15 century marriage in Scotland

[wee-lass]

I was just wondering if anyone could give me any information about the marriage customs and rituals in the 15th century of Scotland.

[jacobitedreamer]

Hi,

well, I will have another look round, there are many customs that were preserved long, long time like that of crumbling the bride´s cake. A crumbly piece of cake, a special recipe I think there was not, was crumbled over the bride´s head. The more crumbles, the more wealth and children. The "poor oot" of throwing money to the children I think has not died out yet. There was another thing of running to the couple´s house and back again for the prize of a bottle of whisky etc, I will explain this later for I have to look it up again.

However, there was one tradition that was banned later, that was equal to marriage. It was called handfasting. The couple would pass their hands through a special stone (sounds pretty pagan for our days) and then promise to stay together.

Then there was this of living together for one year. If the couple agreed to go on together after that year, they were accepted as "married", if not, no harm would be done to them, also children born of such a relationship were not regarded as illigetimate.

There are so many, many different variations and traditions, see, I will look it up when I am back home again and post it here for you. Just have some patience, okay. Histology lesson is calling, I must go now. See you later.

[jacobitedreamer]

Okay now, before marriage, there were these funny games, I am sure they were already played at the time you are asking about.

As Halloween is near, I thought this could be of interest:

The night of Halloween was believed to make it possible to see your future partner. For this, you could peel an apple at midnight before a mirror, you'd have to mind that he peel comes off in ONE piece and then you'd eat the apple looking into the mirror and the vision would appear.

The hempseed thing is similar:

you go out at night and throw some hempseed behind you, saying this:

Hempseed I throw thee, hempseed I throw thee and he that is my own true love come after me and pu' thee.

Or something the like.


But back to traditional wedding things.

I told you of this one-year-stay-together thing already.

Also of the rite of clasping hands through a hole in a stone.

I have read some time ago that irregular marriage could go as far as that a man and a woman declared in public, at some gathering, that they were now married. There was a tinker tradition of pee*ing into a pot together as a sort of wedding rite, at least according to my books.

Of course the church did not like all this. They did not like "penny weddings" either, which meant that that every guest invited to the wedding brought a bit of money which was used for paying the music, food and drink. If anything should be left, it would be given to the newly wed couple. As these feasts were usually connected with heavy drinking and carousing, the church saw it as shameful.

Regular wedding rites were introduced with the church wedding, which is more or less the same as in any other European country. I'll be back to tell you of the various traditions surrounding getting to know, engagement and wedding next time, if you have interest.

[wee-lass]

Have you ever heard anything about a bedding ceremony? I have read about this in a couple of different books and I am wondering if there is any truth to it. The bedding ceremony is where once the bride and groom are in their chambers, all of the guests join them. All of the women undress the man and all of the men undress the woman. Then they are to get into bed and the people don't leave until they have witnessed the marriage consumated. It sounds way bizarre and I just wanted to know if there is any truth to it.

[jacobitedreamer]

Well, I have heard of that, but not in Scotland, more in ancient Serbia and regions of Turkey, where the couple also had to present the blanket to the public the morning after, there had to be a bit of blood on it to proof the bride was still a maiden BEFORE that night. But of Scotland? Never heard.

However, there was a funny thing they had in Scotland when a couple had well advanced in courtship, that they were put in one room in the girl`s house, in one bed, but the bride was tied up so that her body was "inaccessible" for her lover and so they were left to sleep side by side for one night.

[scotland_chic]

Hello,
I heard that all the people had to do in a handfast marriage was confess publicly that they were to get married and they had to stay together for a year and one day.

And bedding ceremony's were performed after the wedding feast, where the bride and her sisters, or closest friends, would got up to the master bedroom, undress her and redress her in a robe, her hair down, to represent her virginity. Then, the bridegroom and the wedding party would enter the room, and the bridegroom would be presented to the bride. The bride would shed her gown, and be shown to everyone. Then the bridegroom would be stripped of his clothing and the marriage night would begin. In the morning, the bed sheets would be hung out of a window, and a blood stain must be present, or the bride was considered impure.

Alexandra MacDonald
Per Mere Per Terras

[jacobitedreamer]

Hi Alexandra, as far as I know, handfasting and the public declaration of living together one year and one day are two different things, handfasting could be a secret marriage, too. But as to the other one, thanks a lot, I have never ever heard of this, not from Scotland, I know this existed in Scandinavia, Bulgaria and Russia. Thanks!