Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-03-26
E covRrsH,P.
How tho Young Men Of Cape Breton
Woo and Win Their Wives.

How tho Young Men Of Cape Breton
Woo and Win Their Wives.
Courtship is by no means a necessary
preliminary to marriage. To begin at
the beginning: When a young man
decides that he will marry, he often
first builds a house; and it is no trivial
matter here, where most of the lumber
is sawn by hand in a pit. A man may
be said to be in earnest when he begins
his suit with months of such hard labor
and that, too, from a dl~sinterestcd
motive, not having the %faintest idea,
perhaps, as to who will be the mistress
of the house. We saw q number of
such expectant buildings, IN all states
and of many ages; for some, failing to
get a tenant, stood without windows OF
doors, the image of a desolate and
empty heart. John -, ayoung nan
duly prepared and determined to marry,
had set out the previous week with his
spokesman to get a wife. He had no
particular preference for any one, but
they decided to go first to the house of
Mary -, n of the brightest girls of
the parish, whom he had often noted,
but with whom he had neve spoken.
When they entered the house, a hint of
their object vas given to Mary, and
she retired from the sitting-room. The
spokesman then delivered his speech,
in which he praised the personal quail
ties, the fortune. the social position,
of his friend, and asked tho Hand Of
Mary for him. AS the father had no
objection to the offer, he at once
consented to leave the matter to his
daughter. She was called in, and the
spokesman conferred quietly awhile
with her in a corner, and she consented
to the marriage. The spokesman then
led her out to the middle of the floor,
and John came from his corner and
took her by the hand; thus the ''con-
tract was accepted, under the usual
penalty of FORGETTING twenty dollars in
case the engagement was broken. The
evening was spent in dancing; but if
any of the deacons had had wind of the
affair, it is probable that they would
have come and changed the testivity
into a prayer-meeting.
The young man afterward engaged
the priest to publish the banns for the
first and last time on the following
Sabbath. But Mary had her own plans
in all this: she knew that the affair
would reach the ears of Sandy -,
for whom she had a strong preference,
and perhaps bring him promptly to- a
proposal. Sandy did come, and the
upshot of it was that he and his father
went late on Saturday night, reused
; the priest, and had Sandy's name sub
stituted in the banns for that of appli-
cant number n
This new shutting of the cards was
common enough, so that it caused but
a passing smile among the friends OF
the parties most interested. But a GER
tain young man who heard the bann'
went home in such depression that ht
asked his father for ten dollars. Wher
questioned, he explained that tho
: girl whom he had always intended Il
marry was to become the bride o
Sandy -, and he was going away t.
carry her off and marry her ycrsel'
> Malcolm? I'll give ye the upper farm
> this minute. Go, get yer brother, Sc
!. the girl and bring her home here
: Well keep her safe" Now, it haI
. pened that Malcolm was the richest {
the three applicants, besides being,
will suppose for charity's sake, a goo
! fellow. Suffice it to say that the
> brought the girl home bag and bag
l gage, by stealth, that Sunday night
and mounted a guard that p%revente
! the success of any strategcm on elthe
i her part or the part of others, an
{ thew were married on the followin
! Tuesday,
These persons were by no means c
! the lower ranks; the girl was describe
) to me by an old fisherman as a ''noble
minded lookin' girl, sir; a fine spec
men of the Highland craft A ma
: is all the more highly esteemed for sue
, a feat. The rejected fellow does no
; lose heart; he generally keeps on wit
I his negotiations, day after day, hous
after house, until he finds a partner
An intelligent woman, while admit
ting the general predominancc Q
, worldly interests in these matters, an
l the suddenness with which marriage
were very often made, said that unhap
Nv families arc nevertheless rare anon;
; this people.
; The domestic life of the couple eve
: to-day in most of the peasants home
will be exceedingly primitive; tn
woman will do the spinning, weavin
: and knitting required by the family
and the mar will make nearly eve
thing needed in the house and on tn
farm. A farm and family will requir
, about two hundred dollars worth {
!. feed, food and sundries, and tn
amount represents the average pr'
duction of the little farms Of CAP
. Breton. together with the fishing thu
many do at odd times. In the spring
4 actual want is sometimes felt by man
, families until fishing begins and til
COWS give milk once more. But til
; island is generally free from paupers.-
&C. H. Fur7ham. IN Hurpe2's Magaztn
Not so Cheap, After All.