A NANING WEDDING-SPEECH. 31 



The girls learn needlework. 



Folk that were small are big, 



Wits that were dull are keen, 



Because of the debt of mother and sire, 



Paid well or ill the clansmen know. 



90. And then the saying runs, 



Our boys we wed to other clans, 

 For our girls wooers come; 

 For our girls whispered hints, 

 For our boys jokes and jests. 



And now our boy is tall and straight, 

 The jokes and jests have 'passed and sped. 



And so my tale proceeds, 



Of the ceaseless whispering word( 4 .), 

 Of the restless beckoning hand. 

 100. To the eye of the messenger 



There was no string across the path( 5 .), 



No log athwart the track. 



And so a ring was sent for a token, 



Eeceived to enter, rejected to return. 



The custom says : — 



When a pledge is received and taken, 



A bride-price is paid, 



A bride-groom is sent, 



A pair are wed. 



110. And so it was, that 



The pledge passed in, the prayer was weighed, 

 The prayer of my clan for a bride. 

 When custom bars not, 

 When religion bans not, 

 The pledge is taken. 



. The pledge-ring is taken, when the tribesmen are agreed,. 

 The distant summoned, 

 The near sent for and called: 

 Eeceived the pledge-ring enters, rejected returns. 



120. And after that 



The tribe was at one, a bond was made; 

 The bond made was proclaimed; 

 The bond clue is fulfilled. 



And therefore come I now, 



Like a net that snares but ill, 



Like a harrow that harrows amiss, 



Like a ploughshare that turns but little sod, 



R. A. Soc, No. 72, 1916. 



