Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 February 1877 — Yorkshire Weddings. [ARTICLE]

Yorkshire Weddings.

The northern counties of England have their own exclusively local wedding customs. A wedding in Yorkshire is a thing to see. Nothingcan be compared to it in wildness and obstreperous mirth. The bride and bridegroom may possibly be a little subdued, but their friends are like men bereft of rqason. They career round the bridal party like Arabs in the desert, galloping over ground on which, in cooler moments, they would hesitate even to walk a horse, shouting all the time, and firing volleys from the guns they carry with them. Next they will dash along the road in advance of the party, carrying the whisky bottle, and compelling every one they meet to pledge the newly-mar-ried pair. In rural parts also of the County of Durham, the bridal party is escorted to church by men armed with guns, which they fire again and again, elose to the ears of bride and bride-maids, terrifying them sometimes not a little.

Through Cleveland, he who gives the bride away claims the first kiss in honor of his temporary paternity. One clerical gentleman in this part of the world, supposed to be a good authority on the subject, declares, however, that it is the privilege of the parson who ties the knot; and although he will not own to having ever availed himself of it, he is acquainted with an old north-country clergyman who never failed to do so. A story Is told of another clergyman, a stranger in the country, who, after performing a marriage ceremony in % country village of Yorkshire, was surprised to see the party keep together as if expecting something more. “ What are you waiting fort” he asked at length. Please, sir,” was the bridegroom’s answer, “ye’ve no kissed Molly.” The late Dr. Ranie used to relate how the vicar of Merrington invariably kept up the custom. Although one of the most bashful and retiring of men, he looked upon the matter as one of obligation, and nerved himself to perform his duty with heroism. Within the last ten years one 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 for it in vain, she boldly took the initiative, and bestowed a kiss upon the much-amazed south-country vicar. A singular custom still exists in the village of Whitburn, near Sunderland — that of sending what are called “ hot pots” to church to meet the bride and bridegroom on coming out. A gentleman of that place thus describes what took place on the occasion of his own marriage a few years ago. “ After the vestry scene, the bridal party having formed in procession for leaving the church, we were stopped in the church by a row of five or six women ranged on 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 them to me.* They were then passed to the next couple, and so on in the same manner to all the party. The composition in these mugs was for the most part simply horrible; one or two very fair, and one very good indeed. These hot pots are sent to the church by all classes of people, and considered a very great compliment. I have never heard of the custom elsewhere. Here it has existed as far back as the memory of the oldest inhabitant. An aged fisherwoman, who has been married some sixty-flv e years, tells me that at her wedding there were seventy hot pots.” Another old wedding usage seems confined to Yorkshire. In remote parts of the county it is the custom to pour a kettleful of boiling water over the dnor-step just after the bride has left her old home. Before it dries up another wedding is sure to be arranged.

A Yorkshire wedding is by rights wound up by a race for % ribbon. In Cleveland this ribbon is given by the bridegroom as he leaves the church, and all who choose ran for it in sight of the house where the wedding feast is held. All the racers, winners and losers alike, ate entitled to a glass of spirits each; and, accordingly, as soon as the race is over, they present themselves at the house and ask for their 'lowance without any S articular invitation. At the village of lelsonby, near Darlington, and in the adjoining district, the bride was formerly placed as a winning-post, holding the ribbon in her hand, and the winner claimed a kiss on receiving it. On one occasion it is said that the bride, being a Methodist, refused to give the ribbon. There was much dissatisfaction through the place, and the youths revenged themselves after the traditional manner of punishing stingy brides —they fired the stithy at her; that is, they placed a charge of gunpowder in the stith, or anvil, of the blacksmith’s shop, and fired it as she passed on her way to church.— Harpar't On® hundrkd and thirty-night vessels, estimated at $3,618,667, were built in .Mainelastyear, with * tonnage of 73,073, against 75.060 tons the year previous, In most of the districts there is a fall ing off, but Paasamaquoddy shews 4,183 tons against 8,343 in 1875, Kennebunk 7,069, against 3,868, and Bath 81,924, against 22,246. There is a prospect of an in creased amount of tonnage this year.