WOOINGS AND WEDDINGS IN MANY LANDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 230, 26 September 1903, Page 3 (Supplement)

WOOINGS AND WEDDINGS IN MANY LANDS.

The marriage customs of to-day and in the earliest historic times nave many points of resemblance, and appear strikingly similar when carefully examined. In his earliest days man had to capture his wife. Then, growing moL-e delicate in his methods, he bought her; and now, as a last nnd u.ltlmate refinement, he woos and wins her. In Biblical times f.here appears to have been no religious ceremony performed at the wedding. Among the Hebrews the betrothal was the solemn and important act, and the Court' Ing was done by proxy! It was usually undertaken on the part of the bridegroom by a friend, nnd for the bride by her parents. It was confirmed by most binding oaths, and the man always gave, or, more correctly sent, presents to the woma»Thus, Isaac's servant first gave Kebeliah » massive earring and two bracelets. Hi 3 master's suit accepted, he gave more costly gifts, "jewels of silver, and jewels of gold and raiment." According to the custom still practised in the East the dowry Is a price paid to the father as purchasemoney for his daughter. Yet in patriarchal times It is doubtful if this would apply to a freo woman. The chief feature of the wedding ceremony was taking the brido from her father's house to his father's bouse, or perhaps directly to the bride.groonVs In Biblical language "to take" a wife is a very literal expression, the taking being the essential act.

In the East customs change slowly, and many of the marriage ceremonies in Arabia vary but little from Bible days. The world-famed traveller Burckhardt describes with interesting minuteness the wooings of a Bedouin tribe of Mount Sinai. "There," he says, "marriage is a matter of mere sale and purchase, and the Inclinations of the bride are but of slight moment. Among the Arabs of Sinai the maid comes home in the evening with the cattle. At a short distance from the camp Bhe is met by the future spouse and a couple of his young friends, nnd carried off by force to her father's tent. If she entertains any suspicions of their designs, she defends herself with stones, and often luilicts wounds on the young man, even though she does not dislike the lover; for, according to custom, the more she struggles, bites, kicks, cries, and strikes, the more she is applauded ever after by her own companions." In the end, with but rare exceptions, she is driven or carried into her father's tent. Then follows the throwing over her of the abba or man's cloak, just as Boaz threw his skirt over Ruth the gleaner, a token that he henceforth will provide for her and protect her. While enveloped In the clouk the name of the future husband is formally announced. And now she is dressed in her bridal apparel, and lifted in all her splendour on to the marriage camel. Yet no matter whether she be glad or sorry, all this time, she struggles in such unruly fashion, that tfie bridegroom's fiiinds, one .oa either side, must hold her on. In this manner she is led three times round and filially into the bridegroom's tent. And etiquette demands that her resistance be continued until the last. Then comes the nuptial feast, and presents are given to the bride. Let us hope that they live happily ever afterwards, for in many of the Bedouin tribes the woman who breaks her marriage bonds is beheaded! And by the hand of her own father or brother, or, if both thesfe be dead, by her nearest male relative. On the whole, however, wedlock in Arabia is a happy condition for women. An Arab's courtesy is proverbial, and he extends it to his wife. And she is his helpmate, loyal and fearless.

In olden time it was the general usage, and even to-day It is still sometimes, practised, for English % lovers to break a coin Ini halves in token of their plighted troth. And in some Arab tribes if a man and a maiden break in halves a cake made of almond paste before three witnesses, they are. regarded as formally betrothed. S marriage ceremony, curiously simple and primitive, is practised by the Aenezes —also Arabs. "The marriage day being appointed, usually some five or sis days after the betrothal, the bridegroom comes with a lamb in his arms to the tent Si the girl's father, and there cuts the lamb's throat before witnesses. As soon as the blood falls upon the ground the wedding ceremony is. regarded as complete. The men and girls sing and feast until evening. Soon after sunset the bridegroom retires to a tent pitched for him at a distance from theNjamp; there he shuts himself up and awaits the arrival of his bride. The bashful girl meanwhile runs from the tent of one friend to another till she is caught at last, and conducted in triumph by three or four matrons to the bridegroom's tent; he receives her at the entrance and forces her into it. The women who had accompanied her then depart." And thus terminates the wedding ceremony. In other tribes the bride really runs away. Among the Mezeyn the bride deliberately plans her escape, *and hides in some secluded s-pot which she has stocked with provisions. Here her husband must find her. And here they spend their short honeymoon. Then together they return either to his or her father's tent, and for a year she may not go beyond its shadow. So much for some of the marriage rites of the pastoral Arab when he weds his "nakedfaced" bride. But among the towp dwellers in Mecca and elsewhere, Moslem ceremonials aregenerally observed. And many and complex are the forms when the "Veiled-faced" daughter of a sheik marries a man of her own degree.