Evening star., 1901-09-21
OLD MARRIAGE CUSTOMS
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY RITES ALL
BORROWED FROM ANTIQUITY.
Ring and Veil Are Of Pagan Origin
The Curious Ceremonies of
Diferent Countries.
Written for The Evening Star.

| Written for The Evening Star.
How little the fashionable bride in the
smart set today realizes that all of the
wedding customs Of the present are rooted
| in the pagan past. The barbaric bride
groom procured his mate by one of two
methods-capture or purchase. We speak
| always now Of Capturing a bride, and
purchase is not wholly unknown. In
| the former the groom started upon the
| warpath with some chosen companion,
| who assisted him in seiZing the woman;
| whence cometh the custom Of having
| '.best man"
The dainty gold ring of today is relic
| of the fetter by which the bride was
bound, while the jocose slipper is a rem
nant of the missiles hurled by the angry
parents.
The orange blossoms came in more
| civilized age, though not Christian, and
augured great fertility for the woman
| The veil, as still in modern oriental coun-
tries, typifies exclusive possession by one
| man.
| Even the honeymoon is but the symbol
of the interval which elapsed before the
| victor brought his bride from hiding ana
| sought peace with her wrathful kinsmen
Elopements are the evolution of the run
ming away, in which an intermediate step
| is seen in the pretenSe at capture stlu III
| vogue among Irish mountaineers.
| In Cardganshire, Wales, wedding Is
very tame unless the groom captures the
bride after a thrilling pseudo sklrmlsh
| The relatives offer mock resistance, ana
much scuff1ing and horseplay ensue A
| dialogue in verse-old ballad style-being
finished, the groom is admitted and seeks
| the bride, who is disguised as an OLD Wo-
| man, often with male infant IN her
| arms, the symbol of sons and heirs. AT
| the church the bride is snatched by her
| relatives and the grooms party pursue
! on horseback. At last she Is tossed oack
| and whoever receives her will be wed
within one year (Similar to our throwing
| of the brides bouquet)
Cash Often Rules Now.
Purchase gradually superseded capture.
| The fathers wrath was mitigated by base
| coin Occasionally the bridegroom offered
| his own sister, in lieu of cash! But literal
capture is still prevalent in barbarouS
countries, and purchase in seml-clVlllZeo
| ones such as China and Mohammedan sec
| tionS. ,
Arabian fathers sometimes present their
daughter with sword, Signifying freedom
| For one blessed moment she belongs to no
| man-then she presents it to her huspand,
and henceforth is in his power.
Babylonians and AsSyrianS purchlsed
| their wives. All girls of age stood before
| the temple twice year, ana were sold at
auction! Handsome. girls commanded hlgh
| prices, but their purchase money was pre-
sented to the homely ones, to increase their
| attractions. Our Anglo-Saxon ancestors
| were still purchasing wives when Chr1stl-
| anity claimed them. Every woman had
| guardian-if not father, the king. 1t is in
| teresting to learn that widows were SOLD at
| half price!
Not until the tenth century did Anglo
| Saxon women have any right of choice
| Betrothed as children, the groom's pledge
was called wed; whence our word.
| The primitive Anglo-Saxon ceremonies
| contained these promises: For fa1rer or
fouler, for better, for worse, for richer or
| ha
each Of his wife's fingers, saying: Cd In
the name of the Father; (2 OF the Son;
((3) Of Holy Ghost; az Amen" The father
gave the husband an old shoe. with which
he tapped his wife on the head, as sign
of authority.
Welsh law permitted only moderate wife
| beating. Three blows were deemed sutii-
cient with stick no longer than an arm!'
Long after the advent of Christianity
marriage was purely secular. In 1863 the
council of Trent made the ecclesiastical
| ceremony binding.
Seasons Noted.
In Nottinghamshire there is doggerel in
forming the public Of the times when the
church permitted weddings:
advent marriage doth deny,
But Hilary gives thee liberty.
SeptuageSima says thee nay,
Eight days from Easter says you may.
Rogation bids thee to contain,
But Trinity sets thee free again.
The Greek Church has the most elaborate
ritual We are familiar with the Russian
wedding feasts. In Slavonic ritual the wine
drunk by the new couple is called the cup
of bitterness Champagne is served in the
czar's land, and guests are given souvenir
initial boxes of cake.
Yet twentieth century Americans believe
their marriage customs original!
In Brazil drinking brandy together may
constitute a marriage: In Japan the same
with wine. To join hands, to sit together
nd reppiva concentrations odd hindjnpr
customs; also to be Smeared with each
others blood; or for the woman to tie a
rope of grass around the mans waist.
The Australian woman carries fire to a
mans tent; the LoangO negress cooks two
dishes for him in his hut.
The Croatian bridegroom boxes the brides
ears, while now, in Hungary, the groom
gives his bride kick, to indicate her SUBJ
lection.
Crushes Out the Past
The Jewish bridegroom crushes the wine
glass to atoms with his foot, to obliterate
the past.
In China the maiden steps over a fire at
stick"
All these superstitions of the past have
come to us in modified form, but the love Of
tradition and tendency toward imitation
makes us slow to part with them.
Endless jests have been made upon the
word "obey," and women largely repudiate
1t, yet the great orthodox churches still re-
quire it. Denmark has recently abolished
the word legally.
The entire conception of the functions of
women in social and domestic life has so
altered and broadened that it seems singu-
lar that so many of the old marriage Gus
toms are still preserved-customs which, al
though amusing when traced to their
source, are really typical of a debased
womanhood in barbaric times and coun-
tries, and certainly not worthy of emula-
tion by twentieth century progress.
AN-
For the Home Dressmaker.
To renovate or not to renovate is q uues-
tion to be considered from this point
namely, whether 'tis better to have a new
gown or to send really good frock and
half the. cost of new one and have it re-