RINGS AND ROMANCES

Shannon News, 10 November 1925, Page 1

RINGS AND ROMANCES

WEDDING BAND'S HISTORY. CUSTOMS OF THE ANCIENTS. BACK TO THE BIBLICAL DAYS. The wedding 1 ring may change from gold to platinum and “new rings for old” become the jeweller’s slogan, as has happened within the last 15 years, but the symbolism of what was once the token of “love and obey,” even with the “obey” omitted remains the same as does the origin of the still unbroken custom of wearing it on the third finger of the left hand, says a recent writer. The ancients believed there was a vein in that finger that connected directly with the heart. Betrothal or engagement rings have been in use for centuries, As long ago as 1477, when the marriage of the Duke of Austria to the Princess of Burgundy was arranged, the Princess gave her consent by sending a very valuable diamond ring as a pledge of her good faith. According to the Rev. Charles Wheatley, a well-known commentator on the Book of Common Prayer, the ring was selected as a betrothal pledge because in early times it was used as a seal to bind all agreements and was affixed to all important documents. A marriage custom of great antiquity was the delivery of the keys of the household with the bridal ring. Romans wore their keys attached to finger rings instead of hitched to chains depending from the suspended button, and Roman matrons carried the keys to their jewel caskets on finger rings. A Symbol of Authority. . As a pledge for the performance of a promise and as a symbol of authority, finger rings were used many years before the Christian era. In Genesis, it is stated that Judah gave his signet as a pledge to Tamar, and Pharaoh placed his. ring on Joseph’s hand when he installed him as ruler over his Egyptian household. Investiture l>y rings is practised even now and forms an important part p f the coronation ceremony of the English sovereign. The coronation ring of plain gold, set with a large ruby on which is engraved the Cross of St. George. The Master of the Jewel-house hands it to the Archbishop of Canterbury who, placing it on the third finger of the sovereign’s light hand, says: “Receive this ring, the ensign of kingly dignity and of defence of the catholic faith,” etc. Moses permitted the priests he had ordained to wear rings as symbols of office, and Dariu s used his signet to seal the mouth of the lions’ den into which Daniel was thrust. Jezebel, when ordering the death of Naboth, used the ring of King Ahab, her husband, to seal the letter she forged to carry out her purpose. Israelite women wore rings not only or tl/eiv fingers but also in their ears and nostrils and the practice still prevails in Eastern lands. Rings for Many Purposes.

Among the materials first employed iii making linger rings were gold, silver,: bronze, iron, brass, ivory, jet, earthenware, porcelain, leather and wire. Rings have also been made of the bones of the ostrich, these being held to possess unusual virtues as amulets. Elk-hoof and the lmof of the ass have also been used in ringmaking. These were said to cure their wearers of epilepsy, and this belief is still common among Indians and Scandinavian races. Teeth were often used in place of gems for settings on account of , beneficient powers they were supposed to have. Rings have been made for many and varied purposes. were said not only to cure cramp but to prevent its return. There have been amulet rings, infallible protectors against the evil eye; astronomical dial and zodiac rings; garter rings and puzzle rings; rings for novitiates taking the veil, usually of gold set with a sapphire; rings for diplomats betokening the official standing of the wearer; rings for poets, pilgrims, lawyers and clerics; and squirt poison rings, made to contain vegetable poisons of the most deadly sort which could be injected into the victim’s blood by slightly scratching the key rings arid motto rings on which lovers expressed" their sentiments in verse. Love knots and gemel-rings, the last made of two or three links in-ter-twined which could be joined together so as to form one ring, were popular early in the 2nth. century. An ISth. century custom was to bieak betrothal rings in two, one half being retained by each of the betrothed couple. At the wedding the pieces were joined. Rings are still worn in the Far East on fingers, noses, toes, ears, arms and anklets.

Custom of the Ancients. From Egypt and the East rings were introduced into Greece where they were worn by all freemen as insignia of office or for ornament. The Romans copied the custom from the Greeks, but wore rings more or lux. uries. They had summer and winter rings, the former made heavier and thicker than the latter. They set the ornaments with gems supposedly endowed with healing and fortunate virtues. In some countries sa man who wears a ring on the first finger of his left hand publishes the ’fact that he is seeking a wife; a ring on his second

finger of the same hand Signifies that he is engaged and on the third that he is married. A ring on the fourth finger announces that he has chosen to be a life-long bachelor. The women follow a like practice. At one time in England the wedding ring was placed on the third finger of the right hand of the bride as it still is in the marriage ceremony of the Greek Church. Interchange of wedding rings, long a custom with German members of the Lutheran Church is not unknown among English-speaking peoples.