Of the customs of the ancient inhabitants of Lynn, and of the Anglo-Saxons in general, relating to _matrimony_, the following appear to have been some of the most remarkable and striking.—Every unmarried woman was supposed to have a guardian, or owner: the virgin belonged to her father, brother, uncle, or nearest male relation; the widow claimed the same protection from her husband’s male relatives; the lover was obliged to buy his mistress, of her guardian, by a gift, the amount of which was settled by a law, that set a higher price on the maid, by one half, than on the relict. If unadvisedly the wooer wedded the lady without the guardian’s consent, her property and goods were still the property of that guardian, and an injury offered to her was to be atoned for to him, and not to the spouse. At the wedding, the guardian delivered up his ward to the husband, a friend of whom had previously avowed himself the guarantee of a proper provision for the bride in case of his death. At the feast which followed, the usual and large presents of gold, silver, arms, cloths, household stuff, &c. made by the invited friends and relations, formed the portion of the bride, who had beside, from custom immemorial, a right to ask of her mate, on the next sun-rising after her nuptials, a gift, to serve her as pin-money. As to what related to _divorces_, among these people, we meet with no particular account. In the _education_ of their children, they only sought to render them dauntless, and apt for the two most important occupations of their future lives, war and the chase. It was a usual trial of a child’s courage to place him on the sloping roof of a building, and if, without screaming or apparent terror, he held fast, it was deemed a favourable omen, and he was pronounced a _brave boy_.