342 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 51. 



ST. UNCUMBEK. 



(Vol. ii., p. 286.) 



PwccA, after ,'quoting from Michael "Wodde's 

 Dialogue or Familiar Talke the passage in which 

 he says, " If a wife were weary of her husband 

 nhe offred otes at Paules in London to St. Uncuni- 

 ber," asks "who St. Uncumber was?" 



St. Uncumber was one of those popular saints 

 whose names are not to be found in any calendar, 

 and whose histories are now only to be learned 

 from the occasional allusions to them to be met 

 with in our early writers, — allusions which it is 

 most desirable should be recorded in " Notes and 

 Queries." The following cases, in which mention 

 is made of this saint, are therefore noted, although 

 they do not throw much light on the history of 

 St. Uncumber. 



The first is from Harsenet's Discouerie, ^'C, 

 p. 134.: 



" And the commending himselfe to the tuition of 

 S. Uncumber, or els our blessed Lady." 



The second is from Bale's Interlude concerning 

 the Three Laws of Nature, Moses, and Christ: 

 " If ye cannot slepe, but sluml)er, 

 Geve Otet unto Saynt Uncumber, 

 And Beanes in a certen number 



Unto Saynt Blase and Saynt Blythe." 



I will take an early opportunity of noting some 

 similar allusions to Sir John Shorne, St.Withold, &c. 



William J. Thoms. 



HANDFASTING. 



(Vol. ii., p. 282.) 



Jakltzberg, in noticing this custom, says that 

 the Jews seem to have had a similar one, which 

 perhaps they borrowed from the neighbouring na- 

 tions; at least the connexion formed by the prophet 

 Hosea (chap, iii., v. 2.) bears a strong resemblance 

 to Ilandfasting. The 3rd verse in llosea, as well 

 as the 2nd, should I think be referred to. They 

 are both as follows : 



" So I bought hsr to me for fifteen pieces of silver, 

 and for an Iiomer of barley, and an half homer of 

 barley ; and I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me 

 many days ; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou 

 shalt not be for another man ; so will I also l)e for 

 thee." 



Now by consulting our most learned commen- 

 tators upon the meaning which they put upon 

 these two verses in connexion with each otiier, I 

 cannot think that the analogy of Jarltzberg will 

 be found correct. In allusion to verse 2, " so I 

 brought her," &c., Bishop Horslcy says : 



" This was not a payment in the shape of a dowry ; 

 for the woman was his property, if he thought fit to 

 claim her, by virtue of the marriage alreadi/ had; but it 

 was a present supply of her necessary wants, by wliieh 

 he acknowledged her as his wife, and engaged to fur- 



nish her with alimony, not ample indeed, but suitabl^ 

 to the recluse life which he prescribed to lier." 



And in allusion, in verse 3., to the words " Thou 

 shall abide for me many days," Dr. Pocock thus 

 explains the context : 



" That is, thou shalt stay sequestered, and as in a 

 state of widowhood, till the time come that I shall be 

 fully reconciled to thee, and shall see fit again to receive 

 thee to the privileges of a wife." 



Both commentators are here evidently alluding 

 to what occurs after a marriage has actually taken 

 place. Handfasting takes place before a marriage 

 is consummated. 



A chapter upon marriage contracts and cere- 

 monies would form an important and amusing 

 piece of history. I have not Picart's Religious Cere- 

 monies at hand, but if I mistake not he refers to 

 many. In Marco Polo's Ti-avels, I find the follow- 

 ing singular, and to a Christian mind disgusting, 

 custom. It is related in section 19.: — 



" These twenty days journey ended, having passed 

 over the province of Thibet, we met with cities 

 and many villages, in which, through the blindness of 

 idolatry, a wicked custom is used ; for no man there 

 marrieth a wife that is a virgin ; whereupon, when 

 travellers and strangei-s, coming from other places, 

 pass through this country and pitch their pavilions, 

 the women of that place having marriageable daughters, 

 bring them unto strangers, desiring them to take them 

 and enjoy their company as long as they remain there. 

 Thus the handsomest are chosen, and the rest return 

 home sorrowful, and when they depart, they are not 

 suffered to carry any away with them, but faithfully 

 restore them to their parents. The maiden also re- 

 quireth some toy or small present of him who hath 

 deflowered her, which she may show as an argument 

 and proof of her condition ; and she that hath been 

 loved and abused of most men, and shall have many 

 such favours and toys to show to her wooers, is ac- 

 counted more noble, and may on that account be ad- 

 vantageously married ; and when she would appear 

 most honourably dressed, she hangs all hsr lovers' fa- 

 vours about her neck, and the more acceptable she was 

 to many, so much the more honour she receives from 

 her countrymen. But when they are once married, 

 they are no more suffered to converse with strange 

 men, and men of this country are very cautious never 

 to oflTend one another in this matter." 



J. M. G. 



Worcester, Oct. 1S50. 



The curious subject brought forward by J.M.G. 

 under this title, and enlarged upon by Jakltzberg 

 (Vol. ii., p. 282.), leads me to trouble you with 

 this in addition. Elizabeth Mure, according to 

 the Ilistoivj and Descent of the House of Roioallane 

 by Sir William Mure, was made choyce of, for 

 her excellent beautie and rare virtues, by King 

 Ilobert IL, to be Queen of Scotland ; and if their 

 union may be considered to illustrate in any way 

 the singular custom of Handfasting, it will be seen 



