§ 5. The betrothal of a young couple was formerly attended with considerable ceremony, a portion of which was the exchange of rings. Shakspeare alludes to this in the play of “Twelfth Night:”
“Strengthened by the interchangement of your rings.”
We have a similar thing in “Two Gentlemen of Verona:”[325]
Julia. “Keep this remembrance for thy Julia’s sake.”
Proteus. “Why then we’ll make exchange; here, take you this.”
[Giving a ring.
Julia. “And seal the bargain with a holy kiss.”
This betrothing, affiancing, espousal or plighting troth between lovers was sometimes done in church with great solemnity; and the service on this occasion is preserved in some of the old rituals.[326]
The virgin and martyr, Agnes, in Ambrose, says: “My Lord Jesus Christ hath espoused me with his ring.”
This interchangement of rings appears in Chaucer’s “Troilus and Cresseide:”