Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 07
General
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 07
Scottish Borders (Scotland) -- Fiction
If any of our readers have ever seen a Scottish penny-wedding they will
agree with us, we daresay, that it is a very merry affair, and that its
mirth and hilarity is not a whit the worse for its being, as it
generally is, very homely and unsophisticated. The penny-wedding is not
quite so splendid an affair as a ball at Almack's; but, from all we have
heard and read of these aristocratic exhibitions, we for our own parts
would have little hesitation about our preference, and what is more, we
are quite willing to accept the imputation of having a horrid bad taste.
It is very well known to those who know anything at all of
penny-weddings, that, when a farmer's servant is about to be
married--such an occurrence being the usual, or, at least, the most
frequent occasion of these festivities--all the neighbouring farmers,
with their servants, and sometimes their sons and daughters, are invited
to the ceremony; and to those who know this, it is also known that the
farmers so invited are in the habit of contributing each something to
the general stock of good things provided for the entertainment of the
wedding guests--some sending one thing and some another, till materials
are accumulated for a feast, which, both for quantity and quality, would
extort praise from Dr Kitchener himself, than whom no man ever knew
better what good living was. To all this a little money is added by the
parties present, to enable the young couple to _plenish_ their little
domicile.
Having given this brief sketch of what is called a penny-wedding, we
proceed to say that such a merry doing as this took place, as it had
done a thousand times before, in a certain parish (we dare not be more
particular) in the south of Scotland, about five-and-twenty years ago.
The parties--we name them, although it is of no consequence to our
story--were Andrew Jardine and Margaret Laird, both servants to a
respectable farmer in that part of the country of the name of Harrison,
and both very deserving and well-doing persons.
On the wedding-day being fixed, Andrew went himself to engage the
services of Blind Willie Hodge, the parish fiddler, as he might with all
propriety be called, for the happy occasion; and Willie very readily
agreed to attend gratuitously, adding, that he would bring his best
fiddle along with him, together with an ample supply of fiddle-strings
and rosin.
"An' a wee bit box o' elbow grease, Willie," said Andrew, slily; "for
ye'll hae gude aught hours o't, at the very least."
"I'll be sure to bring that too, Andrew," replied Willie, laughing; "but
it's no aught hours that'll ding me, I warrant. I hae played saxteen
without stoppin except to rosit."
"And to weet your whistle," slipped in Andrew.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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