LADIES' COLUMN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 148, 23 June 1906, Page 11

LADIES' COLUMN.

BRIDAL CUSTOMS. The fashionable bride of to-day (writes a contemporary) little dreams that many of the customs she so carefully follows had their origin among savages. Tho "best man." for instance, was originally the chosen companion of the groom, who assisted him in tho capture of the- bride The nmt is a relic of the fetter by which the bride was bound, and the slipper a remnant of the missiles thrown by tho outwitted and angry parents. Orange blossoms came in a more civilised age, though they were not Christian, and augured great fertility for the woman. The veil, as still in modern oriental countries, typified exclusive possession by ,one man. The honeymoon is the symbol of tho time which elapsed before the bride could be brought from her hiding and could sue for peace with her irate kinsmen. Elopements are the evolution of the running away, in which an intermediate step is seen in the pretence at capture still in vogue among the Irish mountaineers. In Cardiganshire, Wales, a wedding is considered a tame affair unless the groom captures the bride after a thrilling mocK skirmish. The relatives offer mock resistance, and much scuffling and horseplay ensue. A dialogue in verse being finished, the groom is admitted and seeks the bride, who is disguised as an old woman with a male infant in her arms to symbolise sons and heirs. At the church thebrido is snatched by th© relatives, while the groom's party pursues on horseback. At last she is tossed back, and tho one receiving her will be married during the year.