A venerable person whose mind is richly stored with "shreds and patches" of
folk-lore and local antiquities, on seeing the "curious marriage entry" (p.
485.), has furnished me with the following explanation.
It is the popular belief at Kirton in Lindsey that if a woman, who has
contracted debts previous to her marriage, leave her residence in a state
of nudity, and go to that of her future husband, he the husband will not be
liable for any such debts.
A case of this kind actually occurred in that highly civilised town within
my informant's memory; the woman leaving her house from a bedroom window,
and putting on some clothes as she stood on the top of the ladder by which
she accomplished her descent.