NtB Does NOT Recommend: A Traditional Scotting Blackening
I’m all for a wee bit of good-natured roasting of brides and grooms at bachelorette parties and bachelor parties if the guest of honor is the sort of person who appreciates that sort of thing. One may even find that guests poke fun at the bride-to-be at her bridal shower, though the jabs are usually quite gentle and of the we-know-you’re-going-to-have-sex-tee-hee variety. I cannot, however, get behind a tradition I only recently learned of, namely the extremely hands-on Scottish blackening.
There seems to be some confusion over whether this is a properly Scottish tradition or something primarily done in Aberdeenshire, so I’d appreciate it if our Scottish readers or readers who are Scotland enthusiasts would weigh in to clarify matters. In any case, the blackening ritual involves the bride- or groom-to-be being first captured and abducted by his or her friends and then covered in various unpleasant substances such as golden syrup or molasses, mud, flour or flour paste, feathers, or soot. Finally, the victim may be tied to a tree or lamppost or paraded noisily around the local pubs, much to the delight of the evening’s patrons, no doubt.
Here’s a Scottish blackening in action:
Obviously it’s all done in fun, and after watching a number of blackening videos on YouTube I can conclude that the bride and/or groom never make much of an effort to run from those wielding the treacle. Still, can you imagine having to wash all that off after your own pre-wedding blackening? Yikes! I personally have never been one to enjoy the sort of humiliation that some people are made by loved ones to endure prior to some momentous event in their lives, but I suppose one might see it quite differently if they’ve grown up expecting to be (and watching others get) tarred and feathered as a lead up to the wedding day. Still, I think I’d spend a lot of time looking over my shoulder…
Yikes, indeed!! Hmmn…I’m glad our culture’s bachelor/bachelorette parties consist of clubbing, dancing all night and perhaps drinking shots too.. LOL
Reminds me of creeking, only much, much worse.
At the small college I went to, a recently engaged man’s friends would kidnap him and carry him across campus, chanting loudly, and throw him in the creek that divided our school in half. Most friends were kind enough to wait until spring, when the creek had thawed.
And yes, I assisted in arranging my now-husband’s creeking.
My background is Scottish and I’m fascinated with wedding lore and customs. I suppose it’s possible that I’ve missed a few here and there (in fact, I’m sure I’ve got a lot more to learn about both subjects), but I have to say this is the first I’m hearing about this one.
I’m guessing there’s some sort of root tradition at the back of this that has been resurrected and elaborated on. Frankly, I can’t imagine that many people would have been willing to misuse good treacle and flour this way a few generations back, when you couldn’t be sure of getting more for a while.
OTOH, proving you can take a joke (even a fairly horrible one with potentially disastrous consequences) is a pretty significant feature of the culture. It’s quite possible that the origins of this are even worse than the current incarnation. The mud and feathers, for example, and even tar sound like my people.
At least molasses and golden syrup can reliably be washed off before the ceremony, assuming you’ve got time for three or four showers. Tar and feather someone who doesn’t have access to running water and industrial cleansers and the evidence will be there for a long, long time.
If this really does go back through the mists of time, I can well imagine that more Scottish couples showed up at the wedding still much stickier and dirtier than they would have preferred.
If I had to guess, this tradition originated in the mists of time with mud and feathers to *force couples to bathe* right before getting married. Without modern plumbing, a hot bath is a major and rare treat – but if you were getting married in a few days and you were covered in mud and feathers, your family would make sure to hook you up with one.
Yikes, interesting tradition, feel sorry for these folks.
Like the Twistie (now there’s some news! yet another interest that I share with the redoubtable Twistie!), I am interested in things Scottish, and wedding lore and customs (the buys-books-on-it kind of interested, for both) – and yet this is entirely new to me. I, too, am a little dubious about the length of existence of a custom that involves the waste of good food which cost good cash money – I wouldn’t be surprised if it has either strayed/mutated from its original form, or if it was originally a very limited local custom – or one which originated after the food rationing of World War II. It was hard enough to GET the food; who would throw it on people?
That said, it isn’t one that appeals to ME. I’d be inclined to protest, somewhat forcefully – and that would mean some pretty serious physical damage to the celebrants.
If people MUST adhere to violent ancient wedding customs, why can’t they just wrestle the bride for her garters?
Yes, that was a VERY popular 16th/17th century custom. The garters in question generally resembled what we would think of as “ribbons” – they would be more than a yard or so in length, each, they would tie just above or below the knee (or both, if they were cross-gartered), and they kept up the bride’s stockings (which would look like extra-long kneesocks to most of us). The bride was muffled up in her gown and layers of petticoats, plus perhaps a skirt extender of some kind (hoop, farthingale, or bumroll, plus a corset, generally), but all she had underneath for underwear was a chemise (like a long slip or very long shirt). No knickers, and the groom’s buddies are desperately trying to get the garters off your legs, as you try to keep them on. Now THERE’S a tradition!
La BellaDonna: People trying to steal ribbons from an area perilously close to my unclad nethers? I’d certainly be causing some serious physical damage!
Seeing as how I tend to flee to the bathroom when someone attempts to sing “Happy Birthday” to me in a restaurant, I think I can safely say that this tradition would be right up there on my “worst nightmare” list.
And the attempted pantyless upskirt-attack by a bunch of guys? That’s going higher on the list, with a police report. God, I’m glad I was born in a time when women have some rights to their own bodies.
NtB: I believe that’s what made the custom “festive” – the fact that they WERE mighty close to a Peril Beyond Price. Odds were fair that most of them got to see bosoms (sometimes a LOT of bosom) now and then (or a lot MORE often than that, in court circles or if someone was nursing), but legs were pretty much a Great Mystery. Not to mention any other bonus views.
DaisyJ: Oh, I’m with you. I believe it was actually the CIVILIZED, watered-down version of an earlier and even more popular custom (which was still ongoing at the time): KIDNAPPING the bride. It was most popular, of course, if the bride was an heiress – but one of the original functions of a group of bridesmaids was to add to the confusion of immediately identifying the bride – reducing her chances of getting grabbed.
*Tsk* Some folks just have no respect for tradition.
Hee.
NtB, I can vouch for La BellaDonna’s history here, too. The garter thing was quite the ‘sport’ at one time. I hasten to add that I’m very glad the worst we see of it now is grooms using their teeth while stripper music plays – and doubly glad that I have never attended a wedding where that actually happened.
LBD, why am I not surprised that you and I share another interest? History geek twinsies unite!
Sadly, I have been to a wedding where the groom removed the garter with his teeth while stripper music played. Stay classy, small-town Florida!
Isn’t that spelt ‘klassy?’
Well I’m Scottish and was born in Aberdeen but I’ve NEVER heard of this one.
I come from Aberdeenshire and I was blackened 30 years ago, but not with treacle. Everything else was in the bucket we were dessed up and myself and husband to be was taken round the toon in a open truck ring a bell.My sister-in-law was also blackened but this was in Scalpey on the isle -of- Lewis, so its not just aberdeenshire.I had a fun night and still remember it as though it was yesterday………keep on traditions
Hello. I live in Macduff, a town in Aberdeenshire, and a blackening has just gone past my front door with the usual cacophony. The tradition is mainly on the go in the northern parts of Aberdeenshire (not Aberdeen proper) and in the islands (Orkney, Lewis etc.) it usually takes place at least a week before the wedding so there is no issue of not being clen before the bi day. The bride an groom are seperately catured by their friends and everyone brings a bucket of ‘slop’ ad a feather pillow. After the victim has been covered (the friends usually get in a bit of a mess too) they are usually taken in the back of a pick up truck with their friends and paraded around tow banging drums, blowing whistles and ringing bells at which point peoplewill come out of ther homes to cheer and sometimes throw things. It is a great, fun tradition, nothing truly rancid is used an people know to expect it and to take it in good cheer. I was always told that th reason for it was for the bride and groom to prove to on another what they were willing to go through to be allowed to marry, I think this is rather sweet in its way. I for one would be very dissappointed if my future husband and I didn’t get a blackening.