Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 18, 1907.djvu/355

 COLLECTANEA.

Marriage Customs of the Southern Gallas.

FROM MS. NOTES OF THE LATE REV. THOMAS WAKEFIELD, F.R.G.S.

i^Read at Meeting, i<^tk Jufie, 1907.)

The Southern Gallas do not marry until they are full-grown men, say, about twenty-five years of age, but the girls are con- sidered marriageable at a much earlier age. Betrothal sometimes takes place when the parties are children, but they are not formally married until of mature years. It may be said that the young Galla never woos his bride, for he never ventures even to hint to a young woman that he is looking out for a wife. The bashful Galla maiden would resent such an intima- tion, and any advances on the part of a lover would be repulsed, the girl running away for very shame.

Negotiations for marriage are conducted by the relatives on both sides. The suitor makes the application to the girl's father, and the father speaks to the mother. Then the uncles are called together, and there is a general consultation. The " uncles " are the father's brothers. The mother's brothers seem to have no position in Galla society. The consultations take a long time, often extending over a year, and sometimes it is two or even three years before a Galla swain obtains per- mission to claim his bride. The girl herself is not consulted on the subject, nor her wishes taken into consideration. If her relatives decide that she is to be married to the man who is seeking her she must submit, but if they negative the proposal