The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-01-17
GOLDEN CIRCLEPS.
Some SLIaYIn0lS A10It The Ring Put On
Al q wedding.
mi. aae.I ring with which I we'd the waves:


The Two Foscari Byron.
Not alone. nor the first by any means,
was that old Doge, glancing fOnd.y on his
Adrallc bride, to believe IN the taiismanIc
power Of rings. 1t does not concern rs now
10 know how and when the popular belief
began 1t is sufficient on the score OF an
tiquitv TO remember how at Sara, in the
land Of Tartary," one Lady Canace, King 5
daughter, received once upon a day from an
unknown knight a certain ring whose
magical properties are Setf0rth in Chaucer's
rendering of The SQuire's Tale"
The virtue OF This ring. 81 sc VIII hear,
Is THIS that u ler LIST IL Tor 10 wear,
Upon her thumb er 10 her purse 10 bear,
There Is no toai that rletn under heaven
That saal not wei understand ms steven
And snow his meaning openly and plain,
And answer h.u 20 bis language again
and every grass mat sroNeih lp ID ro9t
All be his wounds ne'er so deep and vile.
And we learn that the royal lady Canace
(wuy was she not called Princess, we
wonder? was well pleased with tie ring
which could interpret TIE voice Of birds and
know the healing virtues OF he herbs Of the
field. For do not birds sometimes MARBLE
lovers secrets, and was il MT from Ger
tain herb that Ober0n extracted a Jolce as
potent 10 its effects IS any arrow OF Cupid?
In the days Of the fairies wOnur0uS sights
Of the moon within the golden circle # a
ring Byron, IN Loves Lab L0st," makes
a CHASTITY aIluSjon TO " a death ) face IN .
ring" but il is more pleasing TO think upon
visions Of elves and fairies cutting merry
CapeTs within tile circle, or, better STILL
10 remember how WGen cur gTeat-Sreat-
gTandmothers were
Modest young maidens Of bashfaI fifteen,
They were favored, uUon rubbing gold
ring on certain nights IN the year when the
moon was at the full. with a vision Of the
face Of one who, in the coming years, was
destined 10 wpo and win then.
L Is a very old mott n that when we'd
ding ring had worn so thin as 10 come IN
pieces, the end Of the married life OF the
Wearcr IS very near Did any trace Of
superstition HnEeT among Us ID these en-
| lightened days we might attribute 10 this
rld notion the fashion OF wearing, as we'd
ding rings, tile modern cable-llke hoops Of
gold. But we are not superstitiOus now
adays, are We, dear gentlewomau? Certainly
not more 50 than popular West End lady
who Tidiculed the very idea 10 rs the other
day, though addingin aSJage "hls or, But
1 must confess | don't Ike sitting down
| thirteen to table,
The breaking of the ring at or immedi-
/ ately following the marriage ceremony was
/ always regarded IN the light Of a serious
/ affair by some people, and even philOs0-
/ pher must look upon such circumstances as,
{ 10 say the least an unpleasant incident.
/ We are told by Alr. Atkinson in his inter-
/ esting Memoirs Of the Queen Of Prussia, "
tina. during The festivities following the be-
tTOthal Of Frederic and Sophia Charlotte,
first King and Queen OF Prussia, a ring
worn by the bridegroom IN memory Of his
deceased wife, having as a device two
clasped hands aud the motto a Jamais, "
suddenly broke, 10 the CONSERVATION Of all
present
A slice Of bride-cake, thrice drawn
through a wedding ring and laid under the
! pillow Of al unmarried man or woman was
/ once upon time thought Il sure plan Tor
! beholdng IN sbadOwy dreamland the face Of
J the future spouse
The custom OF giving away rings at we'd
| dings was, in Queen Elizabeth's time, car
ried 10 a great and eXtrayagaut pTofusi0n,
One Edward Kelly. a ph lOSOpheT OF some
repute, gave away at the marriage Of one Of
his maid servants gold rings tn the value OF
$1,000 The said Kelly must have been the
p0ssessor Of the philosophers stone" or
some other g0ld-pToducnR taliSman. II is
curious TO note that these rings were made
OF three gold wires interviewer, fashion
able style Of ring at that period.
II was once the custom IN Yorkshire to
put the wedding ring into the p0sSet, and
| the unmarried person into whose cup il was
! served was deemed to be perilOusly near
the brink Of matrimOuy.
In some parts OF Ireland the peasants re-
gard as unlucky wedding sOlemniZed with
/ out gold ring, and such rings are hired
out for tile occasion among the very poor, a
ring Of less valuable metal being subse-
/ quently worn by the bride.
The grewsOme story told by Tom Moore
! Of Rupert and the fair maid Of SaXony is
/ taken from very old German romance. 1t
was an odd thought Of a bridegroom to
! place the wedding ring for safety on the
marble finger of a Greek statue and one
/ cannot accuse The poet Of Overstating Ru-
! peTt's feelings when he returned for il:
Young Rupert for his wedding ring
Unto the statue went
But. on, how shocked he was TO find
The marble finger bent
Very beautiful we're the porcelain finger
! rings of ancient Egypt, the band being sell
/ dom more than One-eighth Of an inch thick.
! They usually had a plato which, in bas-
| relief, wore devices symbolizing the sun,
music, fishes or flowers, with here and
/ there military order. Blue was the pre-
! vaiiug color, but white, yellow, red aud
! purple were also worn. On some rings Of a
/ large size lotus flowers were prominent,
! with the solar deity seated in a scallOp
! shell and floating seTcney through the
! heavens. Common as these objects were in
! EgyDt, where they were employed as sub
! sItutes Tor the hard and precious stones. "a
| the Greeks, Etruscans and Italian Greeks
! they were articles Of luxury. Just as the pOr-
/ celain OF China was TO Europeans some cen
! turtles ago.-Ciucinnau Commercial Gazette.
Murphy willing TO Come.
/ Francis Murphy, the temperance adyo-
! cate, desires to hold q series Of temperance
/ meetings in San Francisco. He has written
/ 10 Rev Dr. 5. Y. Leech of Howard Metho-