Daily camera., 1899-08-21
A DWINDLING CUSTOM
The Barbarous Charivari Thing of
the Past.
OrdeF-LovinE Con IN n ties Are DoinK Y
Away with This Idiotic Sur
vtval of semiciviIiIed
Times.

Times.
The ancient custom of charivari or
shivaree, which still survives in rural
sections of the United States, is not
only a brutal one, but it led to fright
! full tragedy near Watonga, o. T., a few
days ago. y charivari party was sere-
nading a bride and groom. Mr.. and Mrs.
Ray Higgins, and making deafening
noises by beating on pans, etc. The
couple appeared upon the porch and
| the groom ordered the serenaders to
leave One of the party pointed his gun
at the young couple and fired. The
brides face and breast were filled with
| buckshot. and she died an hour later.
| The bridegroom was shot in the face,
| but not fatally, and little brother of
| the bride was also wounded. The chari-
vari party fled, and so far none has
| been arrested. This outrage should go
| far to put an end forever to Il custom
that long ago should have become obso-
lete.
The word charivari, which in local
| American usage is frequently corrupted
| into chivaree or shivaree, comes from
| French word of uncertain origin, signi-
| fying a mock serenade. In France, par
| ticularly in the southern districts, sere-
nldes produced by kettles, frying pans
| and horns, and accompanied by shouts
| and cries, given under the windows of
| ncwly married couples, or inflicted upon
persons who had made themselves So
| cially or politically unpopular, were
| popular custom. but popular rather
| among the givers than the receivers of
| such dubious compliments. Such con-
certs were styled charivari, and by ex-
pansion the term is now applied to any
| tumultuous discord. The custom is
| ,raceable TO a very high antiquity, and
still survives in spots throughout the
| French provinces. The same sort of
| concert in Germany is called katzenmu-
six (cat's music), and in England
| rough music.
The charivari in France was origin
ally extended to all bridal couples, but
| more recently was limited to widows or
| widowers who remarked too hastily, to
| couples among whom an unusual dis
| parity of age existed, or to such other
popular. Cases of notorious domestic
| infelicity or infidelity called forth sim
| liar expressions of neighborly disap-
proval.
In medieval times in many Europe
an countries wife who beat her hus
band was placed upon a donkey, with
| her back to its head: its tail was
| grasped by the henpecked spouse, and
| thus they paraded through the streets,
| greeted with shouts and cries and
| beating of tin pans. Here possibly was
| the germ idea of the charivari.
At the beginning of the seventeenth
century chariyaris were forbidden by
| the council of Tours under pain of eN-
| communication. The French parlia-
| men, was against the custom. but
| neither church nor state was able to
put an end to the custom.
The French inhabitants of Louisiana
and Canada, and also the Dutch set
| tiers in New York and Pennsylvania,
| brought the custom to America. and
| through therl il wns pretty generally
distributed over the United States.
where ii still retains its hold on vari-
Gus ruv-l communities under the name
| of shiyaree.
The hideous aggregation of sounds
| that 70 to make up chariSai is kept
up until the Bridegroom appears and
treats his crowd of torturers. Should
he delay his appearance too lorg, or
| attempt to wear out the crowd by re-
fusal 10 appear, the outside company is
apt TO become riotous, and often stones
are hurled through windows. and after
them perhaps dead cats and rotten eggs.
The firing of blank cartridges is also
considered a fitting accompaniment to
the music of tin pans, horse fiddles and
| horns, and the fatal ending of the re-
cent case in Oklahoma was probably
due to this idea, for murder could hard
| ly have been intended. But the fool
with gun that he does not believe to
be loaded is n very common and dan
gerous kind of fool. Asylums should be
set apart for such fools.
1t is high time, indeed, that the COM
munitics in which the charivari still
exists should take stringent measures
to stamp out this idiotic survival of
scmi-barbarous times. That it still does
survive in certain communities only
points to a lack of civilization and
progress in such sections, though, in
deed, the custom breaks out in unex-
pected spots at times.-N. Y. Herald.