The Washington herald., 1908-06-14

From the London Daily Mail
We often hatter ourselves that the age
Of superstition came TO an end century
or two ago. yet there still are many peo-
pie who cling II not unconsclously at
least without any well defined reason. to
customs which are the relics OF pagan
mythology or Of medieval credulity
Perhaps none Of these stiu current ira
ditional ideas retains so much Of its old
time vigor as the prejudice against mar
rying in May which prevails throughout
the Occidental world though nowhere
quite so strongly as IN Scotland That Il
is an absurdity nea~ly all Of us are pre-
pared freely TO admit. but. notWithstand-
ing this. the majority Of women and not
a few men would rather be married I'm
any month OF the year than the fifth.
The announcements OF marriages I'm the
newspapers show this clearly enough.
There are always fewer by many In May
than in any other month"; but in April
and June clergymen are kept exception
ally busy making happy couples husband
and wife. In 1907 the Times announced
Al marriages which We're solemnlzed in
April. 10 in May and $50 IN June-fgures
which speak for themselves
How long this superstition has been IN
existence is not known even approx
mately but It is highly probable that il
is OF Roman origin. Ovid refers 10 II in
his ''Fasti' as a belief OF the common
people" which practically means that it
was some centuries old in his day. From
Italy it spread all over Europe and the
evil consequences Of a May marriage be-
came fixed in the popular mind Marry
in May and you'n rue the day" is an
English folk proverb. THE girls are all
stark naught that wed in May" Is an
other An old poet tells us that MAY
never was we month Of love" and Raw
expresses the same idea in the rhyme:
Who maHies between the sickle and the scythe
VIII never thrive
That such a belief should become largo
ly observed in practice goes without say
ing In Sir John Sinclairs Statistical
Account Of Scotland" a Perthshire minis
ter says: None choose 20 mary In
January or May" and I'm a curious old
almanac for the year 1853. "by LeweS
Vaughan. made for the merydIan OF
Gloucestre," we learn the tynes of wed
dings when II begynneth and endeth
January a. wedding begin. January q
weddings goth out. April 3. wedding be
April p. welding goth out. May %. we'd
ding begyn.' Naughan's photography IS
loose, but his information is exact
The periods mentioned by the almanac
maker as close seasons" for weddings
were established by the church. which
made an absolute rule forbldding mar
riage between Rogation and Whit Sunday
Il. e., the greater part of May-but II
must be remembered that the church In
weaving the people from paganism TO
Christianity very wisely made the step
easier by adopting certain outward forms
and customs which had long prevailed.
The church was then conforming 10 Gus
tom in this particular matter Nav mar
riages were disliked on various grounds
and during the centuries now gone bv
there was always rush of weddings be-
tween the end Of Lent and the beginning
Of the supposedly unlucky month.
Bespeak the priest bespeak the minstrel too
Ere May. 70 wedlock hostile. stop the bans
says Graham in the British Georges" "
voicing the custom and feeling of upward
OF 1000 years
As has already been said. this super
stition has been, and still is. particularly
''NA'AAo All oNpAAtilANAs -NbAlllllE llldl Mary
Queen Of Scots did In the whole course OF
her life, so full of errors, causedlher sub
jects 10 so much uneasiness, even offense
as marrying in May She and Boutwell,
were married on the 18th OF that month.
and on the following morning there was
found fixed on the gates Of Holyrood
palace Ovid's ominous words: 'Aiense
malas Maio nubere vulgus alta vulgar
proverb declares the welded maids Of
May untrue After such marriage. the
Scottish people were prepared for any
thing, for the month was objected 20 even
more strongly than the bridegroom. if
that were possible
Sir Walter Scott, stepped as he was in
the lore Of his country, very naturally
put himself to considerable inconvenience
to avoid a May marriage in his own fam
ily. Although matters of importance
made his presence in London desirable.
he hurried TO Scotland with all possible
speed 70 be present at the wedding of
his daughter Sophia and Lockhart which
took place on April %. 1920. He had such
respect says Lockhart, "for the ancient
prejudice a classical as well as a Scot
'ish one) against marrying in May. that
he was anxious TO have the ceremony In