The hatchet. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1883-19??, 1900-05-06
WAYS OF coURTsHlP.
Odd Customs In Some Parts Of Penn
sylVana.

sylVana'
Time and progress have obllterated
many of the social customs that were
established in the colony that Penn
founded. In the county of Busks'
where many Of PENIS descendants re-
side. and where he owned vast tracts
Of land, the ancient customs apper-
tanning to courtship and marriage are
still largely observed
First of all, the country swain Is not
qualified to pay court to the girls OF
his neighborhod until he has horse
and carriage, and that is generally his
first possession, either by gift from
his father or the result of the hoard
ing of small savings. The team
acquired, the young man Is prepared
TO become the lover He drives usu'
ally not to some girls house, Dut TO
church or a public gathering of both
sexes. where he picks out Il maiden
who suits his fancy, and If she has
not her escort and is willing he drives
her home, and that is the opening for
future calls and drives.
The country singing school and the
lyceum, now nearly mere memories,
have been the occasion for the be-
glnnngs of dreams Of love that later
led to matrimOny.
Then, too, the team comes In advan-
tageously during the Sunday school
picnic season, the woods meetings
conducted by the Methodist churches,
and for dance parties and other social
occasions.
The wooer's team has in the past
been the cause of much wOrriment on
certain occasions. Some evening,
when he was spending the time pleas
antly i'm the house of his sweetheart,
his friends, having located him, pro-
ceeded to take the carriage apart and
carry the sections to the roof of the
barn; or, pcrchance, on top of hay
stack, and there put the vehicle to-
gether. The wooer, coming for his
team after the last lingering farewell
to the object of his alteration, would
be amazed to see his carriage in the
place where his tormentOrs had left
it, His only alternative was to walk
home or bestride his horse and return
the next day for his carriage, mean
while being the subject of mercless
raillery.
Sometimes the FRANKS took the form
of reversing the wheels on the car
riage placing the rear higher wheels
i'm front and the lower front wheels in
the rear. Again, the horse might be
unhitched from the carriage and
| placed back i'm the shafts, with its
head towards the vehicle. These
| pranks have been abolished, however,
as they became so annoying that ar
rests resulted, and the fun" was dis
continued.
Sometimes it was the custom to
watch for the bride and bridegroom
on their first drive after the wedding,
and stretch rope across the highway
and "hold up the couple until the de-
manded price was paid. This money,
too went for tipple at the nearest
public house.
All this has been changed where
more modern ideas prevail, but the
callthumpian band still exists in even
the more refined communities.
If the young husband is without
means he frequently goes to reside
with the brides parents, and often
becomes an employee Of his father
in.law Where there is some wealth
the couple are sometimes started in
life on a farm purchased by the
brides parents or by the husbands
family. Both sides, if financially
able, contribute the house furnishing
Very often this outfit includes family
relics handed down from generation
to generation.
Thus does a Pennsylvania rural fam
lily become established in the com
munity in which perhaps both hus-
band and wife were born, and where
their ancestors dwelt in peace and
happiness before them.-Phila. Press