Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-09-13
THE WEDDING RING.
Its History Runs Back to the Besin-
ming OF Recorded Time.
Prom the Detroit Pre- Press

IL h an inconsroyertible fact that every
woman feels q certain interest in the subject OF
wedding rings. And, indeed. 10 Is natural
enough that this should be 40. Type and SYM
Dol beyond aught else Of the most important
crisis in woman's life. the wedding ring
must necessarily be fraught with fascination
for wife and maid. for old aud young alike.
Hence it is likely that some matter Of enter-
tainment may be found in the study Of lie his
tory and associations
Every one knows that rings were worn In old
Bible days, though what part they originally
played in the nuptiai ceremony is not so clear
But at any rate they form an important portion
OF the wedding service among the modern Jews,
the regulations in force among them on tha
head being very strict The ring must in every
case be examined aud certified by the oficiss-
ing rabbi Of the synagogue. to make sure that
II Is OF the prescribed value, and the simp!s
operation Of placing IL upon the finger is "a
binding that this alone, apart from any other
portion OF the ceremony. is considered TO con-
stitute legal marriage.
In point OF fact, however. il 10 not from the
Jews but from the Romans that the nations Of
modern Europe derive their wedding ring.
Among the ancient masters OF the world rinrs
were commonly used part of the rite Of be-
trothaL. But II Is worth while 90 notice that
there was one special difference between the
ancient and modern use of rings in this respect.
In their original employment they were really
not wedding but betrothal rings. that 10, they
were given and taken the public expression
| OF mans promise 10 a woman that he would
marry her As a learned writer has told us in
regard 20 the early Italians. "a man who
wished to pledge his faith TO a woman placed
a ring upon her finger. which 10 at the present
day preserved for the benediction Of mar
riage"
Two points are TO be remembered-that In
old days there were two distinct ceremonies
the betrothal and the actual wedding-both Of
which were equally essential TO the full solem-
nizatlon of a marriage; and, also. that the ring
was originally used not for the second cere-
mony, but for the first Such was the custom
| during the pagan era, aud 80 ID remained
throughout the early centuries OF Christianity
Marriage even then, and for u considerable
period afterward, was regarded in the light Of
a civil contract only and was entered into be-
fore magistrate, while the ring itself was
used as the SYMBOL of promise in the prelim-
Gradually, however, those two ceremonies
became merged into one by the loss on the part
of the betrothal of its first formal character
For some time after this. and in consequence
OF II, there was no small uncertainty in the use
Of the ring, which was not infrequently left ont
| OF the business altogether. But after a while
| II reasserted it's importance and once more
came INTO general use. Moreover, il now began
NIht 10 ltnlt ltrtlI laDltuAlN TO the
single hoop OF plain gold-a form which has
become inseparably connected with all our
| modern notions Of what the wedding ring
should be.
Ii will thus be seen-to the surprise. doubt
| less, OF not a few OF readcrs-that the wedding
ring is not Christian institution az all, but
| rather ono which we have inherited. along
with so much else in our ceremonial. directly
| from classical antiquity. This leads the writer
to mention curious point in connection with
1 MI nf I'm R.srwa.
betrothal ring worn on the third finger
lthe one next TO the little fnger) of the left
hand. rs il is today. This position il said TO
have been chosen from the belief-unfounded,
| OF course-that there was a vein or nerve run
ming directly from that finger TO the heart.
| belief which was accepted, not alone by the
| Ignorant masses, but also by the learned men
the doctors and philosophers OF the time. But
IN early Christian days good deal OF confusion
| seems TO have prevailed upon the matter, as O
| result OF which the ring often placed and
| worn upon the woman's right hand In the old
| Salisbury Manual is found specific reference 60
| this fact IN very singular passage, which
| throws some interesting light on the subject
| OF the wedding ceremony in general From
| this we learn that the bridegroom was TO re-
| celve the ring from the priest. who had blessed
| II land this blessing, il may be remarked. 10
still limited at IN the marriage service Of tho
| English Episcopal church,. and then holding
| the right hand of the bride IN his own left
hand, he was 20 recite the words, with this
ring thee we'd" Then he was 20 place the
ring on the right hand thumb, saying, In
the name OF the Father then on the first
| finger with the words. land Of the
Son;" then on the second finger, adding, "and
Holy Ghost" and finally, with the closing
Amen" on the third finger. where ID was to
remain. But in course Of time uniformity
| was established in favor of the left haI d and
there Is no longer room for question con-
| corning this important point. OF course no
one acquainted with the marriage service OF
the English Episcopal church needs TO be told
that 1t Is absolutely necessary, according 20 the
| rites of that church. that ring should be om-
| ployed. But beyond the simple ordinance thai
| a ring there must be the church makes no spe-
| cltc conditions SO that, curious il may ap-
pear, ring OF any size or weight material or
pattern will serve the purpose perfectly we'll
| 1t Is naturally enough not often that one has TO
| chronicle any departure from recognized Gus
tom IN this regard but such departures do
from time 20 time occur. A story is told OF two
paupers who came TO church and requested to
| be married with the church KEY. as the paro-
chial authorities had not furnished them with .
ring" The clerk il is said, not unnaturally fels
| ''some delicacy" about this and finally found
another way out of the difficulty. He fetched
| an old curtain ring from his own house and
| with this extraordinary article the loving
couple were duly united in the bonds of holy
matrimony. But, though this particular clerk
| saw MT TO hesitate, the church key has been
employed. and that moro than once. in place
| OF the ring during the last hundred years.
! Even the Duke of Hamilton WAS married at
| May Fair with bed curtain ring" Nor does
| this by any means exhaust the list Of eccentric
makeshifts. To give my one other ins lance, 10
is a matter of history that n lady Was once
married with a ring of leather cut transversely
from the finger Of the bridegroom's glove.
Thus the plain gold hoop now sanctioned by
! long usage, and surrounded il 10 by untold
associations, is by no means essential TO the
| marriage ordinance as most people suppose.
| Indeed, it is only during more recent years
that it has boen accepted the only proper
form Of wedding ring, for in former days rings
| used for marriage were frequently chased OF
| set with stones or inscribed on the inside or
| outside with Names initials or notices. One
might give long list Of these notices or posies,
as they were called, but il would hardly be
| found interesting instructive, for they were
not as a rule distinguished by great poetic
ability or marked originality OF thought. The
| following. picked out almost Of random, will do
very well as samples:
1 "Our contract
1 Was heavens acSs
my promise past
Shall always last
| ca. long a. life
Your loving wife,
..God unite
1 Our hearts aright.~ a.
.Thi . has no end
MY sweetest frfenli
Il Our loves be 30
No ending know"
And then, ola more purely personal shas.
II MT gA