The Wedding Day in All Ages and Countries


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The Wedding-day in all Ages and Countries is the title of a new work from the press of Harper & Brothers. In this book we find an exhaustive record of all the ceremonies pertaining to betrothal and marriage now existing, or that have existed, so far as they can be gleaned from history, in the different countries of the globe. The material thus gathered is abundantly curious. Ceremonies connected with marriage have varied greatly, and yet they seem, through all changes, to possess certain family resemblances. Almost all peoples have delighted in surrounding this event with a vast amount of ceremonious details, and, although our modern life is charged with overdoing it, yet the most pretentious celebration of our fashionable life is simplicity itself compared to what it is in some other countries, or has been in other ages. This work not only gives an account of marriage ceremonies, but includes the superstitions and folk-lore that have prevailed at different times in connection with an event which every age has seemed to consider one of the most interesting in the life of man. - Summary by Appleton's Journal of Literature Science and Art (9 hr 19 min)

Chapters

Marriage Instituted — Monogamy and Polygamy — Marriage among the Primitive Jews… 31:23 Read by roselbex
Cecrops and Marriage — Marriage among the Ancient Greeks — Celibacy Interdicted… 41:36 Read by roselbex
Scythian Marriages — Lydian Marriages — Lycian Marriages — Rhodian Marriages — … 43:34 Read by jenno
Chinese Marriages — Destiny — Match— makers — Fortune-tellers consulted — Omens… 1:00:52 Read by roselbex
African Marriages — At Sierra Leone — Affiancing Custom — Moorish Marriages in … 41:31 Read by roselbex
Turkish Marriages — Russian Marriages — Hop and other Symbols — Peasants' Marri… 49:52 Read by roselbex
German Marriages — Wife— buying — The Morgengabe — Straw Symbols — Pay Weddings… 53:29 Read by roselbex
Irish Marriages — Wife-seizing — The Agreement Bottle — Casting Darts — Horsing… 33:05 Read by roselbex
Welsh Marriages — Biddings — Bidding Letters — Purse and Girdle — Wedding Gifts… 27:07 Read by roselbex
Marriage among the Early Christians — Marriage among the Ancient Britons — Marr… 27:20 Read by roselbex
Archeology of the Wedding Ring — First Use of Rings — Ring Finger — Betrothal R… 36:31 Read by roselbex
Prohibited Times for Marriage — Folk-lore on the Subject — Lucky and Unlucky Da… 52:51 Read by roselbex
Music at Weddings — Musical Priest — Dancing at Weddings — Dancing the Bride to… 32:19 Read by roselbex
The Banns — Fleet Marriages — Marriage by Licence — Marriage during the Commonw… 27:58 Read by Mohamed Ali