Fife Folklore, Fishing in Fife - Weddings

Gaun wi’ a lad.
Courting seriously, although nor formally engaged. Until the late Twenties, few fisher girls had an engagement ring.

Pittin‘ in the cries.
Seeing the minister to arrange for the banns to be read
from the pulpit of the parish church. If the couple lived in different parishes, the cries, beginning with “There is a purpose of marriage between . . .“, had to be read in both churches. Very few went to hear their own cries read, but there was always some member of the family present to see that everything was done properly.

Mairriage or waddin‘
The ceremony, which was rarely in a church until the Thirties. It was often performed in the Town Hall, in the Manse or at home.

Providin‘
The household linen and underwear that the bride had been collecting since her early teens. Fashions changed little and there was no danger that the providin’ would be out of date.

Kist.
A large wooden chest with one or more small lockers or drawers inside. Both bride and groom had one, and when a bride said “Ma kist”, she often meant her store of sheets, etc., a matter of intense interest to the women
in the community. Sometimes a bride from another town, not knowing the prestige of having afu’ kist, would come with no’ as muckle as row roond a rag-nail.

Doon sittin‘
The furniture which the groom provided for the new home. Every bride expected a guid doon sittin’.

Waddin’ cheeny
A full tea-set of fine china, usually the gift of the best
maid, as the bridesmaid was called. This china would always be called “Ma waddin’ cheeny” and would probably become an heirloom.

Awa’ for her cla’es
The groom’s family, until the end of the Twenties, still bought the bride’s wedding outfit and usually took her away to Dundee or Edinburgh for this. Bridal veils and white dresses were rarely chosen, something more practical being favoured. One girl reported, “They even gi’ed me a pair o’ steys”.

Waddin’ reeg
The groom’s outfit, hand-tailored until the Thirties, and
also in a style that could be worn for Sundays for several years to come.

A biddin’
An invitation. It was well into the Twenties before fisher folk adopted the custom of sending written invitations. The biddin’ was given by word of mouth, usually by the groom’s family, for it was they who paid for the wedding supper as well as for the bride’s outfit.

A mindin‘
A wedding present taken to the home of either bride or
groom. Each person bringing a mindin’ was taken into the house, shown the gifts received so far, and given wine or tea, with cake, both madeira and fruit cake, and shortbread. The visitor was also expected to take home a “piece”, i.e. a helping of cake and shortbread wrapped in a paper napkin. There was no “show of presents” on a fixed date.

Hoose fillin‘
A special evening two or three days before the wedding
when women friends and relatives got the house ready for occupation, and indulged in some not-too-subtle tricks with the bed. It was the best maid’s special duty to “fill the press”, i.e. to arrange the waddin’ cheeny and the full dinner service with its three huge tureens, as well as all the jugs and bowls, and the red or green wine glasses and the crystal cruet-sets, that the bride had been laying past for years. It was considered unlucky for the bride to see the house now until after the wedding, but the newly-wed pair occupied it immediately after the ceremony, for there was rarely a honeymoon. To be at home was a treat for a fisherman. An old fertility and prosperity rite that died away in the Twenties was for the groom’s mother to break a ferl of shortbread above the bride’s head as she entered her new home for the first time.

Waddin’ coach
Until the Thirties this was a horse-drawn cab, with
horses and driver both wearing white cockades.

A grab
At the homes of both bride and groom, money was thrown out from the waddin’ coach to the children waiting to scramble for it, shouting, “A grab! A grab!”

Waddin supper
This was purveyed by the local bakers, generally in the
Town Hall, and was indeed a supper, for the weddings were invariably in the evening. The menu rarely changed from a choice between roast-beef and beef- steak pie, then trifle or jelly, and a cup of tea. Few people drank coffee then. After the supper the hall was cleared for dancing, and often they “let a’body in” so that uninvited guests crowded in to join in the fun and the dancing.

Bride’s plate
At the supper, several plates were filled and sent out to
elderly relatives or neighbours who were not at the wedding. It was something of an honour to get the first Bride’s Plate.

Waddin flag
A red, white and blue flag, about a yard and a half in
length, put up at the mast of the groom’s boat a week before the wedding. It was retrieved immediately after the ceremony by a young member of the crew and brought to the newly married couple who handed over money or a bottle of whisky in exchange. The state of the flag, torn or in good order, was supposed to indicate future luck for the couple.

Kirkit
The newly married couple were said to be kirkit when they attended church on the first Sunday after the wedding, accompanied, if possible, by the best man and the best maid, all wearing their wedding outfits.

Keeper
An engraved gold ring with no jewel, worn as a guard for the wedding ring, for it was considered unlucky if the wedding ring came off.

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