623 
of Edinburgh, Session 1883-84. 
the large increase of upwards of 1700 marriages in 1870, or nearly 
8 per cent, above those of the previous year, indicated a marked 
return of commercial prosperity. Scanty crops, and still more 
frequently a failure in the cod or herring fishings, are con- 
stantly mentioned by registrars as accounting for a paucity of mar- 
riages ; and in many instances the same result is attributed to the 
fact of large numbers of the working classes, in the prime of life, 
having temporarily left their homes owing to dulness of trade. 
Thus, not many years ago, the registrar of a Ross-shire parish 
reported that “ in consequence of the steady falling off of the 
haddock and herring fishings, the third quarter had passed without 
any entry in the marriage register.” On the other hand, about the 
same period, the registrar of Fraserburgh announced that the mar- 
riages in that parish had been 80 per cent, above the average of the 
five previous years, the herring fishing in July, August, and Sep- 
tember having proved so very successful that “ the value of fish 
caught, including casks and curing, had been set down at 
£130,000.” 
Another cause of fluctuation in the number of marriages is to be 
found in the season of the year. This is perhaps more observable 
in Scotland than in the other portions of the United Kingdom. 
On the north side of the Tweed, the month of May has always 
been unpopular among brides and bridegrooms ; while the last day 
of the year, the month of June, and Martinmas term have long 
been very favourite periods for matrimonial contracts. An impres- 
sion pretty generally prevails that May is an unlucky month for 
matrimony, and the origin of the idea has been assigned to the 
circumstance of Queen IVfeiry’s marriage to Bothwell having been 
celebrated in that month. A more satisfactory explanation has been 
offered in connection with the numerous changes of abode con- 
sequent on the occurrence of the house term, only a few days before 
the end of the month, thus naturally affecting the monthly average 
of marriages, which are largely augmented during the following 
month of June.* The annexed table, from the Report on the 
Scottish Census of 1871, shows, in the first column, the number of 
marriages registered in each month of the ten years ending 1870, 
while the second column exhibits the numbers as corrected for 
See Appendix. 
