The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-12-30
The Wedding Ring Custom.

The ring, or circle, which is embiemattc
of eternity. and suggests the probable dur
alton of welded love Of the right Kind.
has been used m the marriage ceremony
from time inmenorial. Probably 1t dates
from Old Roman and Greek times and GUS
toms, or it may go further back TO those
mythic ages in the far East, where wis
dom and civilization Gawned on the world
of humanity. When public betrothals were
no longer the rule, the giving Of an en-
gagement ring came in, and an engagement
TO marry seems to be looked upon as more
serious ard binding by every other nation
than by those who own English as their
mother tongue The position of the we'd
ding ring is almost a matter of supersu-
ton. The third finger of the left hand,
next 10 the little finger, was long sup
posed to have some subtle connection with
the heart.
'Sarum usage" decreed that in old Eng
iish marriages the bridegroom was TO re-
ceive the wedding ring from the ofhc-at-
ing priest with the three principal fingers
of his right hand. Then, holding the
brides left hand with his own, he was TO
say the words: with this ring I thee
wed" and then, placing the circle on her
thumb, he was to add: 'In the name OF the
Father" and removing it to her first, sec
ond and third fingers, respectively, with
the words: And of the Son. "and of the
Holy Ghost" was to deposit 1t finally On
the fourth or little finger with the Amer" ="
Wearing the wedding ring on the thumb
was not infrequent at one time, and may
be seen in some old portraits. There is no
stipulation about the quality of the ring.
and in cases where the gold circlet has been
dropped or forgotten very queer sdbsti-
S7p NJ
Italian betrothal or wedding ring was very
often of silver. and frequently represented
two diminutive hands clasping each other.
An old Icelandic custom provided a cir
cuIar bracelet of bone or metal, through
which the bridegroom put his entire right
hand, in which ne received the hand of his
bride. These rings were previously sancti-
fed by being lad on the altar and blessed.
A curious old custom in the OTkneys was
the ''hand-festing," or hand-fasting,"
which was trifie more binding than an en-
gagemeEt, though less SO than the sacre-
dotal marriage. The contracting parties
clasped hands through an opening in a IA
nous old stone, which had doubtless been
connected with the worship of Odin. That
stone no longer stands, for the farm on
which It was situated was rented by far
mer from the mainland, VINO was determ-
ined to stamp out the foolish practice, and
broke up the stone and used IT in building
a pig-stye. No sooner was this done than
all his agricultural implements were sud-
denly found to ''be awa," and hehimself
deemed it the best policy to retreat from
where he came from.
In Ireland popular prejudice declares for
a gold ring, and there's a tradition that
gold rings have been let out to hire to the
very poor while pincFbeck rings did duty
for after use. The notion is that marriage
with a ring of inferior metal would be IL
legal.
Modern Greek peasants exchange a gold
and silver ring, and then drink wine from
the same cup, but theregular ritual of the
Greek church ordains that solemn be-
trothal precedes the actual marriage, in
which gold and silver ring are blessed
by thep REST. the former being given to the
man and the latter to the woman. The
form of espousaI is then repeated, and the
rings are placed on the right hands and
then exchanged,f that no inferority may
bebetokened by the woman wearing the
silver ring, and also to Indicate the COM
mon ownership OF property.
An Armenian mother usually selects her
daughters husband, or, at least, does so
nominally. After all business preliminaries
are settled between the families, the
bridegroom's mother, accompanied by u
priest and two, matrons, visits the bride.
and gives her a ring in token of espousal
and with this ring the couple are ultimate
ly married.
Among fishing communities, very ancient
and elaborate wedding rings are used and
descended as hesrlooms from generation 10
generation. japanese marriages are ar
ranged between quite young children. but
the girl always receives ring in evidence
that the union is binding. In Malabar an
old native custom seats both bride and
brides groom on dias. and relative waslle.
the feet of the latter with milk and puts
silver ring on the great toe of his right
foot. The bride groom then hands gold
ring toi his kinsman, and necklace and
chapiet of flowers are put on the brides
neck and head. Both seem TO be rather
side ceremonies than binding between the
parties who are most concerned. Public
opinion probably supplied the lack. and
among semi-barbarian no jot or title of
ceremonial can be omitted