The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1894-01-25
BRIDES By CAPTURE,
Curious Marriage Customs in Foreign
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our little globe front tle time when the artfnl
Romans, ignoring ftfleh laws of hospitality,
seized upon the ripe yIeGBfms of their Sabine
guests, nor waited for tho decree nisi to be pro-
nounced absolute befoFe asserting their new
prerogative, and from this enforced alliance
sprang the conquerors, of the world
The Eskimo of to-day, says the New York
Journal. having once established his manhood
by killing polar bear unaided. is sent forth
by his kindred to seek wife, and the first girl
he can surprise unawsreS he seizes and, In
spite of her screams and struggles. endeavors to
carry Off This proving easy feat, owing
to the substantial proportions of the Eskimo
belle, together with the enormous weight oil
her clothing, an exciting race occurs.
The lady, darting among the aroused neigh
bors, lodges her suitor in the crowd, which
eagerly assists her. and it is only after he has
succeeded in catching her the third time that
he is permitted to lead his blushing and excited
| bride to the hymeneal altar
| The Australian aborigine adopts more sum-
| mary process When weary of single life he
| looks about for partner and finding one to
| his liking, stalks her, and watching his Oppor-
| tunity, stuns her with a heavy blow, and car
! ries her off to her new home, where, it is to be
| hoped, on her return to consciousness, his after
| tenderness makes some atonement for his
| somewhat rough-aud-ready mode of wooing
| In parts of India the winning of the bride
| depends upon feetness of foot, a circular course
| being marked out half of which is traversed
| by the maiden remembered only by waist.
| band) before the lover is allowed to start in
| pursuit. and if he does not succeed in captur-
| ing her before she has thrice completed the
| circuit he loses his prize.
| In Saxon and early Norman times men pur-
chased their wives from the father, his wealth
| being estimated by the number of his daughters,
! whose simple education was completed at a
| trivial cost, and whose labors contributed
| largely to augment the family pile, as they
| not only prepared all the food that the house
| hold consumed, but made from fax and wool
| their fathers clothes and their own, from
| which they obtained the title of "spinster
and it was an accepted axiom among our frugal
| forefathers that no young woman was fit to be
| a wife until she had spun for herself set of
body, table and bed linen.
1t can be readily understood that the father
OF such daughters was in no hurry to part with
them, and sutors wed with each other in
their offers for their hands. writes Frank Shell
ley in LippincOtfS Magazine. The father being
satisfied, it was customary for him to hand the
bridegroom shoe, which symboiically consti
tuted him the brides owner.
With this he lightly tapped her over the
head, to indicate his recently acquired author
ty. The shoe thus given to the groom was
carried to the bridal chamber and placed over
the pillow upon which the newly married
couple rested their heads, the husbands side of
the bed.
Occasionally. when the lady was accused of
being somewhat tyrhnDical in temper, the "best
man." whose duty II was to perform this deli
cate office, would by way of joke, slyly transfer
the shoe to the other sSfo
From ancient tinres the shoe has been a COM
mon instrument for thehinficton of domestic
chastisenent, both in Eastern and Western
nations aud our own. childish recollections of
,Icf,f
that this venerable custom is anything but OBJ
sOlete
The ready faculty With which this instru-
ment Of torture can be oiseigaged and admin
stered to the culpf6t makes it doubtful
whether its use will ever entirely go out of
date.
The Anglosaxon was great believer in do
nestle discipline and the efficacy of the stick to
enforce obedience; no House of the period was
considered furnished that did not have sus-
pended from convenient nail on the wall the
stick with which he habitually chastised his
wife.
An old Welsh law, until lately unrepealed,
empowered the husband to punish his wife with
three blows of broomstick. on any part of
the person except the head, which last clause
was doubtless intended to prevent plethora of
widowers.
1t sometimes happened that case of true
love was baked for the time by the avarice of
the father or the poverty of the suitor, in which
event the poor lover who could not afford the
price demanded by the father, would gather
his friends together, and, watching favorable
opportunity, would seize and carry off his mis- 1
tress. in the hope that after asserting his nat
ural title to her charms be woud find it less
difficult to make her father accept the proper
equivalent for them.
By law of Etaelbert it was ordained that
the abductor should pay fine Of so sbillings
to the father aud afterward buy the girl from
him at a reasonable rate
century or two later, the custom of pur-
chase fell into disrepute. and it became usual
for neighbors and friends to betroth their chill
dren to each other at very early age.
This bethrothal took place in the presence of
witnesses the youthful lover giving the girl
ring, which she thenceforth wore on her right
hand until itwas transferred to her left at the
subsequent marriage. the same ring doing duty
for both the engagement aud the wedding-"a
custom more honOred in the breach than in the
observance" we fancy we hear our fair readers
say.
The ring, however, was secondary to the
mystic kiss which was always given at the
public bethrothal, and this again was followed
by pledging each other in wine or other liquor
out of what was called the contracting cup"
Doubtless this is the origin of the expression
"wettng the bargain" as it is quite certain
our ancestors were not partial to dry deals"
and even to this day, in the country parts of
England, no man would dream of selling horse
or land without having a drink " to celebrate
the transaction.
This was the ceremony of bethrothal before
espOusas fell under the dom inion of the Church.
which in later times blessed the drink, sanct-
fed the kiss and consecrated the ring
From the earliest times white was the uniform
color for virgin bride, aud three ornaments
were worn by her OH her way to the altar.
These were the ring on her finger, the brooch
her breast and the garland on her head the |
first being typical of the endlessness of matri- |
monial love, the brooch signifying maidenly |
innocence, while the garland was the reward |
accorded to her for having successfully resisted
the temptations TO evil that had beset her |
course from childhood to matrimony
No widow on her remarriage might wear a |
garland nor could any bride whose reputation |
had suffered from ker own ightness of conduct |
The garands we're mostly composed of roses |
and myrtle, and the hair was usually worn in |
loose Jresses to the altarain token of her free
dom, but on laying aside, her virgin crown the |
newly made brideI bound up her hair, signifi-
cant of her subsection toa husband
After the marriage ceremony had been per- |
formed it was customary for the bridal process |
sion TO walk round the less sacred part of the |
church before sitting down to the wedding |
feast, which was often Held in the nave, this |
part being generally used in those days for the |
transaction of secular Business and the enjoy |
ment of social DIVERSION.
The feast being over, tho bride and bride |