Amor vincit om. Erunt duo in carne una. Mulier viro subiecta esteo. Semper amemus. Tout pour bein feyre. In bone fay. Sans mal desyr. Honeur et joye. Mon cur avez. Deux corps une cœur. Amour et constance. In 1859 was exhibited to the Archæological Institute a silver wedding ring, ornamented with niello, a work of the fourteenth century, and supposed, from the names upon it, to have been the nuptial ring of Cola di Rienzi, the tribune of Rome, and of Catarina di Raselli. Mr. Waterton, to whom it belonged, gave the following account of it: "The ring. . . was purchased for me in Rome, for a trifling sum, at one of the periodical clearing sales of the Monte di Pietà, and I had it for several months before I discovered certain facts which many archæologists consider to be corroborative of my supposition, that this ring was the nuptial ring of Cola di Rienzi. Its style, when compared with that of other objects of the period, enables us to ascribe its date to the first half of the fourteenth century. The bezel is an irregular octagon; in the centre there is cut, signet-wise, a device-two stars divided per pale. Around this there are inscribed two names-Catarina, Nicola-the interstices being filled up with niello. These names are written from left to right, and not reversed. The ring is an elegant specimen of Italian workmanship, and I consider it to have been produced by a Florentine artist. The reasons for believing that this may have been the fiancial ring of Rienzi and his wife are the following:-1. The two names, Nicola (di Rienzi) and Catarina (di Raselli). 2. The date of the ring, which we may assign to 1320-1340, the time when Rienzi lived. 3. Neither Rienzi nor his wife had any armorial bearing, and, having great faith in his destiny, he is said to have selected a star for his device. The two stars divided per pale were interpreted by an eminent Roman archæoloist to be significant of the star of Rienzi and that of his wife." Gold rings were in olden times given away to the attendants on the wedding day. Wood, in his "Athenæ Oxonienses," says that the famous philosopher, Kelley, gave away rings of three twisted gold wires at the marriage of one of his maid-servants, to the value of 4000l. This happened in 1589 at Trebona, if the story may be credited. A fictitious ring made of rushes was at one time used in England, and in some other parts of Europe, for the purpose of deluding girls into a mock marriage. Du Cange cites a bishop of Salisbury in 1217 as to the frequency of this practice. "Let no man," he warns, "put a ring of rush, or of any other material, upon the hands of young girls, by way of mock celebration, for the purpose of more easily seducing them, that, while believing he is only perpetrating a jest, he may not in reality find himself bound irrevocably to the connubial yoke." Shakespeare, in "All's Well that Ends Well," makes the clown say, as an example of suitableness, "As fit. . . as Tib's rush for Tom's forefinger." Greene, in his "Menaphon," says: "Well, 'twas a good worlde when such simplicitie was used, sayes the old women of our time, when a ring of a rush would tie as much love together as a gimmon of golde." Spenser's 66 Shepherd's Calendar" speaks of "the knotted rush rings, and gilt rosemaree" of the dead shepherdess. Fletcher, in his "Two Noble Kinsmen," says: "Rings she made Of rushes that grew by, and to 'em spoke The prettiest posies: 'Thus our true love's ty'd ;' A song in Sir William D'Avenant's play of "The Rivals" has this passage: "I'll crown thee with a garland of straw then, And I'll marry thee with a rush ring." Another ancient song, called "The Winchester Wedding," says: "Pert Strephon was kind to Betty, And blithe as a bird in the spring; And wedded her with a rush ring." It is said that rush rings were anciently used in France in cases of quasi marriage, where the parties intended to live together in a state of concubinage. Du Breul, writing on the antiquities of Paris, in 1612, says that by the official archives of the church of St. Marinus it appeared that those persons who lived unchastely were conducted to the church by two officers, in case they refused to go voluntarily; and they were married by the curate with a rush ring. Many superstitions attach to the wedding ring, probably originating in the old Roman Catholic custom of its receiving the benediction of the priest. Thus, in Ireland, the wedding ring being rubbed on a wart or sore, cures it, and in Somersetshire a stye upon the eyelid may be removed in a like way. In some parts of Ireland a superstition still exists that if a wart is pierced through a wedding ring with a thorn from a gooseberry bush, the wart will gradually disappear. The Romans believed that a peculiar virtue lay in the fourth finger of the left hand, that is, the ring finger; and their physicians stirred medicines with it. A similar superstition still obtains in many places in England, where it is believed that the ring finger, by being stroked across a sore or wound, can soon cure or heal it. Many of the bridal ring superstitions are connected with the wedding cake. Slices of the latter are sometimes put through the ring nine times and laid under pillows at night, to cause young persons to dream of their lovers. According to another custom, a wedding ring is mixed with the ingredients of the cake, and baked in it. When it is cut, the person who secures the slice containing the ring will secure with it good fortune during the ensuing year, and, should the possessor be a maiden, a suitor and a happy marriage. At Burnley it is a very common practice at marriages to put a wedding ring into a posset, and after the liquor has been served out, the single person whose cup contains the ring will be the first of the company to be married. Another custom at this place is to put a wedding ring and a sixpence into a common flat currant cake. When the company are about to retire at the end of the day the cake is broken and distributed among the single women. She who gets the ring in her portion of the cake will shortly be married, and the one who gets the sixpence will die an old maid. In Northumberland divination was practised by fishing with a ladle for a wedding ring which had been dropped into a syllabub, the object being to obtain a prognostication of who should be first married. Another superstition is, that if a wife should lose her wedding ring she will also lose her husband's affection, and if she should break it her husband will shortly afterwards die. Many married women will not take off their wedding rings under any circumstances, because the removal of them would portend the deaths of their husbands. An old saying is that, "As your wedding ring wears your cares will wear away." CHAPTER XII. Prohibited Times for Marriage.-Folk-lore on the Subject.-Lucky and Unlucky Days.-Hours for Marriage.-Veils worn at Marriages.—The Care Cloth.-Crowning at Marriages.-Ballad of "I'm to be Married o' Sunday."-Distribution of Money at Marriages.-Money given to Priests. -Nuptial Benediction.-Mass and Communion at Marriages.-Tapers at Marriages.-The Nuptial Kiss.-Wine and Sops at Marriages.- Bridesmaids and Bridemen.-True-love Knots.- Wedding Favors.-Gloves at Weddings. The Bride's Garters and the Bridegroom's Points.- Bride Laces.-Wedding Shoes.-Bride Knives.-Bouquets at Weddings.--Orange Blossom.-Herb and Flower Strewing at Weddings.-Rosemary and Bays at Weddings. BY Y the canons of the early Christian church marriage was prohibited at various times, because some of them were periods of solemn fasting, and others of holy feasting. But, although nuptials were forbidden in the above intervals, a contract of marriage was held to be good at whatever time it was duly made. Marriage was forbidden from Septuagesima Sunday until the octave of Easter, and in the three weeks before the feast of St. John the Baptist, and from the first rogation day until the octave of Whitsuntide (so says Pope Clement in his decretal), or until Trinity Sunday; and from the first Sunday in Advent until the Epiphany, or to the more holy until the octave of the Epiphany. Marriages in Lent were prohibited by the Council of Laodicea and by the Council of Eanham, held in 1008 or 1009, in the reign of Ethelred II.; also on high festival and Ember days, and from Advent until the octaves of Epiphany, and from Septuagesima until fifteen days after Easter. The modern Roman Catholic church forbids marriage from the first Sunday in |