The wedding took place in the house of a rich Chorbadji, who was giving his daughter in marriage to a young Bulgarian from a village on the opposite side of the glen. The festivities began on a Monday and lasted through the week, each day bringing its duties and pleasures, its songs, music, and dancing,—indispensable parts of a Bulgarian peasant’s existence.
On the eve of the wedding-day the virgin meal took place, each maiden arriving with her offering of sweets in her hands. It was a pretty sight to look at all those bright young faces, for the time free from care and lighted up with smiles of content and joy. It takes so little to amuse innocent peasant girls, for whom a day of rest is a boon in itself, well appreciated and generally turned to good account.
On Sunday, in the early forenoon, the company once more assembled. The children, washed and dressed, played about the yard, filling the air with their joyous voices. The matrons led their daughters in their bright costumes, covered with silver ornaments, their heads and waists garlanded with flowers. The young men also, decked out in their best, and equally decorated with flowers, stood to see them pass by, and to exchange significant smiles and looks.
On entering the house, I was politely offered a seat in the room where the bride, in her wedding dress, a tight mantelet closely studded with silver coins, and hung about with strings of coins intertwined with flowers, sat awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom’s company, who were to lead her to her new home. The sound of distant music soon announced their approach, and was the signal for the touching scene of adieux. All the bride’s smiles died away, and tears stood in every eye. Kissing hands all round, and being kissed in return, she was led by her father to the gate, and mounted upon a horse that awaited her; the rest of the company followed her, all mounted also. The scene changed, and as we rode along the mountain paths I felt myself transported into the mythological age in the midst of a company of Thyiades, garlanded with flowers and vine-leaves, proceeding to the celebration of their festival. The procession, headed by a standard-bearer carrying a banner surmounted by an apple, and followed by a band of music, wended its way along the mountain paths. The wild strains of the minstrels were echoed by the shouts and songs of the company, excitedly careering among the flowery intricacies of the mountain passes, like a wild chorus of Bacchantes. On entering the village, the procession was completed by the addition of the Nunco (best man) with the Stardever, who, like the Kanephoroi in the Dionysia, carried baskets of fruit, cakes, the bridal crowns, and the flasks of wine, and led the sacrificial goat with its gilded horns, all gifts of the Nunco.
On arriving at the gate of the bridegroom’s house, the standard-bearer marched in and planted his banner in the middle of the court. The bride, following, stayed her horse before it, and, after a verse had been sung by the company,[27] she bowed three times, and was assisted to dismount by her father-in-law. On parting with her horse she kissed his head three times, and then, holding one end of a handkerchief extended to her by her father-in-law, was led into a kind of huge cellar, dimly lighted by the few rays that found their way through narrow slits high up in the walls. In the midst stood a wine-barrel crowned with the bridal cake, on which was placed a glass of wine. The scene here deepened in interest; the priests, in their gorgeous sacerdotal robes and high black hats, holding crosses in their hands, stood over this Bacchanalian altar awaiting the bride and bridegroom, who, garlanded with vine-leaves and also holding tapers, advanced solemnly, when the sacred Christian marriage rite, thus imbued with the mysteries of the Dionysian festivals, was performed. After having tasted the wine contained in the glass, and while walking hand-in-hand three times round the barrel, a shower of fruits, cakes, and sugar-plums was thrown over the couple. The ceremony ended by the customary kissing, as observed among the Greeks. The company then sat down to a hearty meal. The feasting on such occasions lasts till morning; dancing, drinking, and singing continue till dawn, without, however, any excess.
The next day, the banner crowned with the apple, still keeping its place, proclaims to the guests who come to lead the bride to the village well to throw in her obol, that she has virtuously acquired the rights of a wife. Should the reverse be the case, the bride receives severe corporal punishment, and mounted on a donkey, with her face turned towards its tail, which she holds in her hands, is led back to her father’s house—a barbarous custom which must be set aside after the disorders lately committed in this country.
The custom of marrying in the most retired part of the house, instead of the church, among the peasants, is, according to my information, the result of the dread they had in times of oppression of giving unnecessary publicity to their gatherings, and thus inviting the cupidity of some savage band of their oppressors, who scrupled not when they had a chance to fall upon and rob and injure them. This state of things was brought back during late events.
Some months ago, a marriage was taking place in the village of B⸺, in Macedonia. The bridal procession had just returned from church, when a band of ferocious Turks fell upon the house where the festivities were being held, robbing and beating right and left, until they arrived at the unfortunate bride, whom, after divesting of all her belongings, they dishonored and left to bewail her misfortunes in never-ending misery. The distracted husband, barely escaping with his life, rushed into the street, loudly calling upon his Christian brethren to shoot him down, and thus relieve him of the life whose burden he could not bear.
The trousseau of a Bulgarian peasant girl consists of the following articles: A long shirt, embroidered with fine tapestry work in worsted or colored silks round the collar, sleeves, and skirt; a sleeveless coat (sutna), tightly fitting the figure, made of home-spun woollen tissue, also richly embroidered; a sash (poyous), made of plaited wool, half an inch wide and about eighty yards long, with which they gird themselves; an overcoat, also embroidered; an apron, completely covered with embroidery; embroidered woollen socks, garters, and red shoes. The head-dress varies according to the district. In Bulgaria proper a sort of high coif is worn, not unlike the pointed cap of English ladies in the Middle Ages. In Macedonia, to the hair, cut short upon the forehead and plaited behind in a number of braids, is added a long fringe of black wool, braided, fastened round the head and falling below the knees; the crown of the head being covered with a richly embroidered white cloth, fastened on with innumerable silver ornaments and strings of coins. The whole wardrobe, made of strong, durable materials, is home-spun and home-made, and being elaborately embroidered forms an ensemble extremely picturesque, very durable, and well adapted to the mode of life of the wearers. One of these dresses often requires three months’ constant work to accomplish its embroidery; but I may as well add that it will take a lifetime to wear it out.
In addition to these articles of dress, whose number varies according to the condition of the person for whom they are intended, carpets, rugs, towels, and a few sheets are added, together with a number of silver ornaments, such as belts, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, some of which are extremely pretty.