The Mountainair independent., 1920-07-01
TERM "HONEYMOON" OF
SCANDINAVIAN ORIGIN

Life will be one long honeymoon.
Who has not wonderedi>w
the term honeymoon? 1t was an
ancient custom among the Scandi-
navian race to drink metheg!ir, or
diluted honey, for 30 days after
the wedding. In the Isiaad Of
Rhodes honey as still a factor in
the marriage rites. After the
ceremony The husband dips his
finger in honey and traces cross
over the doorway of his home be-
fore the b; IL enters, while thc
guests admonisn the bride to ''bc
always as sWcY; and good as is
this honey
The ring, having no end, has al.
Tays been regarded as a token Of
unending love. The Jews used
the wedding ring long before the
Christian era. The husband gave
his signet ring, or duplicate of
it, to his bride, signifying that she
shared with him his authority.
Among the Egyptians, bctrothal
ring of iron was worn by both man
and woman, signifying the mutual
sacrifices Of liberty. Gold money
used to circulate in ring form in
Egypt in early times, and at mar
riage the Egyptian placed one of
these pieces of ring money on his
wife's finger, showing that he
shared his wealth with her. The
use of the wedding ring is almost
universal but in the country dis
tricts around Cadiz no ring is
used. After the ceremony the
groom shifts the flowers in his
WIFE hair from left to right, for
to wear a flower over the right
ear is to proclaim one s self a wife.
The wedding cake goes back to
antiquity, too. One of the i'm.
portant features of the marriage
ceremony among the Romans VAS
the partaking by both contracting
parties, of the cake made Of -four,
salt and water. This was done
in the presence of the high priest
and ten witnesses.
One of the most unique of wed
ding customs was practised in our
country. The run-up" wedding
was unknown in any part of the
world except in Southern Missis-
sippi, but no longer than twenty
five years ago it was the way in
which most Southern Mississipians
Of means were married.
Somes time before the wedding
the groom began to choose from
among his best friends those who
should ride with him. 1t was con-
sidered a great honor to be thus
chosen Horses were carefully
groomed and betasseled for the
occasion, the long, luXuriant mus
taches worn in those days were
waXed and twisted, and particu-
lar attention was paid to every
detail of the riders performance.
On the given date the groom and
his riders met at some secluded
spot a mile or two from the
brides home and at signal from
the groom dashed away at top
speed, hats waving and voices
shouting. Around the bride S
house a Gordon of outriders was
placed to warn of the approach
of the groom and his party. AS a
cloud of dust announced their APP
proach the outriders went ont to
meet them, whirling about and re-
turning with them On the porch
of the bride s home her party
strained their eyes to catch the
first glimpse OF the riders who of
ten made a detOur and came in
by an unexpected route, thus ad-
ding surprise to the exciting fea.
lures of the day
The sounding Of the herald 5
horn set all hearts to futterinc
In a whirl of dust the groom ap.
peared, snatching up his bride
and riding on a short distance
with her in front Of the saddle
then wheeling back and dismount
ing for the ceremony, for which
the minister stood waiting. Then
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