thirty-nine commoners. James II, in 1731, his forty-eighth year, was the last English sovereign to pretend the humility of this public osculation. In 1530, Cardinal Wolsey, then fifty-nine, kissed the feet of as many poor men, and presented to each twelve pence in money, three ells of canvas to make shirts, a pair of new shoes, a cask of red herrings, and three white herrings. Thus do the pagan rites blossom in advanced religions.
The betrothal and nuptial kiss have origins partly religious. The nuptial kiss in church, at the end of the marriage service, is strictly by the York Missal and the Sarum Manual. Evidently it took a church law, even in these days, to require a man to kiss his own wife.
On Special Occasions.—Among the most popular of fairy tales is that of the Sleeping Beauty, who was aroused out of her years of slumber by the kiss of the handsome prince. Passing by the obvious symbolism in the story, it is interesting that a custom developed throughout Europe, perhaps as a result of the story, which permitted a man who found a woman asleep to kiss her awake. The same right, even in those days, was given to a woman who found a man asleep. In both cases, the wakened must also pay, as forfeit, to the awakener, a pair of gloves.
St. Valentine's Day is another occasion when the kiss is highly in order. Sir Walter Scott's Fair Maid of Perth has a full account of the osculatory practices on this holiday.
New Year's Day, however, is the heyday of
