rosemary formerly worn at weddings. These took later the
form of bunches of ribbons, which were at last metamorphosed into rosettes.
_Bridegroom-men_ and _bridesmaids_ had formerly important duties. The men
were called bride-knights, and represented a survival of the primitive days
of marriage by capture, when a man called his friends in to assist to
"lift" the bride. Bridesmaids were usual in Saxon England. The senior of
them had personally to attend the bride for some days before the wedding.
The making of the bridal wreath, the decoration of the tables for the
wedding feast, the dressing of the bride, were among her special tasks. In
the same way the senior groomsman (the _best man_) was the personal
attendant of the husband. The _bride-wain_, the wagon in which the bride
was driven to her new home, gave its name to the weddings of any poor
deserving couple, who drove a "wain" round the village, collecting small
sums of money or articles of furniture towards their housekeeping. These
were called bidding-weddings, or bid-ales, which were in the nature of
"benefit" feasts. So general is still the custom of "bidding-weddings" in
Wales, that printers usually keep the form of invitation in type. Sometimes
as many as six hundred couples will walk in the bridal procession. The
_bride's wreath_ is a Christian substitute for the gilt coronet all Jewish
brides wore. The crowning of the bride is still observed by the Russians,
and the Calvinists of Holland and Switzerland. The wearing of orange
blossoms is said to have started with the Saracens, who regarded them as
emblems of fecundity. It was introduced into Europe by the Crusaders. The
_bride's veil_ is the modern form of the _flammeum_ or large yellow veil
which completely enveloped the Greek and Roman brides during the ceremony.
Such a covering is still in use among the Jews and the Persians.

See Brand, _Antiquities of Great Britain_ (Hazlitt's ed., 1905); Rev J.
Edward Vaux, _Church Folklore_ (1894).

BRIDEWELL, a district of London between Fleet Street and the Thames, so
called from the well of St Bride or St Bridget close by. From William the
Conqueror's time, a castle or Norman tower, long the occasional residence
of the kings of England, stood there by the Fleet ditch. Henry VIII., Stow
says, built there "a stately and beautiful house," specially for the
housing of the emperor Charles V. and his suite in 1525. During the hearing
of the divorce suit by the Cardinals at