CURIOSITIES OF WEDDINGS.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 337, 23 May 1885, Page 18

CURIOSITIES OF WEDDINGS.

A yotjxg woman in. a large manufacturingtown in Lancashire has just married a man she didn't' mean to marry.- It came about very much as in the case of the young lady at sea, who was 'plagued" almost to death by the three iovers. ..She appealed to the ship's, captain, and he ajdyjised her to jump into thewater and marry the one who came to her rescue. Off she jumped, and two of them, after her... She was just as much puzzled, for clearly she could .'not marry the two,, when the captain settled the question byadvising her to take the dry one.>»K The Lancashire young lady was in a like dilemma, or rather trileiuma, and agreed to marry the one who hit the bull's-eye of a. target. Two of them touched the bull'seye, whereupon she turned round and married the one who missed. But even more curious was the action of a young lady who made an appointment with her lover to meet her at the railway station and elope with her. She was there promptly to the minute. The young man was. not ; but in his place was a messenger, who> brought intelligence that the so-called lover was afraid to run away with her. Here was a pretty state of things. Clearly she could not go home again with all her boxes, trunks, etc., without her previous intentions being discovered, and in her trouble she appealed to the friend. He intimated that, notwithstanding the delicate position of affairs, he was always ready to oblige a lady, and if — blush — sshee — cr — blush — well, the result was, he made a splendid substitute, and the couple are now man and wife. Another girl, much under age, but full of romantic ideas, ran off with her lover into* Northumberland. However, the clergymam refused to unite them, on account of the penalty for minors. No time was to be lost, as the angry father and brother were behind them. The quick- witted girl immediately proposed an adjournment to a field about half a mile away, where England and Scotland joined; and so at midnight, with his feet astride the boundary, so as to confuse thft jurisdiction of the countries, the accommodating clergyman, who wanted his fee, made them oue. A pretty servant girl, who had heard all about the coachmen's marriages in America, passed herself off on the newly-employed coachman as the daughter of the house, and proposed an elopement. He was cap Mired at once, stood under her window, received her in his arms, and ran away and got married. Their employer followed them to find out what had become of some harness. When the girl saw him she threw herself on him,, crying — 'My father! my father !' 'What's all this?' said the surprised man. ' Oh, forgive me !' ' Yes. I'll forgive you when that fellow hands up my harness.' The coachman has a wife whom he will, dispose of on the most favourable terms. Not so amusing was a wedding in the sisterIsle, where the whole village was invited to^ be present. The husband, however, was not. quite sober when he arrived, and seeing his; cabin full of people, he ordered the ' blackguards 'to clear out. But the guests were of opinion they had not had as much fun as. the wedding was of yielding, so they declined in the most forcible manner. Then, the bridegroom swung his shillaleh andl brought it down On the head of the nearest guest. That commenced the festivities, and. before another half hour was over everybody was in the best of humors. After a wedding in Ulster, during the? early part of the present century, when thecountry was in a. very unsettled state, someof the people indulged in what was known, as ' old fashioned skimelton.' It was eighto'clock, and the ceremony was not finished,, when a crowd outside blew their horns,, fired guns, and threw stones on the roof.. The cabin was riddled with bullets, a musket was pointed at the head of the bride's father, and the doorway filled up, with heavy timber, which the bridegroom,, father and priest had to cut away before anyone could make an exit. The genial souls who made things so lively for the young, couple, made the acquaintance of the policenext morning, and as their performance was decided to be only 'an ordinary country skimelton,' they were acquitted by a jury of their countrymen. At a Scotch wedding the bride was not only well advanced in years but very deafHer new husband kissed her so loud' and long after the ceremony, that something gajfe way in her head, and she heard for the mrst timein thirty years. She recovered so completely that she was able to hear the fiddle, and danced all night to celebrate her recovery.. It made her happier than her marriage.