nounce it with the utmost gravity,
while the fiance, for his part, declares that he will give his wife
after his death the sum of twenty or thirty ounces as a gift. This
present is known at Salaparuta by the name of _buon amore_, at Palermo
as _verginista'_--true _pretium sanguinis_ which the giver does not
possess, and which the wife will never receive. At this valuation, in
some parts of the island, each one of the relatives offers to the
parties gifts of jewelry and clothing, which are requited by similar
gifts from the bride and groom.

The civil marriage precedes the religious, which, however, is more
important to the people than the former: hence the evening after the
civil marriage the groom goes about his business as though he were not
yet married. The religious marriage, on the contrary, is a festal
occasion. The hour differs according to habits and family tastes. In
Salaparuta the marriage takes place before night--in Ficarazzi, before
daybreak, a favorite time for those contracting a second marriage. In
Palermo the wedding formerly took place late in the evening or in the
night, whence there was a necessity for attendants with lighted torches.
If the Sicilian Jews preferred to go in the dark to their synagogues,
and considered themselves favored by King Peter when in 1338 he allowed
them to go to their weddings with a single lantern, the Christians were
not satisfied with four or six lights, but wanted twenty or more--an
actual procession. Frederick II. in 1292 limited the number of lights to
twelve only, six for each party. Now, at Palermo, the wedding takes
place at any hour of the day or night, and only the poorest walk to the
church: the others ride in carriages paid for by those using them at so
much apiece. In the first carriage are the bride and her mother and
intimate friends--in the second, the other women in the order of
relationship. The groom occupies the first place in the carriages
assigned to the men: then come his father, brothers and others. The
bride is dressed in various ways, and her dress is called _l'abitu di lu
'nguaggiu_ ("wedding-dress"). In Salaparuta she wears the Greek peplum,
gathered under the arms; in Terrasini, a dress of blue or some other
bright color; in Milazzo, a blue silk skirt with wide sleeves; in
Palermo, a white dress, the _tunica alba_ of the Romans, with a veil
kept on the head by a wreath of orange-flowers. In Assaro (province of
Catania) by an old baronial custom