There is no doubt that two lovers usually have different experiences during courtship and when they eventually get married. A major pointer to this is the fact that staying with each other in marriage reveals both the best and ugliest parts of a person.
In Scotland, they know that they cannot expose all of the bride’s flaws to a man before marriage, however, they still try in their own way to ensure that a man sees his bride at her ugliest.
The reason for this is to determine if he would still like her despite the fact that she is not looking all glammed up. This tradition is known as the blackening of the bride.
It is a pre-wedding tradition where friends and family gather and cover the bride with things such as spoiled milk, mud, sauces and other disgusting things.
The Scottish believe that if a bride and a groom can stand this humiliation, they will overcome any obstacle in their marriage. Or it will just lead to a happy life of a couple.
Usually, the engaged couple is kidnapped by friends and family and gunked with anything from rotten eggs and fish guts to dog food and molasses.
The practice is said to bring luck but it looks more like an excuse to even scores before the big day. At a time when everything around weddings is commercialised, this disgusting, home-made tradition is a great way of bringing these Scottish communities together.
Traditionally this ritual was performed to ward off any evil spirits before the nuptials. The tradition continues in many parts of Scotland, particularly in Orkney, Aberdeenshire, Angus and Fife but has become less formal and customary among many of the younger Scots.
According to Dr Sheila Young, from the University of Aberdeen’s Elphinstone Institute, “if you never knew anything about blackening and you chanced upon it on a village green you would really think you were witnessing a medieval torture.”
