MATRIMONIAL SUPERSTITIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5567, 16 May 1896, Page 3

MATRIMONIAL SUPERSTITIONS.

(Detroit Free Press.)

A considerable grain of truth may be found in the f^nmla wlrich the lovesick young man in Locksley Hall enunciated as a harbinger of spring.: — " In the spring a young man's faiiey Lightly turns to thonghts of love." For be it known love has its seasons, controlled by the time of year, the superstitions of its .votaries, and even the signs of the sun and moon, and, mo3t arbitrary of all, by the days of the week. To marry on Monday means to marry for wealth, yet much as we Americans love wealth, Monday is not a popular wedding day. Tuesday is much better patronised, but Wednesday is a favourite. As a happy bride recently observed : " Wednesday is not too near either end of the week." Thursday being the day for "crosses," is not a favourite except with those whose position is never dependent upon the caprices of fate, and therefore can, to a certain extent, defy the cherished superstitions of centuries. Friday, being hangman's day, is out of the calculations of Cupid, except with those who have made it their lucky day Saturday being put down in the calendar of superstition as no day at all, has seldom to record the tying of the nuptial knot, and Sunday is not included in the matrimonial list of days. It is generally conceded, both by society and the people who are slaves to no social dictum, that the merrymaking and festivities which accompany the wedding ceremonies are not consistent with the prescribed observances of Sunday. A quiet church marriage is all that could be expected. • • Marriages in Lent are not looked upon with favour, even by those who do not observe the season as one of fasting and 'penitence. • ' Marry in Lent, Live to repent." May is not considered a lucky month for marriages, especially that day of the week on which the prohibited 14th falls, for the couple who are married on that day, says an old writer on Scotch folk-lore, will have occasion to regret it for the whole year. Better reasons are given by the authorities for the ban laid on the beautiful month of May than are found to defend other prohibited months. It was the month of funeral rites with the ancient Romans, and for this reason marriages were forbidden to interfere with the sacred ceremo a:es of the dead. In China marriages are not permitted by the authorities in the month of May. The Scotch people recall the fact that Queen Mary married Bothwell in May, and for that reason they have continued a superstition begun in ancient days. . " What, then, are the lucky months ? People who were happily married in May — possibly on the unlucky fourteenth day of that month — will smile at these restrictions. Others will tell us that June and October are the two exempt months, which superstition dare not meddle with. It is certain that these two delightful months of the year are popularly believed to be the best to insure future happiness. Other superstitions attending the wedding ceremony are not inclusive of the bridegroom, who has so little to do with the ceremonial display that his traditions are of- small consequence. He must not wear boots that are new, but whether this is to ensure an absence of pains and aches, or takes some deeper cult, is not explained. And the bride must be particular not to wear anything green : " They that marry in green • Their sorrow is Boon seen." Nor must she wear yellow : " They who in yellow wed Should have chosen red." Green signifies jealousy, and yellow is the handmaid of green. " White is fine and new, Blue is old and true." So food aze brides of "goawtbipg sew.

| and something blue," that some part of the I dress is always composed of this . favourite colour, if only a ribbon or bow. The appurtenances of a bride are believed to act as charms for other girls, but they are very hard to obtain. If the bridesmaids gar other girl friends at the wedding can have a slice or crumb of wedding cake which has passed through . the marriage ring nine times they are sure of being married within a year. But few brides care to take off the ring which has\just been consecrated, to enforce a superstition, and the piece of dream-cake has to serve the purpose. When an obliging bride will lend her wedding-ring, the lucky girl who borrows it must look through it at the new moon, repeating the formula : •• All hail to thee. moon !• All hail to theo ! I pray thee, good moon, reveal to me . • This night v/ko my true love shMl be." The n^at trick which some fanciful seamstress originated of sewing a hair inter the bridal dress for luck is' a comparatively new discovery, but the recent finding of a dozen long hairs of all colours, sewed into one wedding gown by; the whole force of a fashionable dressmaking establishment, is likely to lead to a discontinuance of the whim. When the red, black, blonde and brown hairs were ripped out of the dainty seams the.girls who had contributed them were heartbroken.' . They had each hoped' to be wed within the year by the occult influence of those straws of luck.