QUAINT FRENCH CUSTOMS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3562, 29 June 1912, Page 4

QUAINT FRENCH CUSTOMS.

"BRIDE-CHOOSING DAY.”

Saint Jean du Doigt, an old-fash-ioned town of Brittany, still keeps up its curious custom of holding a "Bride-Choosing Day” after Easter. All the marriageable young girls of the town and the country places for a long distance attend a special Mass and religious service, and remain near the fchurcli all day avaiding to joe chosen as brides by the young men of the district. Tho custom, dates back to the Middle Ages, when, it is said, the laws of the church were iso strict that no marriage between relatives to within the eleventh degree was permitted. The result was that young men could not find brides even in the neighboring villages, and rather long journeys had to be made to. obtain elegible girls elsewhere. It was then that the church, after an understanding with the feudal lord of the place, who had a right to a fee for each marriage, arranged a common bridal day every year after Easter, and the custom has been maintained to the present day. The day is observed as

ONE OF GREAT RELIGIOUS SOLEMNITY.

There is no music or hand, no dance of any kind —as, in fact, dancing has always been forbidden at St. Jean du Doigt because -of the story of St. John, the Baptist having been ordered to be beheaded by Herod after a danceFrom one to two hundred girls attend Mass in the morning, and at three in the afternoon they attend Vespers in the old Gothic clntrch. They are dressed in Bretagne fashion of all colors, and wear long embroidered shawls reaching to their feet, and carry a Mass book and an, umbrella. The umbrella, curiously enough, is an important factor in the transaction. It is in the handing over of the umbrella that the "ohinadee” of acceptance of the bride, consists. The girls stand in long rows on the steps of the church in the square-in front after Vespers. They are very quiet, and observe a sort of religious gravity, waiting patiently UNTIL A YOUNG MAN COMES TO CHOOSE ONE OF THEM. The young men stroll about some distance away on the walks, and seem to be rather indifferent. From time to time one of them leaves his friends and goes) to the girl whom he lias chosen. He salutes her ceremoniously, and speaks to her. Then the umbrella plays an important role. If it is handed over to the young man, his proposal is accepted, and it is rare that it is not. The girl usually hesitates for a few minutes for the sake of decorum. T|ie young man walks away to give the girl a last chance to reflect, and still retains his air of indifference. Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, which seem to be only a traditional delay, the girl leaves the ranks and follows the young man, who then invites her to a small collation. Little by little the inns become crowded with young couples, who are thus partaking of a sort of frugal bridal repast-. When night comes the couples return to the house of the chosen bride, and a real bridal supper is then given by the parents. Ino girls who have not been chosen do not seem to be disappointed. They remain about the church till dusk, and sometimes till it is perfectly dark. If their parents are kind to them nothing is said, but it often happens that the unfortunate girls who failed to be chosen are roundly scolded wLen they return home.