The Washington herald., 1912-09-29
Giving of Wedding
Presents Old Custom

| iron. thought Cam. signifed iastingness
and the adamant perfect accord. The
early Romans commonly used q plain
iron ring. while the poorer English. even
| in the nineteenth Sentury, used the ring
| for the church keys.
In the days when the espousal was in
vogue the girl invariably received q rims
| II her lover had the money to buy II.
and this band she wore on the right hand
until at the wedding it was transferred
! to her left. II the future husband was
I too poor TO buy or rent a ring. he gave
her a kiss-so binding a token that the
law allowed the woman, IL fitted. to re-
tain half of his presents. The common
people even considered 1t sacred, named
! II the mystic kiss. and declared that i,
made the two lives one. After the giving
of the ring or the kiss, wine was gen.
orally drunk by the bride ana the bride'
groom. and this ceremony. known as the
wet bargain, made the contract even
more binding. Oftentimes, too. at the
espousal. a silver coin was blessed and
broken and a piece given each partner to
be worn over the heart: and this also
took unto itself a sacredness and a
power to drive away trouble and cure
disease.
Among the wealthy a French invention.
called a gemmal. gimmal. or geminal
ring, constructed with a clasp 80 as to
become one band or two, took the place
of the broken coin. and when brought
together at the wedding by the couple
and the witnesses. who each took a por-
ton at the espousal. was found to be en-
graved with a rhyme incomplete without
every small golden band.
Tradition of Ring.
To-day people invariably put the ring
on the third finger of the left hand.
Why this choice? II has not always been
customary: old pictures of the Virgin
Mary. such as Raphaers "Espousal,'
show the band on the right. There is a
definite reason for the modern conven-
ton. Besides being less used. and there
fore less exposed to dangers. and being
the weaker finger, and therefore symbol
izing the wife's dependence. the third
digit of the left hand has been supposed
from the days of the Egyptians until
this hour to be connected directly with
the heart by vein called the ''vena
amoris."
This finger. thought the ancients, re-
sisted disease longest: govt never at
tackled it until the heart had become
affected. and then the pain In the finger
was the death sign; the alchemists be-
lieved 1t the quickest to give warning
OF poison. and they habitually stirred
their portions with II. 1t was indeed the
finger of life.
The symbolism Of the shoe is doubt
less older than any existing nation
Ruth's kinsman pulled of his shoe to
indicate that he had resigned all COM
mand over her. Among the Assyrians
and Jews, when a bargain had been
made, man sometimes gave his sandal
as a token of good faith. But the we'd
ding shoe is thought to be relic of the
ancient times when the pursuing father
hurled missiles at the robber BRIDE
groom.
Among the Anglo-Saxons it was Gus
tomary to throw a sandal after the
bridal chariot to show that authority
had been transferred to the husband.
and at the wedding itself the father often
handed the shoe to the bridegroom, who.
by way of reminder, tapped his wife's
head with 1t. 1t was then hung over the
bridegroom's pillow In the bridal bed, but
sometimes, when the bride was known
to have will OF her own, practical
jokers slipped into the chamber and
transferred it to the wife's pillow. The
medieval Germans always threw the
brides slipper from the bedroom to the
guests. and then indeed there was
scrambling. for the person capturing II
would be the next to marry. Then would
the gallants carry 1t to the dining-room
I'LL 1t with wine. and drink to the brides
eternal prosperity.-Uncie Remus' Maya
zine.