Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 31.djvu/113

Rh A family council is then held as to the merits of the pretendant, and the expediency of accepting or rejecting the proposal. If the latter be decided upon, the maiden must hasten to intrust the silver coin to a near female relation of the young man, who, on receiving it back, is given thereby to understand that he has nothing further to hope in that direction; but if three days have elapsed without the gift being returned, he is entitled to regard this as a consent, and may commence to visit in the house, on the footing of an official wooer. In cases of rejection, it is considered as a point of honor that no word should betray any hint of what has passed to the outside world—a delicate reticence one is surprised to find in these simple folk. This giving of the silver coin is probably a remnant of the old custom of buying the bride, and in many villages it is still usual to talk of the Braut Kaufen.

To return, however, to the land of oats, where, after the harvest has been got in successfully, the bridegroom prepares to make fast the matter, or, in other words, officially to demand the maiden's hand of her parents. It is not consistent with village etiquette, however, that the bridegroom in spe should apply directly to the father of his intended, but he must depute some near relation, or an intimate friend, to bring forward the request. The girl's parents, on their side, likewise appoint a representative to transmit the answer. These two ambassadors are called the Wortmacher, "word-makers"—sometimes also the Hochzeitsväter, "wedding-fathers"—and are treated with marked consideration and deference during: the wedding festivities.

Much talking and speechifying are required to transact a peasant wedding correctly from beginning to end, and a fluent and eloquent Wortmacher is therefore a much-prized individual. Each village has its own set formulas for each of the like occasions—long-winded, pompous speeches, rigorously adhered to, and admitting of neither curtailment nor alteration. The following fragment of one of these speeches will give a correct notion of the general style of Saxon oration.

It is the Hochzeitsväter who, in the name of the young man's parrentsparents [sic], speaks as follows: "A good morning to you herewith, dear neighbors, and I further wish to hear that you have rested softly this night, and been enabled to rise in health and strength this morning. And such being the case, I will thank the Almighty for his mercies toward you; and should your health, and the peace and happiness of your household, not be as good as might be desired in every respect, so at least will I thank the Almighty God that he has made your lot endurable, and beg him further to send you in future only so much grief and trouble as you may be enabled patiently to bear at a time. Furthermore, I crave your forgiveness that I have made bold to enter your house thus early in the morning, and trust that my presence herein may in no wise inconvenience you or put you to shame, but that