[537] POST, _Geschlechtsgenossenschaft_, 58; LUBBOCK, _op. cit._, 114-16; MCLENNAN, _op. cit._, I, 13-15. For symbols of rape in India see KOHLER, in _ZVR._, VIII, 91, 114 (Dekkan); IX, 325 (Bengal); X, 74-77 (Bombay).
[538] For the Slavs see DARGUN, _op. cit._, 103 ff.; and for the Germans, _ibid._, 111-40; DÜRINGSFELD, _Hochzeitsbuch_, 22 ff., 65 ff., 113 ff., _passim_.
[539] This custom, in some form, prevails throughout Europe: DARGUN, _op. cit._, 107 ff., 135 ff. On all these practices compare SCHROEDER, _Hochzeitsbräuche_, 57 ff.
[540] "In Schweden wird die Braut an manchen Orten vom Bräutigam und seinen Gehilfen tief im Heu versteckt gefunden."--DARGUN, _op. cit._, 132; DÜRINGSFELD, _Hochzeitsbuch_, 9.
[541] WEINHOLD, _Deutsche Frauen_, I, 389; _cf._ DARGUN, _op. cit._, 130.
[542] DARGUN, _op. cit._, 130, 131; _cf._ SCHROEDER, _op. cit._, 72-78.
[543] In the _Brautlauf_ "eine Beziehung auf den Frauenraub ist anzunehmen, ebenso wie beim analogen Ausdruck 'Brautjagd' in Lothringen, beim altnordischen 'qvânfang, konfang, verfang,' d. h. Frauenfang für Ehe und beim gothischen 'quên liugan' das Weib verhüllen, verschleiern, binden für Heiraten, sowie beim gleichbedeutenden mittelhochdeutschen: 'der briute binden.'" DARGUN, _op. cit._, 130; _cf._ SCHMIDT, _Hochzeiten in Thüringen_, 40; DÜRINGSFELD, _op. cit._, 155 ff.
[544] DARGUN, _op. cit._, 130, 131. WEINHOLD, _op. cit._, I, 384 ff., gives many examples of similar wedding customs, and SCHMIDT, _Jus primae noctis_, 126-46, discusses the _Brautlauf_ and like practices, citing the sources in detail. _Cf._ GRIMM, _Rechtsalterthümer_, 419; _idem_, _Wörterbuch_, II, 336 ff.
As illustration of social custom and mental attitude the extraordinary prevalence of the so-called symbol of capture is undoubtedly a fact of unusual interest; and it constitutes an important chapter in the history of marriage. But it does not follow, as a matter of course, that the symbol must necessarily be regarded as a survival of actual capture. It is scarcely credible that its origin can be traced to a single source. On the contrary, it is far more likely that in different places, or even in the same place, it takes its rise in a variety of causes, though these may be less simple in character. Thus, in spite of the protest of McLennan,[545] who asserts that "no case can be cited of a primitive people among whom the seizing of brides is rendered necessary by maidenly coyness," it is highly probable that the real or assumed modesty of the woman has exerted a strong influence, here and there, in producing the form of capture.[546] Sometimes the simpler explanation of Starcke may suffice. Ceremonial capture, he declares, merely represents the "sorrow of the bride on leaving her former home; her close dependance on her family is expressed by her lamentation."[547] Again the symbol may appear as the sign of the subjection or subordination of the wife; for many of the so-called minor survivals seem to have this end in view. In a society where woman, on occasion, is seized in the bloody foray; where, often, she is bought like a beast of burden; and where, generally, she is exposed to the cruelty and brutality of her master, it is not surprising that the token of the wife's humility should find its way into the ceremony of marriage.[548] Furthermore the suggestion of Letourneau is worthy of special consideration. The symbol of rape, he holds, is first of all a "mental survival;" a "tradition" of an epoch more or less remote when violence was held in high esteem and when it was glorious to procure slaves by force of arms. The period of rapine may have passed away, but its spirit lingers. Men love to figure in the ceremonial of marriage the abductions of old, which they cannot or dare not any longer commit.[549]