“Q. Apollo, say, whence ’tis I pray,
The ancient custom came,
Stockings to throw (I’m sure you know)
At bridegroom and his dame?
“A. When Britons bold, bedded of old,
Sandals were backward thrown;
The pair to tell, that, ill or well,
The act was all their own.”
If a more satisfactory explanation of the custom could be found, it should be at the reader’s service. The practice prevails on the continent as well as in this country, but its origin is involved in obscurity.
[79] Note to the Bridal of Caölchairn, by J. H. Allan, Esq.
Garrick Plays.
No. VII.
[From “Fortune by Land and Sea,” a Comedy, by T. Heywood, and W. Rowley, 1655.]
Old Forest forbids his Son to sup with some riotous gallants; who goes notwithstanding, and is slain.
Scene, a Tavern.