The unsuitableness of Lent for marrying and giving in marriage is bitterly expressed in the verse—
If you many in Lent
You will live to repent.
But I fear that in point of fact the month of May is more avoided in Scotland than the season of Lent. The prejudice against marrying in May, which Lockhart calls a classical as well as a Scottish one, coming as it does direct from pagan Rome, was respected in his own marriage, Sir Walter Scott hurrying away from London that his daughter Sophia’s wedding might take place before that inauspicious month commenced.
It is remarkable as showing the prevalence of this feeling to observe that during the year 1874 in the city of Glasgow the marriages in May were only 204, against 703 in June, the average of the eleven months, excluding May, being 441.[1] The ancient proverb still lives on the lips of the people of Scotland and the Borders—
Marry in May
Rue for aye.
The portents for good or evil which surround Border marriages are, as given in the Wilkie MS., numerous indeed. It is unlucky for swine to cross the path in front of a wedding party. Hence the old adage, “The swine’s run through it.” I believe this encounter is of ill omen to others beside marriage parties, especially before twelve o’clock. The presence of the bride’s mother is inauspicious too. A wet day is also deemed unlucky, while a fine one is auspicious. Here, in fact, as all Christendom over—
Blest is the bride that the sun shines on!
Green, ever an ominous colour in the Lowlands of Scotland, must on no account be worn there at a wedding. The fairies, whose chosen colour it is, would resent the insult, and destroy the wearer. Whether on this account or any other I know not,
- ↑ Napier’s Folk-Lore of the West of Scotland, p. 44.
