(Sir John Lubbock, "Smith. Rep.," 1869,
p. 352.)
"The bride-cake which so invariably accompanies a wedding among
ourselves, and which must always be cut by the bride, may be traced back
to the old Roman form of marriage by 'conferreatio,' or eating together.
So, also, among the Iroquois the bride and bridegroom used to partake
together of a cake of sagamite, which the bride always offered to her
husband." (Ibid.)
Among many American tribes, notably in Brazil, the husband captured the
wife by main force, as the men of Benjamin carried off the daughters of
Shiloh at the feast, and as the Romans captured the Sabine women.
"Within a few generations the same old habit was kept up in Wales, where
the bridegroom and his friends, mounted and armed as for war, carried
off the bride; and in Ireland they used even to hurl spears at the
bride's people, though at such a distance that no one was hurt, except
now and then by accident--as happened when one Lord Hoath lost an eye,
which mischance put an end to this curious relic of antiquity." (Tylor's
"Anthropology," p. 409.)
Marriage in Mexico was performed by the priest. He exhorted them to
maintain peace and harmony, and tied the end of the man's mantle to the
dress of the woman; he perfumed them, and placed on each a shawl on
which was painted a skeleton, "as a symbol that only death could now
separate them from one another.
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