Penny Weddings

Wedding banquets in Scotland, to which a number of persons were invited, each of whom paid a small sum of money not exceeding a shilling. After defraying the expenses of the feast, the residue went to the newly-married pair, to aid in furnishing their house. Abolished in 1645.

“Vera true, vera true. Weʹll have aʹ to pay … a sort of penny-wedding it will prove, where all men contribute to the young folksʹ maintenance.”—Sir Walter Scott: Fortunes of Nigel, chap. xxvii.