Payments for ringing bells on the 29th May occur frequently in
churchwardens' accounts, and a few examples may be quoted. The first is
from Wellington, Somerset:
"1688. Pd. for ringing, the 29th May 0 5 0."
The accounts of St. Michael's, Bishop Stortford, state:
"1703. Pd. ringers 29th May 0 6 8."
St. Mary's, Stamford, contain an item as follows:
"1709. Pd. Richard Hambleton for ale for the ringers on ye 29th May
00 06 08."
Northampton is loyal to the memory of Charles II. He was a benefactor to
the borough, and helped the inhabitants after the great fire of 1675. In
the Baptismal Register of All Saints', Northampton, it is recorded, under
September 1675, as follows: "In this month, a very lamentable fire
destroyed 3 parts of our Towne and Church." The Marriage Register says:
"While the world lasts, remember September the 20th, a dreadfull fire, it
consumed to ashes in a few houres, 3 parts of our Towne and Cheef Church."
The sum of L25,000 was collected by briefs and private charities towards
the heavy loss sustained by the inhabitants. Charles II. gave 1000 tons
of timber out of Whittlewood forest, and remitted the duty of
chimney-money in the town for seven years. We gather from Hume, that "the
king's debts had become so intolerable, that the commons were constrained
to vote him an extraordinary supply of L1,200,000, to be levied by
eighteen months' assessment, and, finding upon inquiry that the several
branches of the revenue fell much short of the sums they expected, they at
last, after much delay, voted a new imposition of 2s. on each hearth, and
this tax they settled on the king during his life."
Macaulay speaks of this tax as being "peculiarly odious, for it could only
be levied by means of domiciliary visits.... The poorer householders were
frequently unable to pay their hearth-money to the day. When this
happened, their furniture was distrained without mercy, for the tax was
farmed, and a farmer of taxes, is, of all creditors, proverbially, the
most rapacious." He quotes from some doggerel ballads of the period, and
the following is one of the verses reproduced:
"The good old dames, whenever they the chimney-man espied,
Unto their nooks they haste away, their pots and pipkins hide;
There is not one old dame in ten, and search the nation through,
But, if you talk of chimney-men, will spare a curse or two."
A reference to chimney-money occurs in an epitaph in Folkestone
churchyard. Here is a copy:
"In Memory of
REBECCA ROGERS,
who died August 22nd, 1688.
Aged 44 years.
A house she hath; it's made of such good fashion,
The tenant ne'er shall pay for reparation,
Nor will her landlord ever raise her rent,
Or turn her out of doors for non-payment.
From chimney-money too this cell is free--
To such a house, who would not tenant be?"
The inhabitants of Northampton, to show their gratitude to the king for
his consideration, displayed oak branches over their house doors. The
members of the corporation, accompanied by the children of the charity
schools, attend service at All Saints' Church. A statue of the king, in
front of the church, is usually enveloped in oak boughs on May 29th.
Marrying in a White Sheet.
It was not an uncommon circumstance in the last, and even in the early
years of the present century, for marriages to be performed _en chemise_,
or in a white sheet. It was an old belief, that a man marrying a woman in
debt, if he received her at the hands of the minister clothed only in her
shift, was not liable to pay the accounts she had contracted before their
union. We think it will not be without interest to give a few
authenticated instances of this class of marriages.
The earliest example we have found, is recorded in the parish register of
Chiltern, All Saints', Wilts. It is stated: "John Bridmore and Anne
Selwood were married October 17th, 1714. The aforesaid Anne Selwood was
married in her smock, without any clothes or headgier on."
On June 25th, 1738, George Walker, a linen weaver, and Mary Gee, of the
"George and Dragon," Gorton Green, were made man and wife, at the ancient
chapel close by. The bride was only attired in her shift.
Particulars of another local case are given in the columns of _Harrop's
Manchester Mercury_, for March 12th, 1771, as follows: "On Thursday last,
was married, at Ashton-under-Lyne, Nathaniel Eller to the widow Hibbert,
both upwards of fifty years of age; the widow had only her shift on, with
her hair tied behind with horse hair, as a means to free them both from
any obligation of paying her former husband's debts."
We have heard of a case where the vicar declined to marry a couple on
account of the woman presenting herself in her under garment. Another
clergyman, after carefully reading the rubric, and not finding anything
about the bride's dress, married a pair, although the woman wore only her
chemise.
The following is taken from _Aris's Birmingham Gazette_ for 1797:
"There is an opinion generally prevalent in Staffordshire that if a woman
should marry a man in distressed circumstances, none of his creditors can
touch her property if she should be in _puris naturalibus_ while the
ceremony is performed. In consequence of this prejudice, a woman of some
property lately came with her intended husband into the vestry of the
great church of Birmingham, and the moment she understood the priest was
ready at the altar, she threw off a large cloak, and in the exact state of
Eve in Paradise, walked deliberately to the spot, and remained in that
state till the ceremony was ended. This circumstance has naturally excited
much noise in the neighbourhood, and various opinions prevail respecting
the conduct of the clergyman. Some vehemently condemn him as having given
sanction to an act of indecency; and others think, as nothing is said
relative to dress in the nuptial ceremony, that he had no power to refuse
the rite. Our readers may be assured of this extraordinary event, however
improbable it may appear in these times of virtue and decorum."
We gather from a periodical called _The Athenian_, that this custom was
practised in Yorkshire at the beginning of this century: "May, 1808. At
Otley, in Yorkshire, Mr. George Rastrick, of Hawkesworth, aged 73, to
Mrs. Nulton, of Burley Woodhead, aged 60. In compliance with the vulgar
notion that a wife being married in a state of nudity exonerated her
husband from legal obligations to discharge any demands on her purse, the
bride disrobed herself at the altar, and stood shivering in her chemise
while the marriage ceremony was performed."
In Lincolnshire, at so late a period as between 1838 and 1844, a woman was
wed enveloped in a sheet.
A slightly different method of marriage is mentioned in Malcolm's
"Anecdotes of London." It is stated that "a brewer's servant, in February,
1723, to prevent his liability to the payment of the debts of a Mrs.
Brittain, whom he intended to marry, the lady made her appearance at the
door of St. Clement Danes habited in her shift; hence her inamorato
conveyed the modest fair to a neighbouring apothecary's, where she was
completely equipped with clothing purchased by him; and in these, Mrs.
Brittain changed her name in church."
In the foregoing, it will have been observed that the marriages have been
conducted _en chemise_ for the protection of the pocket of the bridegroom.
"The Annual Register," of 1766, contains an account of a wedding of this
class, for the protection of the woman. We read: "A few days ago, a
handsome, well-dressed young woman came to a church in Whitehaven, to be
married to a man, who was attending there with the clergyman. When she had
advanced a little into the church, a nymph, her bridesmaid, began to
undress her, and, by degrees, stript her to her shift; thus she was led,
blooming and unadorned, to the altar, where the marriage ceremony was
performed. It seems this droll wedding was occasioned by an embarrassment
in the affairs of the intended husband, upon which account the girl was
advised to do this, that he might be entitled to no other marriage portion
than her smock."
Marrying under the Gallows.
Some of the old ballads of merry England contain allusions to a law or
usage of primitive times, to the effect that if a man or woman would
consent to marry, under the gallows, a person condemned to death, the
criminal would escape hanging. A few criminals, however, preferred the
hangman's knot to the marriage tie, if we may believe the rude rhymes of
our ancestors. In one of Pinkerton's works may be read an old poem in
which we are told of a criminal refusing marriage at the foot of the
gallows. Here are a few lines from the ballad:
"There was a victim in a cart,
One day for to be hanged,
And his reprieve was granted,
And the cart made a stand.
'Come, marry a wife and save your life,'
The judge aloud did cry;
'Oh, why should I corrupt my life'
The victim did reply.
'For here's a crowd of every sort,
And why should I prevent their sport!
The bargain's bad in every part,
The wife's the worst--drive on the cart?'"
A poem, published in 1542, entitled the "Schole House," contains an
allusion:
"To hang or wed, both hath one home,
And whether it be, I am well sure
Hangynge is better of the twayne--
Sooner done, and shorter payne."
We read in an old ballad the story of a merchant of Chichester, who was
saved execution by a loving maiden.
In the old Manx "Temporal Customary Laws," A.D. 1577, occurs the
following: "If any man take a woman by constraint, or force her against
her will, if she be a wife he must suffer the law of her. If she be a maid
or single woman, the deemster shall give her a rope, sword, and a ring,
and she shall have her choice to hang him with the rope, cut off his head
with the sword, or marry him with the ring!"
It is stated in a work published in 1680, entitled "Warning to Servants,
or, the case of Margaret Clark, lately executed for firing her master's
house in Southwark." "Since the poor maid was executed, there has been a
false and malicious story published concerning her in the _True Domestick
Intelligence_ of Tuesday, March 30th. There was omitted in the confession
of Mary Clark (so he falsely calls her), who was executed for firing the
house of M. de la Noy, dyer in Southwark, viz., that, at her execution,
there was a fellow who designed to marry her under the gallows (according
to the antient laudable custome), but she, being in hopes of a reprieve,
seemed unwilling; but, when the rope was about her neck, she cryed she was
willing, and then the fellow's friends dissuaded him from marrying her; so
she lost her husband and life together." To the foregoing is added, "We
know of no such custome allowed by law, that any man's offering, at a
place of execution, to marry a woman condemned shall save her."
Here is a curious paragraph bearing on this theme, drawn from _Parker's
London News_, for April 7th, 1725: "Nine young women dressed in white,
each with a white wand in her hand, presented a petition to his Majesty
(George I.) on behalf of a young man condemned at Kingston Assizes of
burglary, one of them offered to marry him under the gallows in case of a
reprieve."
In a work entitled "The interesting narrative of the life of Oulandah
Equians, or Gustavus Vassa, written by himself," and published in 1789, is
the following passage: "While we lay here (New York, 1784) a circumstance
happened which I thought extremely singular. One day, a malefactor was to
be executed on the gallows, but with the condition that if any woman,
having nothing on but her shift, married a man under the gallows, his life
would be saved. This extraordinary privilege was claimed; and a woman
presented herself, and the marriage ceremony was performed."
Kissing the Bride.
The parents of a bride in humble circumstances rarely attend the marriage
ceremony at the church. The father's place is usually filled by one of the
bridegroom's friends. He, in some parts of the North of England, claims
the privilege of first kissing the newly-made wife, in right of his
temporary paternity. Some of the old-fashioned clergy regarded the
prerogative as theirs, and were by no means slow in exercising it. As soon
as the ceremony was completed they never failed to quickly kiss the bride.
Even a shy and retiring vicar would not neglect the pleasant duty. The
Rev. Thomas Ebdon, vicar of Merrington, who was deemed the most bashful of
men, always kissed the women he married.
It is related of a priest, who was a stranger to the manners and customs
of the Yorkshire folk, that, after marrying a couple, he was surprised to
see the party still standing as if something more was expected. He at last
asked why they were waiting. "Please, sir," said the bridegroom, "ye've no
kissed Molly."
Mr. William Henderson, in his "Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties," a work
drawn upon for these statements, says that he can "testify that, within
the last ten years, a fair lady, from the county of Durham, who was
married in the south of England, so undoubtedly reckoned upon the clerical
salute that, after waiting in vain, she boldly took the initiative, and
bestowed a kiss on the much-amazed south-country vicar." Mr. Henderson's
work was published in 1879.
According to the "Folk-Lore of the West of Scotland," by James Napier,
published in 1879, the kissing custom was practised in that country. "As
soon as the ceremony was concluded," says Mr. Napier, "there was a rush on
the part of young men to get the first kiss of the newly-made wife. This
was frequently taken by the clergyman himself, a survival of an old custom
said to have been practised in the middle ages." In an old song, the
bridegroom thus addresses the minister:
"It's no very decent for you to be kissing,
It does not look well wi' the black coat ava',
'Twould hae set you far better tae gi'en us your blessing,
Than thus by such tricks to be breaking the law.
Dear Watty, quo' Robin, it's just an auld custom,
And the thing that is common should ne'er be ill taen,
For where ye are wrong, if ye hadna a wished him,
You should have been first. It's yoursel it's to blame."
This custom appears to have been very general in past times, and Mr.
Henderson suggests that "it may possibly be a dim memorial of the _osculum
pacis_, or the presentation of the Pax to the newly-married pair."
It was formerly customary in Ireland for the priest to conclude the
marriage ceremony by saying, "kiss your wife." Instructions more easily
given than performed, for other members of the party did their utmost to
give the first salute.
In England, a kiss was the established fee for a lady's partner after the
dance was finished. In a "Dialouge between Custom and Veirtie concerning
the Use and Abuse of Dancing and Minstrelsie," the following appears:
"But some reply, what foole would daunce,
If that when daunce is doone
He may not have at ladye's lips
That which in daunce he woon?"
The following line occurs in the _Tempest_:
"Curtsied when you have and kissed."
In _Henry VIII._, says the prince:
"I were unmannerly to take you out,
And not to kiss you."
Numerous other references to kissing are contained in the plays of
Shakespeare. From his works and other sources we find that kissing was
general in the country in the olden time. It is related of Sir William
Cavendish, the biographer of Cardinal Wolsey, that, when he visited a
French nobleman at his chateau, his hostess, on entering the room with her
train of attendant maidens, for the purpose of welcoming the visitor, thus
accosted him:
"Forasmuch as ye be an Englishman, whose custom it is in your country to
kiss all ladies and gentlemen without offence, it is not so in this realm,
yet will I be so bold as to kiss you, and so shall all my maidens."
It is further stated how Cavendish was delighted to salute the fair
hostess and her many merry maidens.
Hot Ale at Weddings.
In the year 1891, a paragraph went the rounds of the north-country
newspapers respecting the maintaining of an old wedding custom at Whitburn
parish church, near Sunderland. From the days of old to the present time,
it has been the practice of sending to the church porch, when a marriage
is being solemnised, jugs of spiced ale, locally known as "hot pots."
A Whitburn gentleman supplied Mr. Henderson with particulars of his
wedding, for insertion in "Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties" (London,
1879). "After the vestry scene," says the correspondent, "the bridal party
having formed a procession for leaving the church, we were stopped at the
porch by a row of five or six women, ranged to our left hand, each holding
a large mug with a cloth over it. These were in turn presented to me, and
handed by me to my wife, who, after taking a sip, returned it to me. It
was then passed to the next couple, and so on in the same form to all the
party. The composition in these mugs was mostly, I am sorry to say, simply
horrible; one or two were very fair, one very good. They are sent to the
church by all classes, and are considered a great compliment. I have never
heard of this custom elsewhere. Here, it has existed beyond the memory of
the oldest inhabitant, and an aged fisherwoman, who has been married some
sixty-five years, tells me at her wedding there were seventy hot pots."
Drinking wine and ale at church weddings is by no means a local custom, as
suggested by Mr. Henderson's correspondent. Brand, in his "Popular
Antiquities," and other writers, refer to the subject. On drinking wine in
church at marriages, says Brand, "the custom is enjoined in the Hereford
Missal. By the Sarum Missal it is directed that the sops immersed in this
wine, as well as the liquor itself, and the cup that contained it, should
be blessed by the priest. The beverage used on this occasion was to be
drunk by the bride and bridegroom and the rest of the company." It appears
that pieces of cake or wafers were immersed in the wine, hence the
allusions to sops.
Many of the older poets refer to the practice. In the works of John
Heywood, "newlie imprinted 1576," is a passage as follows:
"The drinke of my brydecup I should have forborne,
Till temperaunce had tempred the taste beforne.
I see now, and shall see, while I am alive,
Who wedth or he be wise shall die or he thrive."
In the "Compleat Vintner," 1720, it is asked:
"What priest can join two lovers' hands,
But wine must seal the marriage bands?
As if celestial wine was thought
Essential to the sacred knot,
And that each bridegroom and his bride
Believ'd they were not firmly ty'd
Till Bacchus, with his bleeding tun,
Had finished what the priest begun."
Old plays contain allusions to this custom. We read in Dekker's
"Satiro-Mastix": "And, when we are at church, bring the wine and cakes."
Beaumont and Fletcher, in the "Scornful Lady," say:
"If my wedding-smock were on,
Were the gloves bought and given, the licence come,
Were the rosemary branches dipt, and all
The hippocras and cakes eat and drunk off."
At the magnificent marriage of Queen Mary and Philip, in Winchester
Cathedral, in 1554, we are told that, "The trumpets sounded, and they both
returned, hand in hand, to their traverses in the quire, and there
remained until mass was done, at which time wyne and sopes were hallowed,
and delivered to them both."
Numerous other notes similar to the foregoing might be reproduced from old
writers, but sufficient have been cited to show how general was the custom
in bygone times. The Rev. W. Carr, in his "Glossary of the Craven
Dialect," gives us an illustration of it lingering in another form in the
present century. In his definition of Bride-ale, he observes that after
the ceremony was concluded at the church, there took place either a foot
or horse race, the first to arrive at the dwelling of the bride,
"requested to be shown to the chamber of the newly-married pair, then,
after he had turned down the bed-clothes, he returns, carrying in his hand
a tankard of warm ale, previously prepared, to meet the bride, to whom he
triumphantly offers the humble beverage." The bride, in return for this,
presents to him a ribbon as his reward.
Marrying Children.
The marriage of children forms a curious feature in old English life. In
the days of yore, to use the words of a well-informed writer on this
theme, "babes were often mated in the cradle, ringed in the nursery, and
brought to the church porch with lollipops in their mouths." Parents and
guardians frequently had joined together in matrimony young couples,
without any regard for their feelings. Down to the days of James I., the
disposal in marriage of young orphan heiresses was in the hands of the
reigning monarchs, and they usually arranged to wed them to the sons of
their favourites, by whom unions with wealthy girls were welcomed.
Edward I. favoured early marriages, and his ninth daughter, Eleanor, was
only four days old, it is stated on good authority, "when her father
arranged to espouse her to the son and heir of Otho, late Earl of Burgundy
and Artois, a child in custody of his mother, the Duchess of Burgundy."
Before she had reached the age of a year, the little princess was a
spouse, but, dying in her sixth year, she did not attain the position of
wife planned for her.
Careful consideration is paid to early marriages in an able work by the
late Rev. W. Denton, M.A., entitled "England in the Fifteenth Century"
(London, 1888.) Mr. Denton says that the youthful marriages "probably
originated in the desire of anticipating the Crown in its claim to the
wardship of minors, and the disposal of them in marriage. As deaths were
early in those days, and wardship frequent, a father sought by the early
marriage of his son or daughter to dispose of their hands in his lifetime,
instead of leaving them to be dealt out to hungry courtiers, who only
sought to make a large profit, as they could, from the marriage of wards
they had bought for the purpose. Fourteen was a usual period for the
marriage of the children of those who would save their lands from the
exactions of the Crown." He adverts to marriages at an earlier age, and
even paternity at fourteen.
In 1583 was published a work entitled "The Anatomie of Abuses," by Philip
Stubbes, and it supplies a curious account of the amusements and other
social customs of the day. Marriage comes in for attention, and, after
referring to it with words of commendation, he adds: "There is permitted
one great liberty therein--for little maids in swaddling clothes are often
married by their ambitious parents and friends, when they know neither
good nor evil, and this is the origin of much wickedness. And, besides
this, you shall have a saucy boy often, fourteen, sixteen, or twenty years
of age, catch up a woman without any fear of God at all." The protests of
Stubbes and others had little effect, for children continued to be
married, if not mated.