School: Crieve (roll number 4369)

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1. Local Marriage Customs

   

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   Local marriage customs
   Marriages frequently take place during Shrove. May is looked upon as an unlucky month for marriages. Saturday is an unlucky day for a marriage. Green is an unlucky colour for a bride to wear. There are no matches made in our district but there used to be. Money usually is given as a dowry and sometimes stock. People do not remember marriages taking place in their houses. There was a large wedding feast held in the house of the bride. This consisted step dancing, singing, playing melodeons, throwing rice, and feasting. Those who owned horses rode them to the wedding and those who had none walked. The wife rode beside her husband on horseback the groom sat in front and the bride sat behind on a pillion. They raced against each other on their way home, and whoever reached home first got a bottle of whiskey and treated all his friends and then the bottle was broken. Later on they drove in sidecars to a wedding and they raced against each other on their way home whichever man had the best horse got home first. The straw-boys did not visit this district but "bon-fires" were lighted in view of the bride's house and sometimes in view of the groom's house I was told the following story. One time there was a wedding in the district, on the return journey the guests who were driving on side cars commenced racing

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. social activities (~7)
         1. rites of passage (~573)
            1. marriage (~4,283)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Isobel Farlow

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Derryarrilly, Co. Monaghan

   Informant

   Mr Gage

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   77

   Address

   Listroar, Co. Monaghan