WHEN the waving surface of the green oat-fields begins to assume a golden tint, when the swelling heads of Indian corn hang heavy on their stalks, and the sweating peasant prepares for the last act of his hard summer labour, then also do the goodwives in the village begin to talk of matters which have been lying dormant till now.

Well-informed people may have hinted before that such and such a youth had been seen more than once stepping in at the gate of the red or green house in the long village street, and more than one gossip had been ready to identify the speckled carnations adorning the hat of some youthful Konrad or Thomas as having been grown in the garden of a certain Anna or Maria; but after all, these had been but mere conjectures, for nothing positive could be known as yet, and ill-natured people were apt to console themselves with the reflection that St Katherine's Day was a long way off, and that there is many a slip 'twixt cup and lip.

But now the great day which will dispel all doubt, and put an end to surmise, is approaching, -that day which will destroy so many illusions and fulfil so few; for now the sun has given the last touch to the ripening grain, and soon the golden sheaves are lying piled together on the cleanshorn stubble-fields, only waiting to be carted away.

Then one evening when the

sun is sinking low on the horizon, and clouds of dust along the highroad announce the approach of the returning cattle, a drum is heard in the village street, and a voice proclaims aloud that "tomorrow the oats are to be fetched home."

Like wildfire this news has spread throughout the village, the cry is taken up and repeated from mouth to mouth with various intonations of hope, curiosity, anticipation or triumph-" to-morrow the oats will be fetched!"

A stranger, no doubt, fails to perceive anything particularly thrilling about this intelligence, having no reason to suppose the bringing in of oats to be in any way more interesting than the carting of potatoes or wheat; and to the majority of landowners, the thought of to-morrow's work is chiefly connected with dry prosaic details, such as repairing the harness and oiling the cart-wheels; but there are others in the village on whom the announcement has had an electrifying effect, and for whom the words are synonymous with love and wedding-bells.

Five or six of the young village swains, or maybe as many as eight or ten, spend that evening in a state of pleasurable bustle and excitement; busying themselves in cleaning and decking out the cart which is to fetch the oats tomorrow, furbishing up the best harness, grooming the work-horses till their coats are made to shine like satin, and plaiting up their

Early next morning the sound of harness bells and the loud cracking of whips causes all curious folk to rush to their doors; and as every one is curious, the whole population is soon assembled in the street, to gaze at the sight of young Thomas, all attired in his bravest clothes, and wearing a monstrous nosegay in his cap, riding postilion on the left-hand horse, and cracking his whip with ostentatious triumph-while behind, in the gaily decorated cart, is seated a blushing maiden, who lowers her eyes in confusion at seeing herself the object of general attention, at least this is what she is supposed to do, for every well brought up maiden ought surely to blush and hang her head in graceful embarrassment when she first appears in the character of a bride; and although no formal proposal has taken place, yet by consenting to assist the young man to bring in his oats, she has virtually confessed willingness to become his wife.

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Her appearance on this occasion will doubtless cause much envy and disappointment among her less fortunate companions, who peep out furtively through the chinks of the wooden shutters, at this sight of a triumph they had hoped for themselves.

"So it is the red-haired Susanna, after all, and not the miller's Agnes, as every one made sure," the gossips are saying. "And who has young Martin got on his cart, I wonder? May I never spin flax again, if it is not verily the black-haired Lisi who was all but promised to small-pox Peter of the red house,"—and so on, and so on, in endless variety, as the carts go by in procession, each one

giving rise to manifold remarks and commentaries, and not one of them but leaves disappointment and heartburnings in its rear.

This custom of the maiden helping the young. man to bring in his oats, and thereby signifying her willingness to become his wife, is prevalent only in a certain district in the north of Transylvania called the Haferland, the land of oats, a broad expanse of country covered at harvest-time by a billowy sea of golden grain, the whole fortune of the landowners.

In other parts of the country, various other bridal customs are prevalent, as for instance in Neppendorf, a large village in the neighbourhood of Hermanstadt, inhabited partly by Saxons, partly by Austrians, or Ländlers, as they call themselves. This latter race is of more recent introduction in the country than the Saxons (who count seven centuries since their emigration), having only come hither in the time of Maria-Theresa, who had summoned them to the country in order to replenish some of the Saxon colonies in danger of becoming extinct. If it is strange to note how rigidly the Saxons have kept themselves from mingling with the surrounding Magyar and Roumanian races, it is yet

more curious to see how these two German races have existed side by side for over a hundred years without amalgamating,—and this for no antagonistic reason, for they live together in perfect harmony, attending the same church, and conforming to the same regulations, but each preserving its own identical customs and costume.

The Saxons and Ländlers have each their different parts of the church assigned to them; no Saxon woman would ever think of donning the fur cap of a Ländler

matron as little would the latter exchange her tight-fitting coat for the wide - hanging cloak of the other woman.

Until quite lately, unions have very seldom taken place between members of these two races. Only within the last twenty years, have some of the Saxon men awoke to the consciousness that the Austrian women made better and more active housewives than their own phlegmatic country - women, and have consequently sought them in marriage. Even then, when both parties are willing, and all preliminaries have been arranged, many a projected union makes shipwreck on the inflexibility of the two fathers, who will neither concede the least trifle to the other's wishes. Thus, for instance, when the Saxon father of the bridegroom demands that his future daughter'in-law should adopt Saxon attire when she becomes the wife of his son, the Austrian father, as likely as not, will take offence, and withdraw his consent at the last moment. Not a pin nor a bow will either of these two consent to sacrifice to their children's happiness.

Thus many hopeful marriages have been nipped in the bud, and those few which have been accomplished, have been almost invariably based on the understanding that each party retains its own attire, the daughters following the mother, the sons the father, in the matter of costume.

Among the Ländlers, the marriage proposal takes place in a way which deserves to be mentioned. The youth having secretly fixed upon the girl he would like to make his wife, prepares a new silver thaler (about 2s. 6d.) by winding round it a piece of brightcoloured ribbon, and wrapping the

whole in a clean sheet of white letter-paper. With this coin in his pocket, he repairs to the next village dance, and takes an opportunity of slipping it unobserved into the maiden's hand while they are dancing together. By no word or look does she betray any consciousness of his action, and only when back at home she produces the gift, and acquaints her parents with what has taken place. A family council is then held as to the merits of the pretendant, and the expediency of accepting or rejecting the proposal. If the latter be decided upon, the maiden must hasten to intrust the silver coin to a near female relation of the young man, who, on receiving it back, is given thereby to understand that he has nothing further to hope in that direction; but if three days have elapsed without the gift being returned, he is entitled to regard this as a consent, and may commence to visit in the house, on the footing of an official wooer. cases of rejection, it is considered as a point of honour that no word should betray any hint of what has passed to the outside world—a delicate reticence one is surprised to find in these simple folk.

In

This giving of the silver coin is probably a remnant of the old custom of buying the bride, and in many villages it is still usual to talk of the Braut Kaufen.

To return, however, to the land of oats, where, after the harvest has been got in successfully, the bridegroom prepares to make fast the matter, or, in other words, officially to demand the maiden's hand of her parents. It is not consistent with village etiquette, however, that the bridegroom in spe should apply directly to the father of his intended, but he must depute some near relation, or an intimate

to shame, but that I may always comport myself with honour and propriety, and that you may have no cause for displeasure in listening to the few words I have come hither to say.

Much talking and speechifying are required to transact a peasant wedding correctly from beginning to end, and a fluent and eloquent Wortmacher is therefore a muchprized individual. Each village has its own set formulas for each of the like occasions-long-winded pompous speeches, rigorously adhered to, and admitting of neither curtailment nor alteration. The following fragment of one of these speeches will give a correct notion of the general style of Saxon oration.

It is the Hochzeitsvater who, in the name of the young man's parents, speaks as follows:

"A good morning to you herewith, dear neighbours, and I further wish to hear that you have rested softly this night, and been enabled to rise in health and strength this morning. And such being the case, I will thank the Almighty for His mercies towards you; and should your health, and the peace and happiness of your household, not be as good as might be desired in every respect, so at least will I thank the Almighty God that He has made your lot endurable, and beg Him further to send you in future only so much grief and trouble as you may be enabled patiently to bear at a time.

Furthermore, I crave your forgiveness that I have made bold to enter your house thus early in the morning, and trust that my

"It has not remained unknown to me, dearest neighbour, that many years ago you were pleased to enter the holy state of matrimony, taking to yourself a beloved wife, with whom you have lived ever since in peace and happiness; and that furthermore, the Almighty God, not wishing to leave you alone in your union, was pleased to bless you, not only with transitory temporal goods, but with numerous offspring with dearly beloved children— to be your joy and comfort. And amongst these dearly beloved children is a daughter, who has prospered and grown up in the fear of the Lord to be a comely and virtuous maiden.

"And as likewise it may not be unknown to you, that many years ago we too thought fit to enter the holy state of matrimony, and that the Lord likewise was pleased to bless our union, not with temporal goods and riches, but with various beloved children, among whom is a son, who has grown up, not in a garden of roses, but in care and toil, and in fear of the Lord.

"And now this same son, having grown to be a man, has likewise bethought himself of entering the holy state of matrimony, and has prayed the Lord to guide him wisely in his choice, and to give him a virtuous and God-fearing companion.

Therefore he has been led over mountains and valleys, through forests and rivers, over rocks and

precipices, until he came to your house, and cast his eyes on the virtuous maiden your daughter. And the Lord having been pleased to touch the hearts of the two young people with a mighty love for each other, they have begged me to come hither to crave your consent to letting them become man and wife."

Probably the young couple have grown up within sight of each other, the garden of the one father adjoining the pig-sty of the other, but the formula must be adhered to notwithstanding, and neither rocks nor precipices omitted from the programme of the speech; and even if the parents of the bride be a byword in the village for their noisy domestic quarrels, yet the little fiction of conjugal happiness must be kept up all the same, with a magnificent sacrifice of veracity to etiquette worthy of any diplomatic newspaper discussing a royal alliance. And in point of fact, a disinterested love-match amongst Saxon peasants is about as rare a thing as a genuine courtship between reigning princes. Most often it is a simple business contract, arranged between the heads of the families, who each of them hope to reap advantages from the contemplated alliance. It too often happens that young girls of fifteen, and even younger, having no experience of life or of their own feelings, are persuaded by their parents to give their hand with indifference, or even dislike, to some man whose property happens to fit in conveniently; and when they urge the want of sympathy to the husband proposed, these objections are met by the practical advice of the long-sighted parents-"try him for a time, and perhaps you will get to like him; and if not, well the

misfortune is not so great, and it will then be time enough to seek for a divorce."

When the answer to the proposal has been a consent, then the compact is sealed by a feast, called the Brautvertrinken (bride-drinking), to which are invited only the nearest relations on either side, the places of honour at the head of the table being given to the two ambassadors who have transacted the business.

A second banquet, of a more solemn nature, is held some four weeks later, after the rings have been exchanged in the presence of the pastor.

The 25th of November, feast of St Katherine, is in many districts the day selected for tying all these marriage-knots. When this is not the case, then the weddings take place in Carnival, oftenest in the week following the Sunday when the gospel of the Marriage at Cana has been read in church, and Wednesday is considered the most lucky day for the purpose.

The preparations for the great day occupy the best part of a week in every house which counts either a bride or a bridegroom among its inmates. There are loaves and cakes of various sorts and shapes to be baked, fowls and pigs to be slaughtered-in wealthier houses even the sacrifice of a calf or ox is considered de rigueur for the wedding feast; and when this is the case, the tongue is carefully removed, and, placed upon the best china plate, with a few laurel-leaves by way of decoration, is carried to the parsonage as the customary offering for the reverend Herr Vater (the pastor).

The other needful provisions for the banquet are collected in the following simple manner. On the afternoon of the Sunday preced