According to Margaret Bennett in her book "Scottish Customs - From the Cradle to the Grave", handfasting was abolished in the Highlands by the Statues of Icolmkill in 1609 - this was in an effort to bring all Scotland under the control of the Scottish Parliament. It took a while however, and was fairly common all over Scotland until the eighteenth century. It was eventually wiped out by the pressure from the Church, and dated to an era when remote communities had only one or two visits a year from a Cleric. John Gillies ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard F. Sheil" <sheil@netsync.net> To: <SCT-ISLAY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 1:26 PM Subject: [SCT-ISLAY] Scotland marriage > Greetings - > Does anyonw know how common was a "handfasating" marriage in the > early 19th century? > > -- > Any day above ground is a good day! > sheil@netsync.net > > > > ==== SCT-ISLAY Mailing List ==== > FOR QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS MAILING LIST - HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE - HOW TO CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, ETC, ETC...: > http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~steve/islay/maillist.htm > >