In order, then, to support the interpretation thus suggested of the web of Penelope being really a wedding dress, it is necessary to show from the evidence of custom that there is a distinctive wedding dress, and that the bride is supposed to make it herself or assist in making it.
The subject of a distinctive wedding dress does not as yet seem to have attracted the attention of any member of this society. There is ample evidence to show that a special dress for the bride is used by all races which have risen from the actual barbaric stage.[1] Thus, a Japanese bride wears a bright coloured crêpe dress and a gold brocade girdle.[2] The Chinese bride wears a special paper hat.[3] Among the Mordvins she has a special wedding dress; and her legs are enveloped with bandages till she can scarcely walk, and her head is covered with a red silken kerchief.[4] The Manchu bride wears an embroidered silk cloth over her head;[5] in fact, all through the accounts of these races we find that particular regard is paid to the covering of the head, which is a sacred part of the body, and much exposed to demoniac influence during a crisis in life so serious as that of marriage. The same idea has come down to us in the bridal veil. In Northern India the bride's dress is usually either yellow or red, colours which are supposed to be useful to repell demons.[6] Among the Majhwârs up to the time of the home-bringing of the bride both she and the
- ↑ On the subject of the wedding dress, Mr. Joseph Jacobs kindly refers me to De Gubernatis, Usi Nuziali in Italia e presso gli altri popoli Indo-Europei: Hutchinson, Marriage Customs of all Nations; Schröder, Die Hochzeitsbraüche der Esten; Ploss, Das Weib; Uzanne, The Veil; authorities which I have not been able to consult.
- ↑ Folklore Record, vol. i., p. 133.
- ↑ Folk-Lore, vol. i., p. 365.
- ↑ Ibid., vol. i., pp. 439, 447.
- ↑ Ibid., vol. i., p. 487.
- ↑ See, for instance, among Doms. Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal, vol. i., p. 243; and see Crooke, Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India, vol. ii., pp. 28, seqq. The Syrian bride wears a pink veil over the izâr, and a black face-veil. Conder, Tent Life in Syria, vo. ii., p. 251.
