School: Moynalty (B.)

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1. Local Marriage Customs (continued)

   

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   a wife during the previous Shrove. Of course abuses crept in - Married men as well as bachelors suffered from the scrawls of some of these irresponsible wielders of chalk. Clothes were often badly disfigured, and one occasion the writer was a spectator at a free fight which was the outcome of a too liberal use of chalk. In latter years the custom seems to have died out.
   Match Making: As already mentioned match-making was very common. It was a usual thing to find professional match-makers in most districts. These (men mostly) had a happy knack of acquiring a knowledge of all Bachelors and Spinsters within a radius of 20 miles or so. Not alone that, but they also seemed to have intimate relationships with them, and a first class idea of their affairs in general. When an eligible bachelor was contemplating marriage he often consulted one of these matchmakers, and without hesitation an equally eligible Spinster would be recommended. Everything depended on Dowry and of course the professional matchmaker was not wanting in this information. He was always able to suggest with a good degree of

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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

   Willford Melville

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Moynalty, Co. Meath