the inferiority of the wife, say
the antiquarians again, but it seems to
me rather survival of the old worship
of the sun and the moon. The ring fell
under the displeaSure of the Puritans,
as did all signs and symbols used by
Rome, and during the Commonwealth
they tried to abolish it with Christmas
and Easter observauces, but the de
scendants of those Puritans wear en-
gagement or betrothal rings, if not a
wedding ring
When marriage between patrician
families was celebrated in ancient
Rome, loaf of bread, made of wheat
and barley, was solemnly tasted by the
bride and bridegroom before the priest
of Jove and ten Roman citizens as wit
nesses. Children of marriages in which
this ceremony was observed were en-.
titled to certain privileges and offices
for this was the highest and most sacred
rite of marriage. Dainty and sweet a,
it is, the bride-cake is the modern rep
resentative of that wheat and barley
bread. Whence the Romans derived
the custom is not known, but it came
no doubt from Asia. Dreaming upon
wedding cake is an old English custom
In Greece the bride rode to her hus
bands house in litter, seated between
the bridegroom and his friend-the bes
man. In Rome two boys led the bride
but his attendant was a married woman
whose duty it was to lead the newl,
married pair to the altar of the family
gods. In the time of the Anglo-SaXon
the bride was led by matron and fol
lowed by company of young girls
who were called the bridesmaids. From
them the custom has descended to us
DemoreSfs Monthly.