Proposing Marriage.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 25, Issue 39, 22 May 1914, Page 2

Proposing Marriage.

In remote Alpine hamlets and villages, especially in the Bernese Oberland, there still exist ancient and pretty customs of proposing marriage by the language of flowers. If a maid accepts a bouquet of edelweiss from a man she at the same time accepts him as her fiance, the idea being that the man has risked his life to obtain the flowers for the woman he loves. Another method which exists in the canton of Glams is for the young man to place a flower-pot containing a single rose and a note on the win-dow-sill of the girl’s room when she is absent from home and wait—perhaps days—for a reply. If the maid takes tlie rose the young man boldly enters the house to arrange matters with her parents, but if the rose is allowed, to fade away the proposal is rejected without a single word having been exchanged between the couple. Sometimes a fickle girl will keep a young man waiting a day or two for an answer, but whatever it may be it is considered final.