El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-15
CHARIVARI WANING
A Recent One, However, Led to d
TrdOedV.

A Recent One, However, Led to ;
Tragedy.
The ancient custom of charivari, OF
shivaree, which still survives in rura
sections of the United States Is not on
ly a brutal one. but it led to q frightfu
tragedy near Watonga, Ok, few day:
ago. A charivari party we're serenad
ing bride and groom, Mr.. and Mrs
Ray Higgins, and making deafenine
noises by beating on pans, etc. The
the groom ordered the serenaders to
leave.
| One OF the party pointed his gun at
the young couple and fred. The bride e
face and breast were filed with buck
shot, 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 chart
vari party fled, and so far none has
FAR to put an end forever to q custom
that long ago should have become OBJ
solete.
ThRword charivari, which in local
American usage is frequently corrupt
ed into Chivaree or shivaree, comes
from French word of uncertain ORR
gin, signifying q mock serenade. In
France, particularly in the southern
districts, serenades produced by ket-
oompanied by shouts and cries, given
under the windows Of newly married
couples, or Inflicted upon persons who
have made themselves socially or po-
litically unpopular. were a popular
custom, but popular rather among
the givers than the receivers OF such
dubious compliments. Such concerts
rDa 0fvyla nh vi
sion the term Is now applied to any
tumultuous discord. The custom is
traceable to vero hard antiquity,
and still survives in spots throughout
the French Province. The same sort
of concert in Germany is called katzen-
musk (cat's music) and in England
rough music.
The charivari of France was origin
ally extended to all bridal couples, but
more recently was limited to widows
or widowers who remarked too hastily.
to couples in whom an unusual dispar-
1ty OF age existed, or to such other
unions as were either ridiculous or un-
popular. Cases of notorious domestic
infelicity or inidelity called forth elm
liar expressions of neigh borly disap-
proval.
In medieval times il many Euro
pean countries q wife who beat her
with her back to it's head; its tail was
grasped by the henpecked spouse, and |
thus they paraded through the streets, |
greeted with shouts and cries and beat
ing OF tin pans. Here possibly was the |
germ of the charivari.
At the beginning of the Seventeenth
Century charivaris were forbidden by
'he Council or Tours, under pain of ex-
The French Parlfa-
naut WAS anainek tho onotor, h.. |
,either church nor state WAS able to
put an end to the custom.
The French Inhabitants Of Louisiana
md Canada, and also the Dutch set
lers in New York and Pennsylvania,
,rought the custom to America, and
through them 1t was pretty generally
distributed over the United States,
ural communities under the name of
hivaree.
Inc h1deous aggregation of sounds
hat go to make up . oharivari is kept
p until the bridegroom appears and
reats his crowd of torturers. Should
e delay his appearance too long, or
tempt to wear out the crowd by a re-
lsal to appear. the outside com pauy is
pit to become riotous, and often stooes
re hurled through windows, and after
hen perhaps dead cats and rotten
ggs.
The firing of blank cartridges ia also
onsidered fitting accompaniment to
he music of tin pans, horse fiddles
nd horns, and the fatal ending of the
ecent case in Oklahoma WAS probs-
ly due to this idea, for murder could
srdly have been intended. But the
Dol with gun that he does not be.
eve to be loaded is very common
nd dangerous kind of fool. Asylums I
nould be set apart for such fools.
1t Is high time, indeed, that the ,
communities in which the charivari
I'LL exists should take stringent meas :
res to stamp out this idiotic survival
semi-t a. barous times. That it still |
oes survive in certain communities
aly points to a lack of civilization and '
roeress in such sections, though, in
eed, the custom breaks out in unex-
ected spots at times.-St. Louis Re-
lblic. c