The Servant Who Became a Bride January 19, 2017
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
Beach has often offered up stories that sound like that they may be urban legends from Victorian Britain. Many of these stories involve crime because crime was acceptable to the reading palate of Victorians: morality, punishment, sometimes redemption… There were unquestionably many sexual urban legends. Unfortunately most of these went unrecorded because of Victorian sensibilities. Here is one fine story that sees crime and sex shade together and that just made it into print. Could it have really happened? It could have…
The scene is laid in a farm-house not above a hundred miles from Pennicuik and was enacted only a short time ago. A servant girl hired herself in the said farm-house to do the dairy work, &tc., about the place, which she did for a short time, taking care, however, to leave open, on several occasions, letters addressed to herself, in which continued reference was made to an estate in the west of Scotland, accompanied with a castellated residence, and worth £5000 a-year. The bait took, and the son of the worthy farmer threw off his old love, said to be a fair dame in the Kingdom and was immediately on with the new; questions were asked on both sides, and plausible answers returned. For example— What caused you to become a dairymaid? ‘because I wished to be able to instruct the servants on my estate.’ That was deemed satisfactory enough, and our heroine was invited to the table in the dining room, where she enjoyed the good things of this life, laughing in her sleeve at the nice trick she had played. Things progressed favourably. A match was proposed, and mutually agreed upon. The gentleman ordered suits of clothing for several friends, and all went merry as a marriage bell. The castles built in the air were inuumerable. The hare shooting was dilated upon, and arrangements made for a condescending visit to see the old folks at home during the season. The fair lady when spoken to about the matter referred to her agents in this city, and no suspicion existed in the minds of any but that all was right. At length the banns were proclaimed, and the marriage all arranged for, but when the hour came there was bridegroom, but the bride had fled! Of course, it was thought that the lady had been detained by some unforseen accident, but as the time went on there was no word her entering, even an appearance. Inquiry was then made the agents, who said certainly acted in that capacity, but It was to defend her in case of petty larceny, and some other misdemeanours.
Of course, there is a well established tradition of fake servants in the Victorian period, casing houses or actually stealing objects. There is also the comeuppance of the family and above all the faithless son: the delight of social climbers coming a cropper. There must be other versions of this tale: drbeachcombing At yahoo DOT com Real or imagined.
Nairnshire Telegraph, 14 Apr 1858, 4
