MORLACCm. 
41 
relations. Th*ere the marriage day is appointed ; on which the bride- 
groom comes to the bride’s house, attended by all his friends of 
greatest note, who on this occasion are called svati, and are all armed, 
and on horseback, in their holiday clothes, with a peacock’s feather 
in their caps, which is the distinctive ornament used by those who 
are invited to weddings. The company goes armed, to repulse any 
attack or ambush that might be intended to disturb the feast. The 
bride conducted to a church veiled, and surrounded by the svati 
on horseback ; and the sacred ceremony is performed amidst the 
noise of muskets, pistols, barbaric shouts, and acclamations, which 
continue till she return to her father’s house, or to that of her hus- 
band, if not far off. Each of the svati has his particular inspection, 
as well during the cavalcade as at the marriage feast,' which begins 
immediately on their return from church. The parvinaz precedes all 
the rest, singing such songs as he thinks suitable to the occasion. 
Abbe Fortis describes a number of ridiculous ceremonies that 
follow, which are not worth quoting. The first day’s entertainment 
is sometimes made at the bride’s house, but generally at the bride- 
groom’s, whither the svati hasten immediately after the nuptial bene- 
diction. The most extravagant abundance reigns in these feasts, 
and each of the svati contributes, by sending a share of provisions. 
All sorts of domestic fowls, kids, lambs, and sometimes venison, are 
heaped in prodigal quantities upon their tables ; but the Morlacchi 
never eat veal. 
This abhorrence to calves’ flesh is very ancient among them. St. 
Jerome, against Jovinian, takes notice of it ; and Torneo Marnavich, 
a Bosnian writer, who lived in the seventh century, says, that the 
Dalmatians, uncorrupted by the vices of strangers, abstain from eat- 
ing calves’ flesh, as an unclean food, even to his days. The women 
relations never dine at table with the men, but always by themselves. 
After dinner, they pass the rest of the day in dancing, singing ancient 
songs, and in games of dexterity, or of wit and fancy ; and in the 
evening, at a convenient hour after supper, the three ritual healths 
having first gone round, viz. 1. The Saint Protector of the Family ; 
2. The Holy Faith ; and 3, A certain sacred Name ; the knum accom- 
panies the bridegroom to the matrimonial apartment, which com- 
monly is the cellar or the stable, whither the bride is also conducted 
by th^ diyeri and the staches ; but the three last are obliged to 
retire ; and the knum remains alone with the new-married couple. 
If there happens to be any bed prepared better than the straw, he 
leads them to it ; and having untied the bride’s girdle, he causes 
them both to undress each other reciprocally. Next day the bride, 
without her veil and virginal cap, dines at table with the svati, and is 
forced to hear the coarse equivocal jests of her indelicate and some- 
times intoxicated company. These nuptial feasts, called sdrave by the 
ancient Hunns, and by the Morlacchi sdravize, contain three, six, eight, 
or more days, according to the ability of the family. The new-married 
wife gets no inconsiderable profit in these days of joy, and it nearly 
amounts to much more than all the portion she brings with her, which 
often consists of nothing but a cow, and her clothes : nay, sometimes 
the parents, instead of giving money with their daughters, get some- 
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