A CURIOUS CUSTOM. 167 



growing tired of an amusement into which I could not 

 myself fully enter, and hearing that it was not likely to 

 cease till daylight, I quietly took my departure for the 

 Laird's. Subsequently, however, I learnt that by so 

 doing, I had missed the most interesting ceremony of 

 the occasion, a ceremony which, like the Gaelic 

 language itself, from its very nature, appears to bespeak 

 an Eastern origin. 



At a late hour the bride retires to her chamber (on 

 the present occasion a peat-built shed at the end of the 

 cottage), attended by her maidens; and a sufficient 

 time having been allowed her to disrobe, the bride- 

 groom then follows accompanied by his men, who as 

 they assist him in removing his attire, toss into the 

 air each consecutive article of dress, as he casts it off; 

 and all present vie with each other in striving to catch 

 it, success in this being deemed a good omen of 

 peculiar potency. A glass of whiskey is passed round 

 to each of the guests, who then return to the ballroom, 

 and the dancing recommences, to be kept up with the 

 increased spirit till daylight. 



These wedding festivities not unfrequently extend 

 over three or four days in succession; their length 

 indeed depends upon the day of the week on which the 

 marriage takes place, for they are usually continued 

 till the following Sunday, when the newly-married pair 

 attend the kirk together for the first time as man and 

 wife ; and notwithstanding the proverbial propensity 

 for drink among the Scotch generally, in this neigh- 

 bourhood I am told it is seldom that a case of drunken- 

 ness occurs, many of the best dancers and singers, 

 being disciples of Father Mathew. 



Scarcely had I left the scene of merriment, vainly 

 flattering myself that my escape had been unobserved, 

 when I found myself joined by the bride's father, who 



