I’le rather prove,
The guidance of blind Love;
To follow you is certainly to stray:
One single Counsel tho unwise is good.
As they come to visit their Mistresses, they are necessitated to bring along with them some spirit of Wine, as a singular and most acceptable present, and Tobacco too. But if in the mean while, as it often falls out, the father intends not to bestow his daughter upon the man that hath made pretensions to her, he seldom refuses them, but defers the positive answer till the year following, that he may the oftner entertain himself with the spirit of Wine the Suiter brings along with him. And thus he delaies his answer from one year to the other, till the Suiter perceive himself cheated, and be constrained to require at his hands his charges made to no purpose. There is then no other remedy to be taken, then bringing the business before the Judg, where the Maids Father is sentenced to refund either the entire sum, or half of it, as the case stands. Where withal we must observe this, that the expences made by the Suiter on the Spirit of Wine, at his first arrival, do not fall under this compensation, but he alone stands to the loss of that. But if after the downright refusal of the Maid, he of his own accord will show his liberality, he may try what luck he will have at his own peril. If all things happen conformable to his wishes, then some set day is appointed for the wedding. The day before it, all the kindred and Neighbors as well of the Bridegroom as Bride resort to her parents hut, and the Bridegroom presents them all with wedding gifts, about which they had agreed, and of which mention is made above.
The Bridegroom is bound to present the Father with a silver cup, to drink in; this is the first of those they call Stycke. The second is a large Kettle, either of Copper or Alchymy. The third, a bed or at least hansom bedding. The presents for the Mother are, first a girdle of silver, secondly a Robe of honor such as they use to call Vospi. Thirdly a Whisk, which they wear about their neck, and let it hang down to their brest, interlaced all about with bosses of silver, and this they call Krake. These are the presents for the Father and Mother: besides he bestows upon the Brothers, Sisters, and all the near kindred, silver spoons, silver bosses, and some other such kind of things of silver, for each of them must be presented with some gift by the Bridegroom, if he mean to obtain his Bride. These are the presents, which the Bridegroom is more especially bound to make to his Father and Mother in law that are to be, and the rest of the kindred. And he makes them in his father in laws hut, in the sight of all there. The day following the wedding is celebrated, first by the ceremonious joining of the Priest in the Church, afterwards by a set dinner. The new Wife together with the Bridegroom walk along, both dress’d in the best clothes they can procure at their own charges. For ’tis looked upon among them as unhansom to make use of the borrowed cloths of others, unless it be wool as I have elswhere shown. They take saies Tornæus so great pleasure in good cloth of what ever color, that as far as their patrimony will permit, they procure their extraordinary apparel and festival Garments of that kind: who declares expressly that their festival apparel, or that which they wore on more solemn daies, was not of skins but rich cloth. These Garments the Bridegroom girds up with a silver girdle, but the Bride first looses her hair: and the fillet wherewith she bound it up together before, she gives to the Virgin that is next a kin to her: afterwards, on her bare head, and loose hair she puts a kind of a silver fillet gilt over, or two, such as is the womens custom to wear at other times besides, instead of a Garland or Coronet, so that by how much this fillet is looser, then to environ only her head; so much it hangs down the more behind: likewise about her middle they put on a silver girdle. This is the Brides apparel, unless that sometimes they put upon her head something of linnen, instead of a veil, which at other times the women use when they have a mind to make themselves extraordinary gallant, for as for what appertains to their garments, we have before observed, that both the Bridegroom and Bride wear their own, and those their best, and such as on festival daies they deck themselves withal. We have shown in another place, that the womens were called Volpi, and were made either of wool, or the richer sort of cloth, so that neither about this does Olaus Magnus in his place a forecited, concerning the Lapland Bride, sufficiently agree with their custom at this day. They set the Bride saies he, apparell’d in Ermins and Sables skins on a Rain-deer. At this day both dress’d very fine are carried to the Church or Priest, to be joined in Marriage; this was not the custom in old times, if we give credit to Olaus Magnus, for then they were joined at home, not by the Priests but the Parents, his words are in Lib. 4. Cap. 7. in which place he treats of the Laplanders weddings, as the Title of the Chapter informs us. In the presence of friends and kindred, the Parents solemnly ratifie their Childrens Marriages, and that too by the striking of fire with a flint and steel, particularly there he makes the Parents joining them, and adds moreover the manner, viz. by fire striken out of a flint, which without doubt as some other things, he cull’d out of Zeigler, but as for the parents doing it, Zeigler has nothing of that, the manner of their joining he explains in these words, They ratifie their Marriages, and begin them in a ceremony of fire and flint, so pat a conjugal mysterie, that they think nothing can be more agreeable, for as the flint conceals within it self fire, which by concussion breaks forth, so in both sexes there is life hid, which by the mutual coupling of marriage is propagated at last to be a living ofspring. And just so Olaus has it, so that there can be no doubt made but that he followed Ziegler. When they arrive near the Church, they observe in their procession a certain order, first walk the Men, the Women follow. The Men are led up by a Laplander, whom they call Automwatze, or foreman, then follows the Bridegroom, after him the rest. Some number of Virgins lead up the womens company, after them comes the Bride led between a man and a woman, next to her follow the rest of the women. Tis here to be observed that the Bride like one strugling against it, and endeavoring the contrary, is dragged along by the man and woman that are to wait upon her, and would seem to admit of her marriage with great unwillingness and reluctancy, and therefore in her countenance makes shew of extraordinary sadness and dejection: so afterwards in the Church they are joined together by praiers and benediction according to the Christian rite. After the same manner does John Tornæus relate this busines, only that he saies the Bride is led by two men, her Father and Brother, if alive, or otherwise by her two next Kinsmen. The portraicture of the Bride in her wedding apparel, and with her two leaders you have in the next page. After the solemnity of the marriage is ended, there follows a wedding feast, that is made in her Parents hut, and as for the provision, each of the persons invited contributes his share of the victuals, tho they bring it not thither just then, but the day before: when the Bridegroom distributes his presents to the Brides parents and kindred, then every one brings his victuals that will be serviceable to the feast. But because the meat they bring is ordinarily raw, they deliver it to a Laplander, on purpose appointed to that office, viz. to receive it of every Person that brings, and afterwards to boil it, and lastly to distribute it among the guests, tho commonly the greatest part of the provision be made, by the Bridegrooms as well as Brides parents. In their sitting at table they keep this order, in the uppermost places sit the Bridegroom and Bride next to one another, then follow in order the rest, as the parents, and kindred. At the table no person helps himself, but receives his meat from the hands of a Laplander, who is both dresser and carver of it. First of all he serves the Bridegroom and Bride with their portion, and in order the rest. Now they who by reason of the scantiness of room in the hut, cannot be admitted to the feast, such are boies and girles, climb up to the roof of the hut, and from thence let down threds with hooks tied to them, to which they fasten pieces of meat, and the like, so that they also enjoy their share of the banquet. The entertainment ended, they give thanks, as at other times they use, and shake hands one with another. The last thing wherewith they shut up the merriment of the feast, is drinking Spirit of Wine, which if they can light upon, they then are sure to buy; first the Bridegroom drinks, then the Brides parents, then each man shifts for himself, and so they make merry, but this custom the richer sort only observe, and those too who have the opportunity of buying, by the presence of those who sell these commodities; as for the meaner sort they are accustomed to divert themselves with talk. When the Wedding is over, the Husband may not take along with him his Wife with her goods and fortune, but must remain for an whole year in service with his Father; when that time is past, if he sees convenient he may set up for himself, and turn housekeeper; and then the Father bestows upon his Daughter at her departure, the Rain-deer, which are her due, because given her in her younger years: he gives her also other gifts besides, and what furniture will be requisite for the new married couple, particularly he gives for her dowry an hundred or more Rain-deers, as likewise silver, copper, Alchymy, a tent, bedding, and other houshold-stuff. And next all the kindred, the Brothers and Sisters, and whoever have received of the Bridegroom his gifts of respect, are likewise obliged to return him back again some present, so that he who had received one or two markes of silver, returns for a gift again one or two Rain-deers: so that it comes to pass, that the Laplanders, who can gratifie the friends and kindred with numerous presents, if they wed a rich Laplanders Daughter, come to great wealth in Rain-deer by this kind of marriage. These are the cheif things the Laplanders observe in their contracts and marriages, which before we quite leave, we may take notice first, that it is unlawful among them, to marry a wife too near in blood. And they have so special a regard to the degrees of consanguinity and affinity, that they never request marriage in the prohibited ones. And again ’tis unlawful, having one wife to marry another, or when one is married to put her away, by Divorce. Polygamy and Divorce were never heard of among the Laplanders, neither in the time of Paganism, saies Tornæus, nor afterwards, but they alwaies observed marriage honestly and like Christians; yet in former daies perhaps they did not altogether abhor the communicating their wives, whom they permitted to strangers especially and guests. So indeed writes Herberstenius. But John Tornæus mentions an instance of later date, and the Testimony too of a Laplander of Luhla, tho he doubts to give credit to him. ’Twas reported to me, saies he, that in the time of my Predecessor of Luhla-Lapmark, a certain immodest Laplander, came to lodg with another, in Torne-Lapmark, a civil honest man, as was his whole family, who could read books, and lived a pious life, for which he was stiled by scorners Zuan Bishop. Then the Man of Luhla, when he had disordered himself with drinking Spirit of Wine, addressed himself to his hosts wife, in hope of debauching her, but because there were there present two officers, who had Spirit of Wine to sell, the Zuan Bishop call’d for them, and told them the fellows design, desiring likewise that they being Ministers of the State, would apprehend and bind him: they immediately bound him to a Tree, and left him there for a whole Winter night together, to be frozen with cold. At last he was forced to regain his liberty with mony; and pleaded it as an excuse, that it was the custom in Luli-Lapmark, that if any person visited another, the entertainer permitted such familiarity with his Wife. Thus saies Tornæus, but doubtingly, for the fellow might have only framed this for his own excuse; ’tis certain no other person has taken notice of it in them of Luhla, and the other Laplanders are so ignorant of this communion of their wives, that they cannot endure they should look upon other men. The Laplanders dwelling towards Norway at the river Torna are so jealous, that if a Woman chance to meet a man, and speak but a few words to him, they immediatly fall into a suspicion of her.
