Little of significance has previously been written about Scottish prenuptial rituals, with the exception of Margaret Bennett's groundbreaking Scottish Customs: From the Cradle to the Grave (1992). There is, therefore, a gap in folklorists’ knowledge. Sheila M. Young has the expertise—and the opportunity here—to address this. The title suggests she is going to treat prenuptial rituals throughout Scotland. She does not. With one or two minor examples—for instance, references to previous writers’ accounts of practices in Lanarkshire, Islay, and Kilmarnock—this book focuses on Northern, and probably North East, Scotland (it is difficult to be exact, as the interviewees quoted are anonymized, in name, and in location). I started to read this hoping for new insights into a lesser-known subject. Quite quickly, I became frustrated, due to three features of this book: its discursive style, one major error, and its theoretical imprecision.
Prenuptial Rituals in Scotland: Blackening the Bride and Decorating...
