DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4593#0212
190 THE ISLES AND SHRINES OF GREECE
bride's wreath, and for all who are present to throw
money into the handkerchief of the priest.
A rustic habit, reserved for the nearest friends, is
that of striking the groom on the cheek. In the
dances which follow, the men take partners and form
almost a circle. The bride and groom dance round
a few times and take places at the end of the set;
the next couple follow, and the next, until all have
had a turn. Two or three musicians with their rustic
pipes literally inspire the dance, but the harp of
Demodocus is lacking.
A wedding procession also is common in the
country. At Pyrgos we saw one winding across the
plain. The bride rode in an open carriage, while
the guests were on horseback. The costumes were
highly picturesque, and the droning music of the
pipers reminded me of Scotch bag-pipes.
In Zante, as the Kyria told me, Thursday is the
fashionable marriage day, and for the poorer classes
Sunday, and the service is always held in the even-
ing. In arranging the marriage the go-between is
often a priest, because affairs must be conducted with
the greatest secrecy, so that if the arrangement fails
it will not be a matter of public notoriety. When
the peasants arc poor the dowry may be so many
trees, say ten or twelve for the girl, or a vineyard.
The amount of money dowry is small in the islands,
sometimes not exceeding five hundred drachmas.
Nicholas, my driver in the Peloponnesus, said that
in his neighborhood the girl must have two or three
thousand drachmas, or a house, a vineyard or some-
thing else. " In America," I said, " we marry not
for money, but for love," upon which he smiled, and
bride's wreath, and for all who are present to throw
money into the handkerchief of the priest.
A rustic habit, reserved for the nearest friends, is
that of striking the groom on the cheek. In the
dances which follow, the men take partners and form
almost a circle. The bride and groom dance round
a few times and take places at the end of the set;
the next couple follow, and the next, until all have
had a turn. Two or three musicians with their rustic
pipes literally inspire the dance, but the harp of
Demodocus is lacking.
A wedding procession also is common in the
country. At Pyrgos we saw one winding across the
plain. The bride rode in an open carriage, while
the guests were on horseback. The costumes were
highly picturesque, and the droning music of the
pipers reminded me of Scotch bag-pipes.
In Zante, as the Kyria told me, Thursday is the
fashionable marriage day, and for the poorer classes
Sunday, and the service is always held in the even-
ing. In arranging the marriage the go-between is
often a priest, because affairs must be conducted with
the greatest secrecy, so that if the arrangement fails
it will not be a matter of public notoriety. When
the peasants arc poor the dowry may be so many
trees, say ten or twelve for the girl, or a vineyard.
The amount of money dowry is small in the islands,
sometimes not exceeding five hundred drachmas.
Nicholas, my driver in the Peloponnesus, said that
in his neighborhood the girl must have two or three
thousand drachmas, or a house, a vineyard or some-
thing else. " In America," I said, " we marry not
for money, but for love," upon which he smiled, and