76 SEX-LORE 



the bride. In Ireland, so late as the middle of the 

 last century, the bridegroom was compelled in honour 

 to run off with his bride, even when there was no 

 need. The custom of lifting the bride over the thres- 

 hold of her husband's home, which occurs in various 

 places, is put down to a survival of wife-capture. 



There is frequently a simulated flight by the bride, 

 who must be captured by the bridegroom. In Arabia, 

 among the Mezeyn Arabs, the bride really escapes 

 and hides herself in some mountain fastness previously 

 well stocked with food. Here the man that wants to 

 marry her must find her. In Brittany, the bride- 

 groom goes to the bride's house, which he finds locked 

 and barred; sometimes he has to knock for hours 

 before anyone opens the door. Then he is asked 

 what he wants. He replies that he has come for the 

 bride; the father goes in and brings first the grand- 

 mother. When told that she is not the desired one 

 he returns and brings the baby, or the misters one 

 after the other; and ultimately brings the bride, who 

 has been hiding indoors all the time. 



The custom of simulated flight sometimes changes 

 to real flight when a girl is unwilling to accept a man. 

 Among the Kalmucks, after the marriage price is 

 arranged, the bride runs away on horseback, the lover 

 pursuing. If she is partial to him, she is soon over- 

 taken; but there is no instance of a Kalmuck girl 

 being caught if she does not care for her pursuer. 

 In the Malay Peninsula, there are various methods 

 f chasing the bride, and here also it is only the willing 

 maid that can be caught. In one tribe the lover must 

 swim for his wife; in another, the chase takes place 

 in canoes, the bride being given the fleeter canoe and 



