ABSTRACT
Marriage, being the center of family life, shows certain discrepancies in early Scodand. Before the eighth century there were no church ceremonies, but there had been a Celtic custom of ‘handfasting’. The practice of handfasting was very widespread, and one of the duties of the itinerant friars was to persuade the ‘handfasts’ to enter into legal ceremony. The Reformers, although they were on the side of wedded bliss, and against extra-marital activities, were exercised by the fun and celebrations which took place at the weddings. Bridal feasts very often could consist of up to a hundred people, especially in the Highlands. There was a custom that the wedding dress must not be put on before the wedding day, nor could it be altered if it did not fit. As with all fundamental threads of life, birth and the christening of the child were interwoven in Scodand with old pagan practices and celebrations.
