24 pfant Isore, T^ege^/, an©L "bqric/*. 



door-posts, which were adorned with evergreens and blossoms, and 

 anointed with the fat of wolves to avert enchantment. 



In M. Barthelemi's ' Travels of Young Anacharsis ' the author, 

 describing a marriage ceremony in the Island of Delos, says that 

 the inhabitants of the island assembled at daybreak, crowned 

 with flowers ; flowers were strewn in the path of the bride and 

 bridegrocfm ; and the house was garlanded with them. Singers 

 and dancers appeared crowned with Oak, Myrtles, and Hawthorn. 

 The bride and bridegroom were crowned with Poppies, and upon 

 their approach to the temple, a priest received them at the 

 entrance, and presented to each a branch of Ivy — a symbol of the 

 tie which was to unite them for ever.* 



At Indian nuptials, the wedding wreath, the varamdld, united 

 bride and bridegroom. At the marriage feasts of the Persians, a 

 little tree is introduced, the branches of which are laden with 

 fruit : the guests endeavour to pluck these without the bridegroom 

 perceiving them ; if successful, the latter has to make them a 

 present ; if, however, a guest fails, he has to give the bridegroom 

 a hundred times the value of the object he sought to remove from 

 the tree. 



In Germany, among the inhabitants of Oldenburg, there exists 

 a curious wedding custom. When the bridegroom quits his 

 father's roof to settle in some other town or village, he has his 

 bed linen embroidered at the corners with flowers surmounted by 

 a tree, on whose branches are perched cock birds : on each side 

 of the tree are embroidered the bridegroom's initials. In many 

 European countries it is customary to plant before the house of a 

 newly-married couple, one or two trees, as a symbol of the good 

 luck wished them by their friends. 



Floral games have for many years been held at Toulouse, 

 Barcelona, Tortosi, and other places ; but the former are the most 

 famed, both on account of their antiquity and the value of the 

 prizes distributed during the fetes. The ancient city of Toulouse 

 had formerly a great reputation for literature, which had, however, 

 been allowed to decline until the visit of Charles IV. and his bride 

 determined the capitouls or chief magistrates to make an effort to 

 restore its prestige as the centre of Proven9al song. Troubadours 

 there were who, banded together in a society, met in the garden 

 of the Augustine monks to recite their songs, sirventcs, and ballads ; 

 and in order to foster the latent taste for poetry, the capitouls 

 invited the poets of the Langue d'oc, to compete for a golden 

 Violet to be awarded to the author of the best poem produced on 



• ' Voyage' du J mm Anacharsis en dice, vers le tnilLu dii quatrietm siicle 

 avant ta-e vnlzaire.'' 



