Rural Retreat times. [volume] (Rural Retreat, Va.) 1892-1918, 1904-07-29
ORIGIN OF BEST MAN
FIRST KNOWN IN SCOTLAND
DUTIES WERE ONEROUS.
MEANINGLESS, INELEGANT EXPRESSION

1t may be a surprise to some peo-
pie to know that the phrase best
mantle bridegroom's nearest at
tendant-is of Scottish origin, says the
London Globe. In the north, also,
the principal bridesmaid used to be
called the best maid" Neither ex-
preston has much to recommend it
1t is great pity, indeed, that best
man." an inelegant and in itself meal
ingless phrase, should have SO com
pletely ousted from our common, ev
cry day speech the good old English
name OF" brakeman" or "bridesman.
Another old name is groomsman,
and in the days gone by the bride
groom was attended, not only by one
friend, but by several, who were
known as the bridemen or grooms-
men. The term best man" came in
to use, presumably, to indicate the
one of these who took the lead i'll per-
forming their various duties, and was
in closest attendance on the bride
groom. In recent years the custom
of having groomsmen has been oc-
casionally revived, but it has not be,
come general. AT fashionable we'd
ding four or five years ago the bride
was content with FIVE bridesmaids and
two pages, whereas the bridegroom
was supported by no fewer than nine
groomSmen.
But at the present time such an ar
ray has by no means the same mean
ing, nor are those attendant friends
of SO much use, as in days of old.
The forerunner of the brakeman was
the brideleader, whose duty it was to
bring the bride to the bridegroom.
In most countries where the real or
pretended capture of the bride was
an essential part of the ceremony,
and wherever traces of the very an
cient custom of bride capture existed,
the friend or friends of the bride
groom had the important office Of
capturing the lady and bringing her
to her lord In one OF Dryden's plays
there is the line: 'Betwixt her guards
she seemed by bridemen led, an6
Brand tells us that at many old Eng
fish weddings the bridegroom was lee
to the church between two maids, ane
the bride by two young men holding
her by the arms as if unwilling. This
was evidently survival of the ides
of capture.
The same idea, somewhat more
disguised, can be traced in the custom
which was not unknown at old-fash-
Toned weddings less than century
ago in the North of England and il
the West of Scotland, of the bride
groom's best man" escorting the
bride to the church. 1t has been dis
puted, naturally, whether the groom
nearest friend was chosen as escort
with the idea of protecting the lady
from seizure by others or whether
he might be regarded as the leader il
the act of capture. But whichevel
idea lay at the back of the practice
it was clearly survival connected
with the custom of marriage b,
capture. Later the brakeman had va
rious functions to perform, whicl
have now become obsolete. Their
was still a trace of the capture ide
in the old duty at one time assigne
to the brakeman of giving the brid
away. He led her to the church an
Aen acted the part now filled by til
lady's father or other near male rel;
tive.
In the old seventeenth centur
ballad of the Golden Glove" whic
used to be great favorite at rur
gatherings in all parts of the countr
in the old, unsophisticated days, bt
fore the melancholy monstrosities {
the nj odern music fsll had driv1
the genuine old English songs an
ballads out of use and memory
this ballad there are the lines whicl
allude to the custom named:
Il thought you had been at the wed
ding" she cried.
"To wait on the squire abh give hin
his bride"
And it is pointed out that the sam
custom may be limited at in the mar
riage service ribric-"The ministe
received the woman at her father
OF friends hands"
Among the Shropshire peasantry i
quite recent years something of tn
old custom seems to have prevailed
Miss Burne, in her delightful boo
on Shropshire Folklore" says tina
at weddings in humble life the bride
father is seldom and her mother new
er present. AS rule the only com
panions to church of the bride ant
groom are the best man and TIL,
bridesmaid. In such circumstances i
is obvious that the lady must be Civ
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