The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1899-08-12
THE CHARIVARI.
AZ Ediotic Custom That Is Happily
Being Done Away
With,

The ancient custom OF charlVarl OF
sh,varee, which still survives in rural
At tons of the United States, is not
only a brutal one, but it led to 4 fright
full tragedy near Watonga, o. T., a few
LAYS ago. ! 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 .pon 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 a little brother OF
the bride was also wounded. The chart
vari party fed, and so far none has
been arrested. This outrage should go
far TO put an end forever to 4 custom
that long ago should have become obso-
letc.
The word charivari. which in local
American usage is frequently corrupted
INTO chivarre or SEivaTeC. comes from a
French word of uncertain origin, slgni-
fvinr Il mock serenade. In France. par
ticularlv in the southern districts, sere-
Eadcs produced by kettles. frying pans
and horns. and accompanied b. shouts
and cries. given under the windows OF
newly married couples. or inflicted upon
persons who had made themselves So
ciallv or politically unpopular. were
a popular custom, but popular rather
among the @ivers than the receivers CT
such dubious compliments. Such con-
,crts we're STYLED charivari, n by eX-
rarsion the term is now applied TO any
tumu!tuous discord. The custom is
traceable to a very high antiquity. and
still survives in spots throughout the
French provinces. The same sort of
concert in Germany is called k&tZenmu-
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
unions as were either ridiculous or IN
popular. Cases OF notorious domestic
infelicity or infidel;ty called forth sim
liar expressions of neighborly disap-
proval.
In medieval times in many Europe
an countries n wife who beat her hus-
band was placed upon a donkey, with
her back TO its head: its tail was
grasped by the henpeckcd 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 charivaris were forbidden by
the council of Tours under pain OF eN-
communication. The French pariia-
mcnt 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 them it vas pretty generally
distributed over the United States.
! where it still retains its hold on vari-
Gus rural communities under the name
of Shivarce.
The hideous aggregation of sounds
that 90 to make up Il charivai is kept
up until The bridegroom appears and
treats his crowd of t]orturers. Should
he delay his appearance too long, or
attempt TO wear out the crowd by 4 re-
fusal TO appear. the outside company is
apt to become r:otous. and often stones
are hurled through windows, and after
them perhaps dead cats and rotten eggs.
The firing of blank cartridges is also
considered Il 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
" have been intended. But the fool
! with n gun that he does not believe to
be loaded is a very commo and dam
gerous kind of fool. Asylums should be
SIT apart for such fools.
1t is high time. indeed. that the com
munities in which the charivari still
exists should take stringent measures
to stamp out this idiotic survival of
semi-barbarous times. That it still does
survive in certain communities only
points to a lack Of civilization ard
progress in such sections, though. in
deed. the custom breaks out in unex-
pected spots at times.-N. Y. Herald.
4 Curious Crusade.