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“296 TRAVELS
for the bridegroom, creeping on all fours, to receive on his back
Ge large pannier full of {tones, which he was obliged to carry until
the bride, in token that fhe was no longer a maiden, came and
relieved him of the heavy load, by throwing the pannier on the’
ground, ;
In one parifh in Finland (one of thefe parifhes, it is to be ob-
ferved, is equal in extent to a whole province in moft other coun-
tries) it is the cuftom for young women to wear, fufpended at
their girdles, the cafe or fheath of a knife, as a fign that they are
unmarried, and would have no objection toa hufband. When
a young man becomes enamoured with any of thofe damfels, his
manner of courting her is, to purchafe, or caufe to be made, a
knife in the exa@ form of the heath, and to take an opportunity of
flipping it into the fheath flily without the girl’s perceiving it. If
the girl, on finding the knife in the fheath, keep it, it is a favour-
able fymptom: if not, it is a refufal.
In the parifh of Kemi, before the day appointed or propofed
for the marriage ceremony, the young people fleep together for a
whole week, but without quite undreffing; and this is called, the
week of the breeches. t will, no doubt, be immediately recollected
by my readers, that this is an exact counterpart to the bundling of
the Anglo-Americans. If, in confequence of the familiarities
that pafs during the “ week of the breeches,” their love be
ftrengthened, they marry ; but if, on the other hand, their mu-
tual affections be leffened, the marriage does not take place.
- Another particular that appeared very fingular among the cuf-
coms
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