Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-02-04

Gauntlet for Bride-Weddings
in Norway and Sweden.
'In Australia the native lover woos
his sweetheart with a club, in some
parts of Asia he has to buy her of her
parents, in others he has to steal her,"
said Myers Deley, an Englishman who
has travelled in almost every land, es-
pecially in the out-of-the-way places,
and who recently arrived in New York
from China. '.The Australian, when
he would wed, makes up his mind as
to which woman shall be his bride, and
then hides in the bushes in tie vicinity
of her dwelling place. 1t is not neces-
sary for her to know that there is
lover looking for her, especially with
stout cudgel, or may be she wouldn't
be won as frequently as she is. As soon
as she comes near where the anxious
swain lies hidden. and if she is alone,
he pounces out upon her, prompt
~ and eflectually knocks her down
with the club, and carries her off before
she comes to. If he does not get her
to his hut before she RECEIVERS, there is
1ikely to be lively fight in the bush,
for the Australian damsel is generally
g vigorous one, and she may have rea-
sons of her own for Directing to the
lovers efforts to win her. The would
be bridegroom may then be obliged to
club her again, and as this is consid-
cred to be rather reflection on the
ardor with which his earlier effort was
made, he generally puts as much soul
and muscle into his first love tap as he
can summon.
when a resident of the Cape, or
Kaiiir Land, ycarns for life partner,
he has an interview with the father of
the lady. If the old gentleman thinks
well of the youth, and that he would do
honor to him as 4 son-in-law, he says:
'''Well, can you give me two hundred
cattle for my daughter?'
That is. it may be two hundred or
it may be more or less, just as the old
man values his daughter or appraises
the stock owning or getting capacity
of the prospective son-in-law. If the
young Kailir is determined to wed the
maiden whose hand he seeks, he will
always reply that he can fiji the bill as
to cattle, no matter if he hasn't enough
on hand to make good-sized dish Of
hash, and never expects to have. He'll
fix that. There are plenty of Katiirs
who have cattle galore, and he gathers
together a few congenial friends. and
they stroll over to some convenient
kraal of a neighboring tribe, and walk
away with the requisite number of
cattle to make the bridegroom happy.
OF course the owner of the cattle
usually raises very strong objections to
this exchange of property, and there
may be number of woolly heads
broken before the eXpectant BRIDE
groom secures the herd. If he gets
them all right to his kraal, that settles
the matter. The man who lost them
knows that other tribes have cattle,
and that he may want to marry some
body himself without having the neces-
sary stock on hand to win the bride
Then he will forage On his neighbor in
the same way. Thus is Hymen's torch
kept lighted in Kaflir Land.
'' In some parts of Central Asia the
bridegroom has tough time in getting
and keeping possessian of his bride. In
the first place he has to steal her, and
if she don't object to being stolen the
couple may get to the wedding place
with whole skins, for if she don't OBJ
ject she is not compelled to give any
alarm, and the whole village will not
be at their heels unless they are discov-
cred by accident while making off. If
she gives an alarm the bride stealer
must make his way hindered with the
struggling damsel and followed by a
crowd of yelling neighbors. The we'd
ding place is the hut Of the young mans
parents. And there he must take his
bride before he can claim the right to
her hand. If she has not lungs enough
to summon rescuers nor muscle enough
to get away from the lover before the
hut is reached, then she can make no
further protest against the marriage.
The bridegroom can't claim a bride I'M
til he has a hut of his own to take her
to, and in taking her from his father
house to his own he has another gaunt-
let to run. The brides friends, whether
she be willing bride or not. have the
right to assemble and attempt to rescue
her while she is en- route. The BRIDE
TTOOiu tuTOWS Ills UTlue dCTOSS Ills Dack.
She is always covered with scarlet
garment He is surrounded by num-
Der of youth living in his village, and
all the brides young lady friends in her
village, armed with stones and clubs,
batter and pelt the bridal procession
and fill the air with fiendish wells in
their efforts to keep the bride among
them. The battle is waged in earnest,
and both bride and groom are always
covered with blood and bruises, even if
they succeed in reaching the boundary
line of safety. This they usually effect
If bridegroom fails to get away with
his bride he is compelled to pay q ran
som in cattle and other gifts to her
parents before shs will be delivered up
to him.
''In other places in Asia the question
of a mans title to bride must be set
tied by fierce fight between the
friends Of the oontxac ting parties. II