The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-26
ODD WEDDING WAYS
MATRIM0NY Is A QUESTION OF
COURAGE IN SOME COUN-
TRIES.
TRYING PROBATIONARY TESTS
PRACTICE OF CAPTURING THE
BRIDE STILL PREVAILS IN
MANY LANDS.
WHERE 1T TAKES NERVE TO WED.
In st. E&ilda the Prospective Bride
groom Is Subjected to iOst
Dangerous Trial.


verbally crooked, encount RS in some
countries strange impediments That
would cool the ardor of the most en-
thusiastic Anglo-SaXon lover. In the
Island of st. Kilda, one of the Heb
rides group, the prospective bridegroom
is subjected to a test that in most COM
munities would discourage matrimony.
st. Kilda has a population of only
about 100 people, and presumably there
is no desire to raise the total. There
is "a certain ledge on a cliff overlook
ing the sea, and on this the man who
aspires to matrimOny must go through
certain maneuvers in order to show
that he is gifted with that amount Of
courage which a married man should
have. If he declines this test, he must
remain single, and if he shows too
much timidity public opinion will JUS
tify the girl in withdrawing from her
betrothal. 1t may be assumed that if
the man falls off the ledge his cha ices
for getting married are forever spoiled.
It is generally assumed that the days
Of wife capture are past, but "either
as stern reality or as an important
ceremony" as Sir John Lubbock tells
us in Australia and among the Malays,
In Hindustan, Central Asia, Siberia
and Kamchatka, among the Eskimos,
the northern redskins, the aborigines of
Brazil, in Chile and TERRA del Fuego,
in the Pacific islands both among the
Polynesians and Fijians, in the Phil
ippines among the Arabs and the
Negroes in Circassia, and until recent
~ throughout great part of Europe.
In the Scottish highlands and in
parts of Ireland simulated capture is
n a orf Of ho too
ceremony, while in Wales we have it
on the authority of Prof Rhys that
quasi capture obtains. Once when a
boy, he assisted at one Of these enter
tanning functions. He arrived at the
brides house early and the door was
locked and barred, and preparations
were made to resist attack When the
Bridegroom appeared, admittance was
refused, and a long parley, conducted
in verse, ensued between the father
and his Would-be son-in-law. At last
he was permitted to enter, but no bride
was to be found. She had been dis
guised by her friends so effectually
that she was unrecognizable. Leaving
the house later for the church, the road
at some distance forked, and the bride
and her father carefully took the
wrong road in an attempt to escape,
but the friends of the bridegroom were
on the alert and speedily brought them
back.
Pretty much the same description is
given by George Sand of a wedding in
provincial France The bride and her
friends, we are told, shut themselves
up in the house and barricade it, in
view of the coming of the man who
would carry her off to another roof
tree. When he arrives, admittance is
summarily refused, and he uses every
artif1ce known to diplomacy to induce
them to let him in. He assures them
that he and his friends are weary pill
grims or that they seek refuge from
the police who are on their track. But
the wary defenders see through the
ruSe, and there seems nothing for it
but to attempt to take the place by
storm. Pistol shots are fired. The door
is hammered vigorously. Men shout,
women scream, and confusion reigns
supreme. But still the defenders hold
on until at last the attacking party an
nounce that they have brought a hus-
band and presents for the bride. On
this they are admitted, when the fight
begins anew for the possession of the
hearth in which the bridegroom is
naturally and necessarily victorious.
The bride is his, and the marriage GER
emory is proceeded with.
In parts of Germany, again, the, cap
ture Of the bride has to be effected be-
fore she is finally won.
A race for a wife is among the
commoneSt forms Of a survival of the
system of marriage by capture. 1t is
to be seen in Lapland, where the maid
en- is not asked to say yes or mo"
to the Suitor but with her friends goes
to an open space and plays the part of
ATLANTA. If she loves or is anxious
to marry, the young man will not lose
an undue quantity Of breath ere he
catches her.
Among the Kirghis in Central Asia,
it is the custom, according to Eugene
Schuyler to place the bride, armed with
formidable whip, on a fleet horse
She is then pursued by the young men
who aspire to her hand, but if she does
not like the one who gets nearest to or
closes with her she uses the whip on
him as mercilessly as she has used it
to urge her animal forward, and it is
pretty safe to predict that the man
who captures her is the man for whom
she cares most
For wanton cruelty in the capture Of
a bride We must go to Greenland. There
we nnd something more than simulat-
ed violence in the method of capture
and the means by which the girl is
retained. Dr. Nansen, in his account
of his journey Across Greenland, -
says that on the west coast marriage
marriage in Europe, but on the east
coast old customs prevail A man,
having made up his mind to take to
himself wife, gees to the tent of a
family one of whose girl members
meets his views, catches her by the
hair or in some other equally rude way
and drags her forth to his home He
there presents her with a bucket or
some useful domestic utensil, and the
ceremony is complete.
For marriage purposes the people of
the New Britain group are divided into
two classes or divisions. No man may
marry a woman of his own class. To
do so would bring instant destruction
upon the woman, and, if not immediate
death to the man, his life would never
be secure. Preparations for marriage
are various. On Duke of York island
initiation into the secret society which
is called Dukduk seems a sufficient
preparation, though not absolutely
necessary to marriage, for the boys,
and there appears to be no needful
preparation for the girls.
On New Ireland some girls wear a
fringe across their shoulders until they
are marriageable. These are the poorer