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Scottish Wedding Customs

Wedding Ceremonial

Old style marriage was a community affair. Sometimes the population of a fishing village, sometimes the inhabitants of a rural district. Marriage was a ceremony with which all were concerned. The wedding was a day of public celebration. It would appear that in the customs of the Germanic peoples (Anglo-Saxon) who came to be the dominant cultural group in Lowland Scotland, marriage had three separate components:

The first of these was the 'bewedding' where 'weds' (Old English 'weddian' = to pledge, Germanic, 'wadhjam' = a pledge) or surety was given by the bridegroom to the bride's father in the form of pledges or gifts. To recognise that this had taken place to everyone's agreement pierced stones (rings) were exchange.

The second component was the giving away of the bride to the bridegroom by the bride's father. This was conducted as a separate ceremony and was concluded by 'hand-faestung' - the joining of hands to seal the contract.

The third part of the marriage was the bridal (Old English 'bryd ealu' = brides ale drinking).

There is a common misconception that handfasting was a trial marriage this was not the case. Until 1940 in Scottish Civil Law contract by consent constituted a valid marriage as did marriage by habit and repute. There were however early enactments which tried to force handfast marriages to be regularised in Church.

In the North East of Scotland up until the end of the 19th Century the following custom prevailed. The day would begin by the arrival of the guests at an early hour, those invited by the bride at her home and those invited by the bridegroom at his. Breakfast would be served consisting of oatmeal porridge. After breakfast it was not unusual for all to join in dancing till the hour of going to church came. At the appointed time, if the marriage was to be in the Kirk, two men called 'sens' were dispatched from the house of the bridegroom to demand the bride. On making their appearance a volley of fire-arms met them. When they came up to the door of the brides' home they asked;
"Does (Jenny) bide here?"
"Aye, what dae ye want wi her?"
"We want her for (Jock)"
"Bit ye winna get her',
"Bit we'll tak her'.
"Will ye come in, an taste a moothfu o'a dram till we see about it?'

And so the sens entered the house and get possession of the bride.