Nuptial question

[ctbuchanan]

Ahh... so this is where that hand-wrapping of the tartan scrap comes from in Braveheart I'm assuming?

Ha, I had forgotten entirely about that. It's what probably started a lot of people over here doing it! We've done it longer and I can't dispute that it may have all started originally with the 'handfasting' bit.

[LitTrog]

Ahh... so this is where that hand-wrapping of the tartan scrap comes from in Braveheart I'm assuming?

That's Mel Gibson, remember. I'd wager he was trying to strangle his new bride but missed her neck.

[ctbuchanan]

Here are some photos from the recent wedding of my niece.
The bride with yours truly and one of my daughters

The tartan ceremony or handfasting as some are calling it (the feather is a turkey feather all for fun) On her mother's side she's a Colquhoun so you see that tartan and the Buchanan as well.

The pinning of the tartan by the bride

[Chas]

"Plaiding" - sounds like a way to sell more tartan.

"We've measured your kilt for your wedding, but you will need an extra two yards double width for the plaiding."

Regards

Chas

[MacRobert's Reply]

The only thing I have heard of that may relate to this is when two small pieces of tartan, one from the bride's family and one from the groom's, are tied as a symbol of the uniting of both the couple and their families - i.e. tying the knot. Complex knots can be used for this and the material can also be plaited (as distinct from plaided). Is it ancient? No idea!

Off to do another kilted wedding now … but without knotting tartan!

[Father Bill]

I don't know if this is one of them, but there are a lot of "traditions" out there these days that date way back to... oh, I don't know, maybe last week? I get asked about them from time to time with regards to weddings, and am told that "It's traditional." While putting it much more politely, my usual answer is "So is the wedding service the way it's written."

Now, lest one say that I'm being critical, my criticism is merely of the word "tradition" with regards to these ceremonies and rituals. Many of them can be beautifully and symbolically woven into the service the way it's written, and I'm happy to do so as long as it is neither pagan nor disruptive. I guess the old English teacher in me gets upset however, at the abuse of the word "traditional" to justify something that may be beautiful and meaningful but is actually innovative.

[ctbuchanan]

I agree with you Fr. Bill. As the M.C. of our Catholic parish I can say that we very, very seldom allow the introduction of any "traditions" such as these into our liturgy. I can recall one Nuptial Mass where the bride was from the Philippines and we were able to confirm that the requests she had were indeed traditional in a Philippine Mass. I would seriously suggest that any of the types of gestures or "ceremonies" that have been described in this forum be reserved for the reception as part of a secular observance. At my niece's Mass (see above) the priest overruled a request for a piper for the recessional because the chapel was so small. A test run confirmed his assertion and we removed the piper outdoors where it was very appropriate. Some things just don't always fit.

[pascs]

Its certainly a much nicer tradition than the weird Scottish wedding tradition of the Blackening

[MacSpadger]

Its certainly a much nicer tradition than the weird Scottish wedding tradition of the Blackening

Haha, my Ma's folks were Feemen from around Mintlaw, Inverurie, New Deer, New Pitsligo (and I was raised there too, farm to farm). She actually has old photos of one of the men in the family being blackened for his wedding between the wars. He was tied to a chair and paraded through the village. Now that is a very old Scottish wedding custom! I don't know if it was part of the Horsemen's Word, but it certainly seemed to be Horsemen's Word men it happened to. I might have a skewed perspective, as practically ever male in the maternal side of the family was initiated. I saw a book recently about the Horsemen's Word that claimed it died out after WW1, but it was still going in a diluted form around Ellon, Dyce and Black Dog in the 70's.
The bride only needs to be Scottish, of course, and it gets applied to women more than men.
That said, the worst example I saw was going to work one morning in 1977 or 1978. It was early in the morning, and there was some scaffolding on Union Street, Aberdeen, where the old BHS stores used to be. A naked man was tied to the scaffolding, about level with the second floor, in the shape of the crucifixion. He had been there all night. He was covered in gunk of all sorts. He was painted black from head to foot, except for his genitals which had been painted with red oxide, (which would have been a pain to remove, literally). To the uniniated it could have been a scene from a horror movie.
To those that knew, "Aye, that'll be the groom, then".

EDIT**Had a look on Youtube, The Blackening is still thriving!
Here's your genuine Scottish wedding tradition, folks!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssXCd...ayer_embedded#!

And here is part one of a 5 part male "blackening", just in case anyone should think I'm overstating the cruelty that friends inflict "because it's traditional"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGK37...eature=related

[MacRobert's Reply]

I can confirm that the blackening is still regularly practiced in Orkney and Shetland. So glad I got married in Lossiemouth!