Bridal Superstitions.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 9, Issue 58, 22 July 1898, Page 5 (Supplement)

Bridal Superstitions.

Few girls are dauntless enough to risk being married on a Friday and also in the month of May, which is considered a very unlucky time, while June, September. October, and December are deemed the luckiest months of the year. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are considered the best days to be married on, if assurance of happiness is desired. Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health. Wednesday the best day of all ! Thursday for crosses, Friday for losses, Saturday no luck at all. All brides-elect rejoice when the marriage day dawns brightly, remembering the old adage : “ Blest is the bride upon whom the sun doth shine.” And all are equally certain that — To change the name, and not the letter, Is a change for the worse, and not the better. The postponement of a wedding is regarded with such horror that many will be wedded on a sick bed or in a house of mourning rather than change the date. It Is an over-bold woman, indeed, who will let her vanity so far get the better of her as to don her bridal robes in their entlrety before the hour set for the ceremony, as such an act presages death and dire misfortune. White Is the colour usually chosen for bridal robes, signifying purity and innocence ; but others may be chosen wisely, as the following rhyme asserts ; Married in white, You have chosen all right. Married In gray, You will go far away. Married in black, You will wish yourself back. Married in red, You’d better be dead. Married in green, Ashamed to be seen. Married in blue, You’ll always be true. Married in pearl, You’ll live in a whirl. Married in yellow, Ashamed of the fellow. Married in brown, You’ll live out of town. Married in pink, Your spirits will sink. Then no bride must go to the altar wlthou t “ something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue.” Neither must she, after her toilet is complete, look at herself in the mirror. She must see that no bridal guest wears a costume entirely black, as that would bring her sorrow. . On changing her gown she must throw away every pin used in the bridal attire. No girl who would be a happy bride ‘must take a hand in the making of her wedding cake or the sewing of her bridal gown. To try on a wedding ring before the ceremony is unpropitious. Should the shaking hand of the groom drop his symbol of love in the act of putting it on the bride’s finger, the ceremony had better be stopped right there. To lose it is a prophetic of evil, and to remove it after it is placed on the finger is unlucky. The throwing ot rice and old slippers is descended from antiquity, rice meaning fertility and plenty, while the old shoe is supposed to invoke the favour of the fickle goddess of fortune. No bride or groom must turn back after starting, and the bride must be sure when she leaves home to place in her pocket a silver coin, so that in future years she may not come to want. In the Isle of Man it is customary for the bride and groom to go to the altar with a pinch of salt in their pocket to Insure a life of prosperity. Awkward. Sir Joseph Orowe in his “ Reminiscences” gives several instances of the manner in which religious belief in India may conflict with the practical affairs of life. He had numerous servants there, for a man who had been hired for one sort of work always refused to undertake anything else, and the consequence was that the place was full of people either idle or fast asleep. When they .did work, however, it was often under certain restrictions which a stranger was not likely to guess in the beginning. At one time the bungalow was overrun with mice, and so a boy was ordered to buy half-a-dozen traps and set them. He obeyed, and next day took his master round triumphantly to show that each of them was occupied by a prisoner. A few days later it was evident that the mice were still rampant all over the bungalow, and the master called his boy. “ Have you set the mouse-traps ?” asked he. “ Yea, sahib.” “ How many mice did you catch ?” “ Fifty.” “ What did you do with them ?” “ I let them out again.” “ But,” said the master, ” they were to 'be caught and killed.” “ Oh,” said the boy, “ I never kill anything !” Then he remembered that the Hindu religion makes that merciful but inconvenient provision.

Dr. Salmon, the 107-year-old English physician, recently died at Cambridge. When he heard of the battle of Waterloo he posted to Dover, and crossed to Brussels to care for the wounded. He practically gave up smoking at 90, but drank port to the end.