SOME MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XLIII, Issue 2285, 19 February 1912, Page 2

SOME MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.

EAST AND WEST. When an Arab woman intends to marry again after the death of her husband, she comes, in the night before her second marriage, to the grave of her dead husband. Here she kneels and prays to him, and entreats him "not to be offended—not to be jealous." As, however, she fears he will be jealous and angry, the widow brings with her a donkey, laden with two goatskins of water. Her prayers and entreaties done, she proceeds to pour on the grave the water, to keep the first husband cool under the irritating circumstances about to take place. The giving of money to the bride by the bridegroom is assigned to the time of Olovis, who, when married to Princess Clothilde, gave her a " sou " and a "' denier." Since then these have become legal marriage offerings even to this day in France. Of course, the value of the coins depends on the status of the contracting parties. Formerlj, a like custom existed in England. The bride or her attendant carried a bag, often haudsomely embroidered, to receive the donation for the bride. This receptacle was called a " dow puree" (from dower); and this custom long lingered in country parts. Evidently from it originated the bridal gift of parents or bridegroom, called a dowry. In Turkey and Armenia etiquette ordains that women should veil themselves from the public eye, but few of their male relatives see their uncovered features. It consequently follows that husbands scarcely know their wives by sight until the marriage knot has been duly tied. An amusing instance of the disappointment that must be frequently experienced under these circumstances is related of a bride who was not blessed by Nature with th« gift of beauty. On asking her husband before which of his gentlemen friends she might be allowed to unveil, he replied, " I give you free leave, my dear, to show yourself to any man in the world, so long an it is not me."

In Turkey, it is also permissible to marry by proxy. A document is prepared setting forth fully the state of the bride's fortune, together with the means of the bridegroom ; the marriage lines are signed by the proxies and duly witnessed by friends and the ceremony is complete. It is said that Turks maj lawfully possess four wives, and also four slave concubines. Although the husband is bound to give his wife some dowry, it is not compulsory for parents to allow anything. The husband's gift is paid in part to the girl's parents before marriage, in order to defray some of the expenses of the trousseau, whilst the residue is held by some of her friends upon certain conditions analogous to those of our marriage settlements. —" English Illustrated Magazine."