The " rush ring " is touched on in an old English ballad of Shakespeare's time, in which occur the lines :ze
Then
on my finger I'll have a ring Not one of rush, but a golden thing ; And
I shall be glad as a bird in spring, Because I am married o' Sunday.
A
purely spiritual view of the meaning of a wedding-ring is expressed by
Guillaume Durant, Bishop of Mende (died 1296). For him it was the
symbol of the mutual love of the espoused, at once a pledge and a
symbol of the union of their hearts. However, the more mercenary
significance of the ring, as a sign of the marriage gift to be bestowed
upon the bride by the bridegroom before the wedding, is quite clearly
brought out in the old French Rituals, wherein its composition and
meaning are defined. A simplification of the ring itself seems to have
taken place from about the thirteenth century when gold rings adorned
with precious stones were generally worn. The metal used at a later
time varied in different dioceses. While in that of Limoges the ring
was of gold, the rituals of the dioceses of Auxerre, Lyons and Paris
prescribe a silver ring. In the Manual of the priests belonging to the
diocese of Paris, it is strictly enjoined that there shall be no
inscription or figure upon the ring, and that no precious stone shall
be set therein. The officiating priest receives it from the bridegroom
together with one or more pieces of money " as sign of the constituted
endowment." The Manuel de Beauvais, published in 1637, also prescribes
that the nuptial ring shall be severely plain and entirely without
inscription. The
26 Cited in H. R. D. Anders, " Shakespeare's Books," Berlin, 1904, p. 189.
Flickr
Stumbleupon
Scribd
