 |
| Not the best photo to illustrate this post - but it does involve love and flower ropes! I imagine the brides of Lynton where not as aristocratically impractical as this lady -Portrait of Madame de Bourbon-Conti as Venus by Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon (1693–1775) or, Louise-Diane d'Orleans (1716–1736) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coypel_Bourbon-Conti.jpg |
"A peculiar wedding custom observed at Lynton, North Devon, is that of chaining the bride at the gates of the churchyard. Young men stretch pieces of rope, adorned with flowers, or chains of twisted hay and straw decorated with ribbons and flowers, across the gateway, effectually preventing the exit of the bridal party. Thereupon the bridegroom scatters broadcast handfuls of small coins. The chain is immediately dropped and a rush made for the money leaving the bride free to proceed on her way. Sometimes, where special honour is paid to the bride, several chains are encountered on her way to her old home, and the bridegroom has again and again to pay his footing as a husband."
Hewett 1900
Map - Lynton
No comments:
Post a Comment