The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsIn Wales, there was an ancient tradition called "bundling"
It was where an engaged couple were allowed to lie together before marriage, in order to get an "idea" of each other. The results were sufficiently obvious, yet the practice had the tacit approval of both high and low classes of the Welsh people.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,490 posts)Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)"Who's gonna buy a pair of used shoes!?"
NB - I married a divorced lady who had 2 kids already. July will be our 28th anniversary. But I still liked Good Times when I was a kid.
patricia92243
(12,607 posts)off. Would that leave the girl pregnant and the guy could just walk off? Sounds horrid to me.
My Good Babushka
(2,710 posts)with the approval of all classes in society, I imagine the young couple liked and really enjoyed the "idea", and the marriages went through successfully.
My Good Babushka
(2,710 posts)marriage at the time was not always the formal, expensive event that we think of when we consider marriage. For most people, who were poor, it was a rather unceremonious binding of households. Any practice that encouraged inter-tribal strife probably would have been abandoned, since cooperation was needed for basic survival, especially over the winter. Bundling was probably considered part and parcel of the marriage procedure, and not a way for someone to make a last ditch escape.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)During the time, women were considered equal in regards to finding multiple partners.
Also, if I am not mistaken, inheritance and succession were through the mother side. That was because, they can make sure of the blood line of a person through the mother, but it is not always certain who the father was.
Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
My Good Babushka
(2,710 posts)Women often had great property, and it was protected, even through marriage.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)Christianity started taking a hold of things.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,766 posts)It was a board that stood on one edge down the middle of the bed. I think it was anchored upright by the bottom sheet. It was intended to keep the couple from having sex, although I suspect it didn't work too well.
I wonder if this was part of the tradition?
My Good Babushka
(2,710 posts)edifying!
Wounded Bear
(58,766 posts)say a high percentage of brides in old New England (under the Puritans) were pregnant.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)Interesting.
hunter
(38,341 posts)After "Birth Control" being pills, condoms, and various other non-impregnating "sex acts."
marzipanni
(6,011 posts)it comes down to matter over mind, and soon the "idea" develops into "carnal knowledge"!
My Good Babushka
(2,710 posts)esp. with the gender wars raging out there.
Would I rather live in a pastoral, matriarchal society and have property
or a contemporary, patriarchal society and have coffee?
That property would just be a mud hut, probably and some cows, and no coffee.
I decided, and told my husband, he doesn't want to know the number of men I would service to keep the coffee brewing! I hope it doesn't come to that.
I just like coffee is all.
I'm going to get more coffee now.
canoeist52
(2,282 posts)"Bundling was a practice in which a young man and young lady slept together in the same bed, usually fully clothed. Think of the saying, All bundled up. Sometimes, the girl wore a sack that was enclosed with a slip knot at the bottom and tied with a drawstring at the waist. If a parent had anxiety about the situation, the sack could be sewn shut. Proponents of bundling in bed felt that visiting on a couch presented far more temptation, although some courting also was done in that manner."
http://www.quiltersmuse.com/Bundling-A-Courtship-Ritual-with-Ancient-Roots.html
My Good Babushka
(2,710 posts)a bridesmaids' prank would be to sew the bride up in her sheet on the wedding night!
The groomsmens' prank would be to tie a bell under the bed!
PassingFair
(22,434 posts)My Good Babushka
(2,710 posts)all those spouses encroaching on their better halves' side of the bed. I think old ways are best ways!