The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-09

Mrs. shiers-Mason, in the London Stand
 ard
 ~ PAIN might be termed the land of
 deliberation, for nothing, especially |O in the case of courtship and mar riage. is done in haste. Indeed, In the countrv towns of Andalusia, sudden marriage creates great surprise, ror' as a spanish writer says, There is nothing in which procrastination is carried so Tar in Andalusia as in the matters or eh- ragements.'' The Andalusian peasant considers we'll the step he Is about to take. and this consideration is very r,a.sant way of killing time. and time
 Is of but little value in the south or snain If is quite a common thing for man to be engaged 10 years. There IS also A monetary consideration to be taken into account. the marriage fee in Spain being a high one, namely, S or $S.
 A number of years ago little village near where we reside was so full or un- married people living together (solely be- cause they could not afford the marriage fees, that an English lady who had summer residence in the village, and who was much interested in the villagers welfare. made & bargain with the priest to marry all the couples Tor nXeo sum.
 Before coming into the house of his aancee. 4 man has to ask permission Of the father to be iiis daughters lover. IT he gives it, party is given to celebrate the engagement at which they drink aquardiente. etc., and eat cakes. GIFTS are never allowed to walk out with their lovers. No kissing is permitted between them. When a girl is asked why, she says: "Wo do not belong to our iovers' if we auarrelled he could not say that my lips had ever been his." This comes partly from pride and partly from wis1i not to be depreciated in the matrimonial market as lovers in Spain often prove ackle. girl know had been engaged five years when her lover tilted her. SIX months later she became engaged again. You see. she had only chatted with her former lover, so her matrimonial chances were quite as good as before she was engaged at all.
 Courtship is so public Tn spain .
 there cannot be any difficulty in gettins evidence for a breach of promise. A pea mt who is sued for breach or prom ise and who has resided In the same ,ro,,;,ce es his fiancee, has to pay so much for every year he has been engaged to her Nearly all the peasants are illit- crate. and have to get friends to write tbe,r love letters for them. Although they do not kiss each other, they put x s and o.s fin their letters, the latter signi- lying embraces! When a girl first writes n her lover she only addresses him as .Mv Appreciated John:'' she does not think it at all correct to put My Dear John unless they have been engaged a very long time. In these days engaged couples belong ing to the upper classes see good deal of each other. They meet at mass in the morning. chat together during the hour of siesta, see each other in the aft ernoon during the promenade, go to the same party in the evening, and after sup per see each other and "chat together at | they remain once more chatting together, | their faces pressed to the bars. until the rosy fingered dawn appears in the east. It is related that lover getting married
 after an engagement of eight years soon afterwards fell into low spirits from not 1 knowing what to do with his time!
 In olden days, however. according to Fernando Cortez. Spanish girls were kept almost as secluded and guarded as care i fully as the ladies in the harem of a Turk. Therefore. when young man fell I in love. instead of ringing the door bell 1 and sending in his card, he often made rope ladder and surveyed the residence | of the young lady with a view to ascer- | tain the best mode of getting upon hei i balcony or into her window.
 l A peasant girls fiance always buys ths l furniture, but the girls family often takes care of it. which is some guarantet
 that the marriage will take place. Ths girls often spend more than two years making their house linen and trous seaux.
 Spanish men of the lower class do no