Morning journal and courier., 1891-10-08
MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE.
Winning wives by Force, But Not
Against Their Will.

Against Their VIII.
[From the London Standard
The late abduction of an English girl by
Kurds, and the unexpected and somewhat
comical denouement of the exciting story
is a proof that love not only laughs at
locksmiths, but contemptuousiy ignores
racial antipathies and religious prejudices.
Marriage by capture is very old and
very widely spread custom. 1t prevails
among the Hindoos, the Ralmucks and
Circassians and the primitive races of Aus
tralis, New Zealand and America; but in
stead of abduction being considered an
outrage by these half civilized peoples it is
looked upon as preliminary marriage
rite, and as general rule the coy dsmsel
is by no means averse to the mild violence.
Abduction became so common in Eng
land in the reigns of the Tudor princes
that a statute was passed on the subject,
and this was followed by an act of Eliza
beth, which took away the benefit of cler-
gy from the offender, and 1t was not till
so late as the reigr of George " that the
crime ceased to be capital offense and
punishable with death.
Formerly to constitute the ofense there
must have been, first, forcible taking
and then an actual marriage OF defilement;
and if a woman were taken forcibly in one
county and married in another, the Of
fense, not being completed in either, was
not indictsble in either county.
In 1904 two brothers were acquitted on
charge of abducting Mrs. Lee, whom
they had forcibly taken away in a chsise
from London to Oxford, where one of
them comDleted the offense
AS OLD AS ROME.
In the last century instances of abduc-
ton, in which the prospective bride was,
however, in almost every case consenting
party, are very numerous, and their story
has helped to spice the pages of romance
and awake the Tyre of the poet.
Sir Walter Scott, in his introduction to
''Rob Roy,n states that abduction was
quite common in the Highlands about a
century ago, and narrates an occurrence
which happened at that period, when some
of the McGregor clan carried off female
from her home under very violent circum-
stances
The poets addendum to his narrative is
very Instructive. Having very strongly
| censured the offense, he was, he states, re-
monstrated with by lady friend of his
own for so doing, she naively informing
him that cher mother had never seen her
her off with ten head of black cattle-her
tocher." The canny Scot, with character
istic forethought, did not forget the toch-
| erin his eyes, perhaps, not the least of
| the lady's charms.
The beauty of women has always been a
great motive power for good or evil. The
| rape of the Sabines was attended with
most beneficial effects, for when that ma
| ton and the Romans were about engaging
| in war because of the rapine, the women,
allied to both people, interposed with
| those most potent weapons, tears and en-
\ treaties, and not only stayed the slaughter
which would have ensued, but cemented a
lasting peace between the two nations.
The elopement of Helen from her hus-
band was the cause of the prolonged Tro-
| Jan war, but we are most inclined to con-
done her faithlessness because it inspired
Homer's great epic.
Abduction was by no means uncommon
in the early ages. The daughter of the
king of Argos was abducted by a Pheni-
| clan; the Greeks carried off Europa from
Tyre, and Medea from Colchis
THE KING OF LEINsTER's ABDUCTION.
Next to the abduction of the fair Helen,
| perhaps the most remarkable, in its politi-
| cal consequences, was the King of Lein-
ster's taking away the wife of a neighbor,
| ing petty sovereign, O'Rourke of Breffni.
The King of Connsught avenged the in
| suit and drove from the throne his brother
| of Leinster, who appealed to Henry II Of
| England for aid to recover his lost sover
| eighty. The Norman conquest of ireland
| followed, with long centuries of war and
| devastation.
Not more than ninety years ago there eI
| listed in the south of Ireland abduction
| clubs, whose members were bound by oatf
to assist in carrying off such women hay
ing money as were fixed upon, the mem
bers drawing lots to determine to whom
the women abducted should fall. Any
sort of daredevil recklessness appeals tC
the imagination of the peassntry, ant
when such recklessness is united with tht
violation of the law, never very popular il
Ireland, the principals in these Irish ab
duction raids never failed to secure public
sympathy and private asylum.
| An Eskimo youth is qualified to MARI!
when he has succeeded in killing a pola
bear unaided, for the courageous fea
proves himself capable of providing fo
the wants of family. He starts forth a
night to secure a wife, which he does b.
seizing the first girl he can surprise una
wares. She naturally screams and draw
the whole village population about her
who, by raining sealskin scourges on hi
shoulders, aid the maiden in escaping
He pursues, running the gauntlet of kicl
and buffet, until he again secures his lad
love: and should she once more escape an
| be retaken a third time by the amorou
pursuer the maiden accepts her fate ant
becomes the young mans wife.
| .cr.r1c corrprsurps
The aboriginal Australian adopts bru
. tally forcible mode of wooing. When b
wants a wife he looks about for hkel
helpmate, and, finding one to his liking
knocks her-down with his club and carrie
her home.
| In Singapore the bridegroom must s.
: cure his bride in race, and this custom {
bride chasing is quite common throughou
3 southern and eastern Asia. In SingapoI
, a circular course is marked out, half {
which is traversed by the mediterranean
bered only with q waistband-ere the wor
, | is given for the would-be possessor to 6
' in pursuit, in the hope of overtaking ht
, before she has thrice compassed the circl'
that achieved, she has no choice but
6 take the victor for her lord.
: : The water chase in canoes, another ma
riage ceremonial of Singapore, is very sin
y liar to the foot race, and both are usual
of short duration, for the fair quarry
only too willing to be caught.
The late Colonel Burnaby tells us thi
] | ,rba,, a Turoonap halIa ia In ba oaftlad