Scottish Wedding Customs
Coortin
Tocher or Dowry
The offer of material wealth as an aid to courtship is found in several old songs such as:JOCKEY SAID TO JENNY
Jocky said to Jenny, Jenny wilt thou do it?
Ne'er a fit quo Jenny, for a my tocher good
For a my tocher good, I winna marry thee
E'ens ye like quo Jocky, ye may let it be
I hae gowd and gear, I hae land enough
I hae seven good owsen ganging in a pleugh
Ganging in a pleugh and linking ower the lee
And gin ye winna tak me I can let ye be.
Pledges or sutries and the luckenbooth
To formalise the promise of marriage or betrothal an exchange of love tokens was given. This was usually silver, and something like a divided sixpence or in the poorer class by the exchange of spoons. The idea of silver as a betrothal token was taken a step further in the late 17th Century by the introduction of Luckenbooth Brooches. These were small in size and were principally made of silver, frequently engraved and occasionally enriched with garnets, crystals and coloured glass. They derived their name from the Luckenbooths, a narrow range of buildings close to St Giles Church in Edinburgh where many of the jewellers and silversmiths of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had their booths. The Luckenbooth Brooch took on the form of two hearts intertwined. This custom pathed the way for the giving of engagement rings in the 19th Century. Luckenbooths are also pinned to a babies shawl to give good luck.
The Luckenbooths Edinburgh
Handfasting
Trial marriages are not a new invention. To the couple unsure of their compatability, the old custom of handfasting proved popular. Handfasting has a long tradition, being traced back to the 1500s. In its earliest form it was like an engagement, an expressed intention of becoming man and wife by the physical act of placing 'hands on fist'. From that it developed into a trial marriage which was to last for one year and one day. When that time was up the couple were then obliged to get married properly or to make the decision to go their separate ways, no stigma being attached.There is a practical reason for handfasting. A lot of Scottish communities were based on crofting and fishing. There was a need for wives to produce sons to help with the work. Handfasting allowed an exploration of fertility. Any child produced during the handfasting time was considered legitimate. If the marriage did not go ahead it looked like the child became the responsibility of the partner opposing the marriage