Orange blossoms throwing-Wedding-ring-Bride's veil-Shoe- THE three great events of human life— birth, marriage, and death-have naturally drawn around them some of the most curious customs and beliefs. The practice of many of them is almost universal, but few concern themselves with the origin and import of the strange rites which they so often witness. Almost every bride is adorned with orange blossoms. When did their use become general, and why was this particular flower selected? It is well known that nuptial garlands are of the most remote antiquity. Among the Romans the bride was bound to have a chaplet of flowers or herbs for her head, and among the Saxons both bride and bridegroom were crowned with wreaths kept in the church for that purpose. The nuptial garlands were said to be for the most part rosemary or myrtle, sometimes of corn or flowers. In some countries it is said that the bride is crowned with a garland of prickles, and so delivered to her husband, in order that he might know that he had tied himself to a thorny pleasure. The orange is a Chinese plant, and in China from time immemorial the orange has been considered the emblem of good fortune. Saracen brides used these blossoms in their personal decoration on their wedding-day, which are supposed to signify fruitfulness. The custom was probably introduced to Western Europe by the Crusaders. Another explanation, which is doubtful, avers that the orange was the golden apple of Juno, which grew in the garden of the Hesperides, and that, as the golden apple was presented by that goddess to Jupiter on their wedding-day, so orange blossoms now adorn our brides. These classical interpretations of the origin of the custom can scarcely be accepted. The bride and bridegroom at weddings are also deluged with rice. Why is rice thrown on these occasions? This custom is also of Chinese origin, and a curious legend is said to account for the origin of the practice. Fifteen hundred years before Christ there lived in the province of Shansi a famous sorcerer called Chao. A man named P'ang was just going to be consult the oracle. Chao that he would he married, and came to He was informed by die in six days. Not quite satisfied with the result of the augury, consulted a sorceress, fair Peachblossom, and obtained the same prognostication; but the sorceress promised to avert the catastrophe by charms. Chao was astonished to see P'ang walking about on the seventh day, and recognising that Peachblossom's power was stronger than his, he determined to destroy her. This could only be done by very careful strategy. So he went to her simple parents, and pretended to seek her in marriage for his son. The parents consented; marriage-cards were duly exchanged; but the unlucky day was chosen for the wedding when the Golden Pheasant was in the ascendant. So surely as the bride entered the red nuptial chair, the spirit-bird would destroy her with his powerful beak. But wise Peachblossom knew all these things, and "Fear not; I will go and defeat him," she said. So she ordered rice to be thrown out of doors, which the spiritbird made haste to devour; and while his attention was thus occupied, Peachblossom stepped into the bridal chair and passed on her way unscathed. unscathed. That is said to be the reason why we throw rice at weddings, and we hope it may always be effectual in warding off the attacks of the Golden Pheasant. Whether the legend accounts for the custom or not, it is undoubtedly of Chinese origin, and probably is taken to signify a good wish that plenty may always follow the fortunes of the newly-wedded pair. The use of the wedding-ring dates back to pagan times, and the placing of it on the fourth finger of the left hand (a custom founded on the idea that on that finger there is a vein which proceeds directly to the heart) has been traced through Aulus Gellius, who lived A.D. 150, and Apion in A.D. 40, to the remote times of Egyptian antiquity. The bride's veil is a relic of the old "care-cloth" held over the heads of bride and bridegroom during the ceremony. This was done in Saxon times, and is also enjoined by both the Sarum and York Uses.1 We also throw old shoes after young married folk in order to express our wishes for their good fortune. Probably this was not the original meaning of the custom. The throwing a shoe after a bride was a symbol of renunciation of dominion and authority over her by her father or guardian, and this receipt of the shoe by the 1 Cf. Notes and Queries, No. 182, &c. bridegroom was an omen that the authority was transferred to him. In Kent the shoe is thrown by the principal bridesmaid, and the others run after it. It is supposed that she who gets it will be married first. It is then thrown amongst the men, and he who is hit will be first wedded. There are several wedding customs which are peculiar to localities. At Stoke Courcy, Bridgwater, there is an old custom, which is also found at a few other places in Somerset. A chain or rope is drawn across the street, and the bridal party are not allowed. to pass on their way home until the bridegroom has satisfied the demands of the holders for money wherewith to drink the health of the happy couple. The same custom prevails at Minehead. Formerly a chain of flowers was used. Now men hold ropes across the road in six or seven places at short intervals, expecting money at each place before the wedding carriage is allowed to pass. At Knutsford, Cheshire, silver sand is spread on the pavement in front of the bride's house as soon as she sets out for the church. The sand is arranged in the form of wreaths of flowers, half-moons, and mottoes, and good wishes for the bride's happiness are inscribed. Other houses in the street are also similarly adorned, and |