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Marriage - stories from ancient folklore

Wedding - who will I marry

A piece of counsel, highly esteemed by prudent lovers of old time in Cheshire, was ...

“Better wed over the mixen than over the moor”

which basically means: choose a wife of a known stock near your own farmyard rather than wed a strange girl from the other side of the Staffordshire moorlands!

Naturally there is plenty of folklore pertaining to divining one's future partner, either by seeing them in a dream or by way of a vision or appearance, around 1800 in England it was said that to see one's future spouse in a dream...

“the parties inquiring must lie in a different county from that in which they commonly reside; and, on going to bed, must knit the left garter about the right-legged stocking, letting the other garter and stocking alone; and, as they rehearse the following verses, at every comma knit a knot:— 'This knot I knit, To know the thing I know not yet, That I may see The man (woman) that shall my husband (wife) be; How he goes, and what he wears, And what he does all days and years.' - Accordingly, in a dream, the desired one will appear, with the insignia of his trade or profession.”

In Shropshire, it was more straightforward, those curious to ascertain who their future partner will be, fetched at midnight from the nearest churchyard a half brick, which they placed under their pillows, by this means, they were sure to dream about courtship and marriage.

St. Agnes's Eve was, in days gone by, much observed by young maidens who wished to know when and whom they should marry. It was required that on this day they should not eat - it was thus known as St. Agnes's Fast, again their future husband would appear in a dream.

Formerly, too, in Scotland, young men and women would meet together on St. Agnes's Eve at midnight, they would go one by one, into a remote field and throw in some grain, after which they repeated the following rhyme ...

“Agnes sweet, and Agnes fair, Hither, hither, now repair ; Bonny Agnes, let me see The lad who is to marry me.”

... the shadow of the destined bride or bridegroom would be seen in a looking-glass later that same night. Similarily, St. Mark's Eve has been considered an auspicious night ...

“On St. Mark's Eve, at twelve o'clock, The fair maid will watch her smock, To find her husband in the dark, By praying unto good St. Mark.”

... in the same way, at one time it was a popular superstition that if any unmarried woman fasted on Midsummer Eve, and at midnight ...

“laid a clean cloth, with bread, cheese, and ale, and then sat down as if about to eat — the street door being left open — the person whom she was afterwards to marry would come into the room and drink to her by bowing; and, after filling the glass, would leave it on the table, and, making another bow, retire.”

this website has been put together from a series of old texts that i came across, while researching fairies and the world of fae in folklore, i thought there was enough here to share with other people on these other topics. these pages are meant as an introduction or a bit of fun reading, for those interested in delving deeper,
find the source material on the reference page
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