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Page 16
"They've ta'en the bride to the bridal bed,
To loose her snood nae mind they had.
'I'll loose it,' quo John."
On the morning after some of the married women of the neighbourhood met
in the young wife's house and put on her the _curtch_ or closs cap
(_mutch_), a token of the marriage state. In my young days unmarried
women went with the head uncovered; but after marriage, never were seen
without a cap. On the morning after marriage the best man and maid
breakfasted with the young couple, after which they spent the day in the
country, or if they lived in the country, they went to town for a
change. Weddings were invariably celebrated on a Friday,--the reason for
this preference being, as is supposed, that Friday was the day dedicated
by the Norsemen to the goddess, Friga, the bestower of joy and
happiness. The wedding day being Friday, the walking-day was a Saturday;
and on Sunday the young couple, with their best man and best maid,
attended church in the forenoon, and took a walk in the afternoon, then
spent the evening in the house of one of their parents, the meeting
there being closed by family worship, and a pious advice to the young
couple to practise this in their own house.
If the bride had been courted by other sweethearts than he who was now
her husband, there was a fear that those discarded suitors might
entertain unkindly feelings towards her, and that their evil wishes
might supernaturally influence her, and affect her first-born. This evil
result was sought to be averted by the bride wearing a sixpence in her
left shoe till she was _kirked_; but should the bride have made a vow to
any other, and broken it, this wearing of the sixpence did not prevent
the evil consequences from falling upon her first-born. Many instances
were currently quoted among the people of first-born children, under
such circumstances, having been born of such unnatural shapes and
natures that, with the sanction of the minister and the relations, the
monster birth was put to death. Captain Burt, in his letters from the
Highlands, written early in the eighteenth century, says that "soon
after the wedding day the newly-married wife sets herself about spinning
her winding sheet, and a husband that shall sell or pawn it is esteemed
among all men one of the most profligate." And Dr. Jamieson says--"When
a woman of the lower class in Scotland, however poor, or whether married
or single, commences housekeeping, her _first care_, after what is
absolutely necessary for the time, is to provide _death linen_ for
herself and those who look to her for that office, and _her next_ to
earn, save, and _lay up (not put out to interest)_ such money as may
decently serve for funeral expenses. And many keep secret these
honorable deposits and salutary _mementoes_ for two or threescore
years."
This practice was continued within my recollection. The first care of
the young married wife was still, in my young days, to spin and get
woven sufficient linen to make for herself and her husband their _dead
claes_. I can well remember the time when, in my father's house, these
things were spread out to air before the fire. This was done
periodically, and these were days when mirth was banished from the
household, and everything was done in a solemn mood. The day was kept as
a Sabbath. The reader will not fail to observe in some of these modern
customs and beliefs modified survivals of the old Roman practices and
superstitious beliefs.
CHAPTER IV.
_DEATH._
It is not surprising that the solemn period of death should have been
surrounded with many superstitious ideas,--with a great variety of omens
and warnings, many of which, however, were only called to mind after the
event. In the country, when any person was taken unwell, it was very
soon known over the whole neighbourhood, and all sorts of remedies were
recommended. Generally a doctor was not sent for until the patient was
considered in a dangerous state, and then began the search for omens or
warnings. If the patient recovered, these premonitions were forgotten,
but if death ensued, then everything was remembered and rendered
significant. Was a dog heard to howl and moan during the night, with his
head in the direction of the house where the patient lay; was there
heard in the silent watches of the night in the room occupied by the
sick person, a tick, ticking as of a watch about the bed or furniture,
these were sure signs of approaching death, and adult patients hearing
these omens, often made sure that their end was near. Many pious people
also improved the circumstance, pointing out that these omens were
evidence of God's great mercy, inasmuch as He vouchsafed to give a
timely warning in order that the dying persons might prepare for death,
and make their peace with the great Judge. To have hinted, under such
circumstances, that the ticking sounds were caused by a small wood moth
tapping for its mate, would have subjected the hinter to the name of
infidel or unbeliever in Scripture, as superstitious people always took
shelter in Scripture.
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