CHAPTER VI.

Turkish Marriages.—Russian Marriages.-Hop and other Symbols.-Peasants' Marriages on the Caspian and Black Seas.-Marriage Fair.-Tartar Marriages.-Kalmuck Marriages.--Wife-capture.-Mongol Marriages.-Marriage to the Dead.-Ostiack Marriages.-Toorkoman Marriages.-Polish Marriages.-Symbolical Bouquet.-Hungarian Marriages.- Marriages at Bosnia.-In Wallachia and Moldavia.-Scandinavian Marriages.-Swedish and Danish Marriages.-Superstitions and Charms.-Norwegian Marriages. -A Bryllup.-Icelandic Marriages.-Large Rings.- Finland Marriages. -Health-drinking.-Knife Sign.-The Week of the Breeches.-Kamtchatkadale Marriages.—Earning and Capturing a Wife.-Lapland Marriages.-Lovers' Wine.-Esquimaux Marriages.-Tibet Marriages.—Brother's Wife.-Marriages among the Dyaks of Borneo.

'N Turkey, by authority of the Koran, the Sultan is allow

IN

ed seven wives, and every other Mussulman four, and as many female slaves as they please; but in the present day few men have more than one wife each. Polygamy is almost confined to the very wealthy, and is by no means general even among them, probably because a plurality of wives produces a plurality of expenses. The slaves are free when they have had a son, nor can their masters sell them, but they may give them away. All their priests may marry except the dervishes, who are prohibited from so doing. The Turks can divorce their wives very easily, and are allowed to marry near relations, on the principle that a double tie makes the friendship stronger.

Marriage is a mere civil contract, and the ceremony is performed before a Cadi, or magistrate. It derives its validity from his authority and registration. It is solemnized

before him, not by the parties themselves, as neither the bride nor any other female attends the ceremony, but the contract is executed by proxies, and signed by witnesses.

In the seventeenth century the forms were as follows: When a man wished to marry, his relations met those of the intended bride, and the dowry which he was to give her was agreed upon. Afterwards he sent the lady's father the stipulated sum of money, in order that a portion of it might be expended in the purchase of clothes and furniture. The balance remained in the hands of the father, without whose consent the husband could not in any way dispose of it. Most parents contributed to the expenses of their daughter's marriage, although it was not the custom for them to give her any considerable portion. All preparations for the marriage were left to the care of a friend of the bridegroom, called the Sagois.

The bride continued covered up for eight days before her marriage, and she was not allowed to be seen uncovered by her intended husband, or any of his relations. He meantime visited his friends, and invited them to the wedding. Those who were so invited sent their presents the day before that fixed for the ceremony. Always on the same day the bride was taken to a bath, her nearest relations walking before her with lighted torches in their hands, and she was carefully washed by several women. By means of a vegetable substance her hair, nails, palms, and heels were dyed red.

On the wedding day the bridegroom sent a present to the Cadi. The Sagois, accompanied by all the guests and many muscians, went to the bride's house, where they partook of a banquet. After that the lady's father took her by the hand and formally delivered her over to the Sagois, who then seated her upon horseback, and carried her to the bridegroom's house. All the guests followed, and the train

was augmented by vehicles carrying her farniture and effects. The bride rode with a veil over her face and an umbrella over her head, and she saluted all whom she met by bowing. She was accompanied by her servants and nurses, who made a great clamor in lamenting for the impending loss of her virginity. When she had reached her husband's house she dismounted, and was received by him, and he conducted her with the other women into a chamber distinct from that of the men. A supper and ball followed, after which the Sagois took the bride by the hand, led her to the bridegroom's chamber, and delivered her over to the eunuchs, who kept her in charge until her husband's arrival. When he came he took off her veil and other habiliments, she meanwhile pretending some resistance. On the following day she was again taken by her relations and servants to a bath, where she was again carefully washed.

A Moslem marriage is generally celebrated on the eve of Friday, the Moslem Sabbath, when the bridegroom goes with his male friends to the mosque to offer the prescribed prayers and observances, which being finished, he is conducted in state to the bride, and formally presented to her by some aged relative. The bride, as an indication of her servile condition, humbly waits upon him at the nuptial supper.

In Russia in modern times the father chose a husband for his daughter, and offered her to him with a portion. Parents in this country possess great authority over their children, by the force of ancient laws and established customs. If the chosen man signified his acceptance of the proposed woman, the fathers on both sides met and made a bargain. Sometimes a disinterested person negotiated and concluded the marriage treaty. Mutual inquiries were made respecting the bodily health of the couple, and in fact several females personally examined the bride to see if she had

any defects. The intended husband was not generally permitted to see his future bride until the day of, or the day before, the marriage.

On the evening of the wedding day, which was seldom appointed until a fortune-teller had been consulted, the bridegroom, attended by his friends, proceeded to the house of the bride, the priest who was to perform the ceremony riding on horseback before him. All the company sat down to a feast, at which the bride wore a veil, aud a crown of gold or silver-gilt, lined with silk, her hair being unwreathed. The couple were separated from each other at the table by a curtain. The women sang and strewed hops upon the heads of the company, who also were showered with a mixture of fragments of satin and taffeta, small pieces of silver, hops, barley, and oats, which were all mingled together in a bowl. The parents of the couple exchanged rings, and a basketful of cheese and little loaves of bread were blessed by the priest before being taken to the church.

The bride was then conducted to the church, followed by the bridegroom and the priest. The couple stood upon a piece of crimson taffeta which was spread on the pavement. The priest then asked for and received oblations of bread, fish, pastry, and other things. He then gave the pair his benediction, and held over their heads the pictures of those saints whom they had chosen to be their patrons. After which, taking the right hand of the bridegroom and the left of the bride, he asked them three times whether they would consent to marry each other and always be loving and faithful. Being answered in the affirmative, the priest sang a psalm, while all the company took each other's hands and joined in a solemn dance. The priest then put a garland of rue or wormwood upon the heads of the couple, as a hint that some bitterness was to be expected in the married state. If, however, the man was a widower, or the woman a widow,

the wreath was placed upon their shoulders instead of on their heads. The priest then drank the couple's healths in wine out of a gilt wooden cup or glass, from which they drank likewise thrice. The vessel was then thrown upon the ground, broken, and trodden upon, while the bridegroom said words to the following effect: "Let them be so trampled upon and confounded who maliciously endeavor to create ill-will between us." In conclusion, all the company lighted wax tapers, and the women strewed linseed and hempseed upon the heads of the pair. The clerk also sprinkled on the bride's head a handful of hops, at the same time wishing she might be as fruitful as that plant, or, as one historian writing in 1679 says, have as many children as hops were thrown. Another man, having a sheepskin pelisse with the wool turned outwards, accompanied her, and wished that she might have as many children as the skin had hairs.

After the marriage ceremony it was customary for the women to take hold of the bride's dress and endeavor to pull her away from her husband; but she maintained so tight a grasp of him that all their endeavors were fruitless. The bride was then conducted home in a sledge by old women, she being closely veiled and attended by flambeaubearers. The bridegroom rode on horseback, and was accompanied by young men." When they all had arrived home the pair were seated at table, and had bread and salt placed before them, but they ate nothing. Meanwhile boys and girls sang nuptial songs of coarse import. Old women conducted the bride to her chamber and put her to bed, at the same time exhorting her to be gentle and obedient. Afterwards young men led the bridegroom to the room with wax tapers in their hands. He then ordered his wife to pull off his boots, and she, getting out of bed and submissively bowing, complied with his command. In one of the boots was hidden a whip, and in the other a trinket. If