The whole town celebrated when a couple married years ago; A "shiveree" was in order the first night; crowds would march around the house of the newly weds with cow bells,and other noise, until the groom came out with a candy treat for the celebrators, Sometimes it would get out of hand when a groom was taken to the creek and held under till he agreed to treat.One couple got a surprise when they retired for the night; Sheep bells were tied to the bed springs,and some kids got a big laugh in the next room ! Shelby

I was amused to read the stories about the “Appalachian Wedding Parties” (my terminology). It reminded me of an event that occurred in my young and foolish life following the marriage of my “first love.” For convenience in telling the story and to protect the innocent , I will refer to her as Julie Cook who married Randall Walking. (Neither of these names is factual.) Following the publication of my book on Capt. Ralph Stewart, a neice of Julie discovered my name on the Internet and wrote me questioning me about my high school friendship with her favorite aunt. The following is a portion of my response to her: To set the stage for this second chapter, remember that I was that proverbial teenager very much in love. It did not matter that I was “not yet dry behind the ears,” so to speak. And suddenly in that summer of 1944 I learned that my relationship with your Aunt Julie was to be no more. We didn’t have a quarrel; there was no “Dear John letter;” it was just over. I was stunned and confused, but never bitter. I realized that Julie had not viewed our friendship the same way that I had. It was a common practice in the forties for a newly married couple to be subjected to a marriage “serenade.” This consisted of a ritual whereby a group of people of the community, usually teenagers, would organize and march noisily around the outside of the house where the bride and groom were staying until they were invited in and served some kind of treat. The marchers rang cowbells, yelled, beat on pans, blew horns and used any other noise-making device at their disposal in order to gain entry. In other words, this was a crude form of Appalachian wedding party. And so it was for Mr. and Mrs. Walking. When the word was passed Julie and Randall were to be serenaded, some of my sadistic friends challenged me to participate. Never being one to refuse a dare, I went along initially, but, when we approached the Cook home on -------- Branch, I chickened out; I simply could not go through with it. I could not bring myself to look casually at Julie simply as any other close friend who had gotten married. My friends went on to the party while I sat nearby in the dark forest that surrounded the house and watched and listened to the festivities until they returned. I don’t recall how long it was or even who the friends from Matheny were who were with me. I am sure someone told Julie that I was out there somewhere in the darkness; I wonder how she must have felt. I am pleased to say after more than three quarters of a century, I can still laugh at myself. Happy Fourth, STAN On Saturday, July 1, 2006, at 02:27 PM, BurgessWV@aol.com wrote: > The whole town celebrated when a couple married years ago; A > "shiveree" was > in order the first night; crowds would march around the house of the > newly > weds with cow bells,and other noise, until the groom came out with a > candy treat > for the celebrators, Sometimes it would get out of hand when a groom > was taken > to the creek and held under till he agreed to treat.One couple got a > surprise > when they retired for the night; Sheep bells were tied to the bed > springs,and > some kids got a big laugh in the next room ! > > Shelby > > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx >