2 28 The Lifting of the Bride.
her conduct was for some time the theme of gossip through- out the village. When all the party was safely over the barrier, it was customary for the bridegroom to give a fee to the two young men." The money thus obtained was spent in jollification in the evening. Sometimes the church door was tied, and not opened till blackmail was paid.
The present vicar of the parish of Whittingham, who kindly replied to an inquiry from me, gives much the same account of the rite. According to him the bride used to be "jumped" over the "Petting Stone" placed in the church porch on two little pillars opposite the main entrance. He says that the rite has fallen out of use for the last thirty years.
Again, from Bamburgh, Northumberland, the vicar, the Rev. E. Williams, writes : " The custom to which you refer still prevails in this parish. Strange to say on the very day your letter reached me, we had a ' big ' wedding in the church, and the custom was duly observed. My wife attempted to photograph the scene, and she thinks she got a satisfactory ' snapshot ' of the bridal party in the very act of ' jumping.' Should this turn out well I will gladly send you a copy. It seems that a stool is taken to the church- yard by the villagers, and the bride is ' jumped ' over, a man taking hold of each arm to help her over."
I regret to say that this photograph, which I hoped to have the pleasure of exhibiting here this evening, has not turned out successfully. I have made many attempts to secure a picture of the rite, but so far without avail. It would be well if some of our members residing in districts where the custom still survives would endeavour to have the scene photographed, particularly as the custom seems to be rapidly falling into disuse.
Again, Miss E. Lamb, of Chathill, Northumberland, to whom I was referred as one of the best local authorities on rural customs, has been kind enough to send me the follow- ingr account.
