[528] DARGUN, _op. cit._, 101; FUSTEL DE COULANGES, _op. cit._, 56; ROSSBACH, _op. cit._, 359.
[529] DARGUN, _op. cit._, 88; SCHROEDER, _Hochzeitsbräuche_, 88 ff.; LUBBOCK, _Origin of Civilization_, 85, 86, 122, 123; POST, _Geschlechtsgenossenschaft_, 60; MCLENNAN, _op. cit._, I, 19. BANCROFT gives an interesting description of the custom among the California Indians: "On the appointed day the girl, decked in all her finery, and accompanied by her family and relations, was carried in the arms of one of her kinsfolk toward the house of her lover.... The party was met half-way by a deputation from the bridegroom, one of whom now took the young woman in his arms and carried her to the house of her husband."--_Native Races_, I, 411.
[530] LUBBOCK, _op. cit._, 86; DAVIS, _The Chinese_, I, 285; LETOURNEAU, _op. cit._, 144, 145; POST, _op. cit._, 57.
DARGUN, _op. cit._, 88, 91, says, besides the custom just mentioned, there is but one other survival of wife-capture among the Chinese--the forbidding of friendly intercourse between the newly wedded husband and the mother-in-law. JAMESON, _China Review_, X, 95, thinks that in China there is no trace of capture; but KOHLER, in _ZVR._, VI, 405, 406, gives an example of the alleged symbol of rape among the Chinese. _Cf._ NEUMANN, _Asiatische Studien_, I, 112; and WESTERMARCK, _Human Marriage_, 387.
ARAKI, _Japanisches Eheschliessungsrecht_, 9, 10, denies the former existence in Japan of purchase or capture of wives.
[531] DARGUN, _op. cit._, 102, who refers to the legend of Launcelot and the song of Laudine and Iwein: GERVINUS, _Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung_, 5th ed., I, 447, 449. For the same practice in German songs and epics see DARGUN, _op. cit._, 119.
[532] MCLENNAN, _op. cit._, I, 68; DARGUN, _op. cit._, 102.
[533] LORD KAMES, _History of Man_ (Edinburgh, 1807), I, 449: MCLENNAN, _op. cit._, I, 18; LUBBOCK, _op. cit._, 125; DARGUN, _Mutterrecht und Raubehe_, 103.
[535] PIERS, _Description of Westmeath_, quoted by LUBBOCK, 26, 27; see also DARGUN, _op. cit._, 103.
A custom, almost identical with that last mentioned, prevails in the Punjab;[536] and in many parts of India the sham contest and the pretended abduction appear.[537] But nowhere are the symbols of capture found in such wonderful variety and profusion as in Germany and Slavonic lands. The mass of illustration presented by Dargun is almost bewildering for its richness.[538] Every form and type of ceremonial capture is there represented. Elopement, the sham combat, abduction by an armed band, is the regular order of the wedding day in every country of the Slavonic race. In Germany, besides these practices, reminiscences of capture are found in a great variety of pranks and fantastic sports. The bride is concealed from her lover before the wedding; or, after it takes place, she is stolen and concealed by the young people of the village. The bridegroom is hindered from entering the home of his intended on the wedding day; or he finds his way barred to or from the church, and is permitted to proceed only after paying a fine or treating the crowd.[539] Sometimes, as in Sweden, the bride is stolen by her lover and hidden away.[540] In upper Bavaria, on the day of the wedding, she clothes herself in mourning, black or violet;[541] and the practice of covering or veiling her head is as familiar in Germany as it was in ancient Rome.[542] "To veil the woman," _quên liugan_, is the Gothic name for marriage; in Lorraine it is called _Brautjagd_, or "bride-hunt;" while _Brautlauf_, or "bride-race," for the entire nuptial celebration is a common designation in German lands.[543] The original meaning of _Brautlauf_ is probably revealed in the existing custom of chasing the bride. Thus, in Altmark, after the wedding feast, followed by a dance, a runaway match takes place between the newly married pair. "Two lusty young fellows take the girl between them, the bridegroom gives her a 'start,' and the race begins. If the lover does not succeed in overtaking her, he must look out for the gibes of the crowd."[544]