324 THE HOME OF A NATURALIST. 



— Ned and his best man appeared in church, each 

 carrying — as always a sine qud non on such occasions, 

 no matter what the state of the weather — an enormous 

 brand-new cotton umbrella. Osla of course remained 

 at her father's house, to which the two lads repaired 

 after service, and had dinner, returning to their own 

 homes at very proper hours. 



On Monday morning the bridegroom arrived at the 

 bride's home ; and the pair, as the custom was, sallied 

 forth arm in arm to bid the guests to the wedding. In 

 this part of the proceedings, if to the invitation it was 

 added that it was to be a " free wedding," that was 

 regarded as the handsome and liberal thing, and meant 

 that the bride's father provided everything for the 

 entertainment But if nothing of the sort was said, 

 then it was expected, and quite understood, that the 

 young men — only the young and unmarried men — 

 would bring with them each a bottle of whisky. Need 

 it be said that in Osla's case the invitation was to a 

 " free wedding." 



On Thursday before daybreak, the unmarried con- 

 tingent of the wedding guests assembled at Magnus's 

 snug cottage, where they had breakfast, and thereafter 

 proceeded to the church. With the exception of a 

 single couple, who were technically the " married man " 

 and " married woman " — the former a relative of the 

 bride, the latter of the bridegroom, but never any of 

 the parents of either — only the young people, lads and 

 lasses, ever went to church on these occasions. On 

 the way thither the " married man " led the bride, and 



