History reveals new odd traditions every day, and over the years, marriage proposals have not been not immune to the strangeness. Rules of courtship
are quite different these days (and much less strict), but long ago women who
were hoping to marry had to wait for their beaus to propose. They were not
"allowed" to pop the question themselves, except on one day:
leap year (February 29th) which occurs every four years. The tradition dates
back hundreds of years to when the leap year was not recognized by English
law; the day was simply "leapt over" and ignored. Since the day had no
legal status, formal traditions did not apply. Consequently, women
who were not content to wait for a proposal took advantage of this anomaly and
popped the question themselves!
It was also thought that since leap year
corrected the discrepancy between the calendar year (365 days) and the time it
takes for the earth to complete one orbit of the sun (365 days and 6 hours), it
was an opportunity for women to correct a tradition that was one-sided and
unfair.
The idea spread around the world
and soon there were many Leap Year Balls and Leap Year Dances. Some were
being held so the women could ask the man to dance. And some were
specifically for the woman to ask for a man's hand in marriage.
Leap Day and its festivities, are often mistaken for Sadie Hawkins Day, which is actually in
November. The only similarity between the two days is that it's a day when the woman has the
opportunity to do the asking. February 29 is not Sadie Hawkins Day, it is
Leap Year Day, or simply, Leap Day.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s,
there were many postcards depicting women asking, even begging, the man to
marry her. The postcard below is a perfect example of the
woman asking for his hand. She has gone straight to the man's father to
ask him.
In Britain and Ireland, it is a tradition that women may propose marriage only on leap years. While it has been claimed that the tradition was initiated by Saint Patrick or Brigid of Kildare in 5th centuryIreland, this is dubious, as the tradition has not been attested to before the 19th century. Supposedly, a 1288 law by Queen Margaret of Scotland (then age five and living in Norway), required that fines be levied if a marriage proposal was refused by the man; compensation was deemed to be a pair of leather gloves, a single rose, £1 and a kiss. In some places the tradition was tightened to restricting female proposals to the modern leap day, February 29, or to the medieval leap day, February 24.
- In Denmark, the tradition is that women may propose on the leap day, February 29, and that refusal must be compensated with 12 pairs of gloves.
- In Finland, the tradition is that if a man refuses a woman's proposal on leap day, he should buy her the fabrics for a skirt.
- In Greece, marriage in a leap year is considered unlucky. One in five engaged couples in Greece will plan to avoid getting married in a leap year.
Well, here in the early part of the
second millennium, it is more of a romantic idea than law. There are many
people wanting to ask, or even get married in a Leap Year. Either way a proposal
is one of the ultimate professions of love! When the proposal is made, it doesn’t
matter who asks. (But here's a shout-out to the ladies who decide to do it!)
Happy Leap Day!
