The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1900-12-29
Weddings and Traditions.


The ceremonies and traditions
which cluster around the marriage
service are numerous. interesting and
Of ancient origin.
The oldest known love letter in the
world Is In the British museum. Il
is a proposal Of marriage made to an
Egyptian princess, and 1t was written
$500 years ago. It IS in the form Of
an inscribed brick. and is. therefore.
not only the oldest. but also the most
substantial love letter in existence.
The first silver wedding dates back
TO the time Of Hugh Capet. Two SER
wants had grown gray in his service.
a man and a woman. and what could
he give them as reward2 Calling the
woman he said:
Your service is great. greater than
this mans. whose service IS great
enough. for the woman always finds
work harder than a man. and. there
fore, will give you a reward At your
age I know none better than a dowry
and a husband. The dowry Is here
this farm from this time forth belongs
TO you. If this man. who has worked
with you FIVE and twenty years is Will
ing to marry you. then the husband IS
ready"
your majesty" said the old ser
want. "how is It possible that we
should marry, having already silver
hairs?"
Then It shall be a 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 a fashion after twenty
five years Of married life to celebrate
a silver wedding.
The practice OF the wife's assuming
the husbands name at marriage is q
Roman custom. Julia married to Pom
pey became Julia Of Pompey In
latter times married women signed
their names In the same manner, but
omitted the "of" In Iceland the op-
posite has been the custom. There
The husband assumes the wife's 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 an espousal ring. AS for the
wedding ring. IL was first designed BY
Prometheus. according to tradition,
and fashioned out Of adamant and iron
by Tubal Cain. and was given BY
Adam 70 his son to this end. that he
Herewith should espouse a wife.
The wedding cake IS the remains OF
a custom whereby a Roman bride held
in her left hand three wheat ears. and
many centuries later an English bride
wore chaplet Of wheat. The brides
maids threw grains OF corn OF smail
bits OF cake upon the heads Of the
newly married and the guests picked
up the pieces and ate them. The we'd
ding cake did not come into general
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 brides
head the cakes inside fell on the floor
and were distributed among the
guests. Bridal fayors are Of Danish
origin The true lovers knot was first
designed by Danish hearts and de-
rived its designation from the Danish
truelofa-"I plight my troth."
The throwing Of the slipper comes
from the custom Of the bride OF the
father giving a shoe to the new hus-
band in token Of transference Of pow
or over her. the bridegroom lightly
tapping the brides head VIA It.
The best man is a survivor Of the
band Of friends who accompanied the
suit0r in his wife-winning and kept
watch for him over the brides tribe.
while the lover sought the opportu-
nifty to carry on his prize. The hon
eymoon journey is the hurried flight
Of the husband with his wife to es-
cape the vengeance Of the pursuing
tribe The presents given the brides
maids and ushers are simply a relic
Of the rough bribery used by the an
cient bridegroom among his personal
friends 50 that they would assist in
the capture Of his chosen bride when
the day arrived on which he had de-
iermined 40 carry her of. In the fif-
ieenth century bflde-lf one Of the
aristccracy-often received twenty
lings from her relatives and six from
The bri1egr0om-two when he became
Interested ia her, two for the espousal
and two when they were married.