The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-02-14
Origin Of Marriage Customs.

The Oldest known love letter ia the
world is in the British Museum. 1t
is proposal of marriage made to an
Egyptian Princess. and.it was written
3, 600 years ago. 1t is in the form of
an inscribed brick, and is therefore
not only the Oldest, but also the
most substantial love letter in exist
ence.
The first silver wedding dates back
to the time of Hugh Capet. Two
servants had. .grown gray in his ser
vice, man and woman, and what
could he give them as reward? Call
ing the woman, he said: "Your ser
vice is great, greater than this mans
whose service il great enough, for the
woman always finds work harder than
man, and, therefore, will give you
4 reward. At your age know Of none
better than u dowry and Il husband.
The dowry is hcre-this farm from
this time forth belongs to YOU If
this man who has worked with you for
five and twenty years is willing
to marry you, then the husband is
ready"
"Your majesty said the old ser,
want, how is it possible tha, we
should marry, having already silver
hairs"
''Thcn it shall be II silver wedding,
and the king gave the couple silver
enough to keep them in plenty. This
soon became known all over France,
and it became fashion after twenty
Eve years of married life to celebrate
silver wedding.
The practice Of the wfc's assuming
the husband S name at marriage is
Roman custom Julia married to
Pompey became Julia Of Pompey. In
latter times married women signed
their names in the same manner, but
omitted the "of" In Iceland the op-
positc has been the custom. There
the husband assumes the wife 3
name.
The word wedding is derived from
the wed or security which the Anglo
Saxon bridegroom gave at espousals
for the due performance Of his con
tract. This wed was held by trustees
and in addition to it the bridegroom
wore IN espousal ring. AS for the
wedding ring, it was first designed by
Prometheus, according to tradition,
and fashioned out of adamaut and
iron by Tubal Cain, and was given
by Adam to his son to this end,
that he Herewith should espousc u
wife.
The wedding cake is the remains Of
custom whereby Roman bride held
in her left hand three wheat ears, and
muny centuries later an English bride
wore u chaplet Of wheat The brides
maids threw grains of cDrn or small
bits of cake upon the heads Of the
newly married and the guests picked
up the pieces and ate them. The
wedding cake did not come into gener
al use until the last century, and was
then composed Of solid blocks laid to-
gether, iced all over, SO that when the
outer crust was broken over the
BRIDE head, the cakes inside fell on
the floor and were distributed among
the guests. Bridal favors are Of Dan
ish origin. The true lovers knot
was first designed by Danish hearts,
and derived its designation from
the Danish truclofa-"I plight my
troth."
The throwing Of the slipper. comes
from the custom Of the father of the
bride giving shoe to the new hus-
band IN token of transfercncc Of pow
er over her, the bridegroom lightly
tapping the brides head with it.
The best man is a survivor Of the
band Of friends who accompanied the
suitor in his wifc-winning and kept
watch for him over the bride 8 tribe,
while tle lover sought the opportuni
ty to carry off his prize. The honey
moon journey is the hurried fight Of
the husband with his wife to escape
the vengeance Of tho pursuing tribe.
The presents given the bridesmaids
and ushers arc simply relic of the
rough bribery used by the ancient
bridegroom among his personal friends
80 that they would assist in the cap
ture Of his chosen bride when the day
arrived on which he. had determined to
carry her off. In the fifteenth CEN