????

[tree_and_leaf]

So, as is my wont, I went to church today. As it happened, the priest read the banns for a couple about to marry.

After the service, someone came-up to me and asked if they were my banns. I was too disconcerted to ask her what on earth gave her that idea, so all I managed to say was "Er,.... no."

Comments

[tree_and_leaf]

In Britain, if you are getting married, there has to be notice given, so that your abandoned first spouse has a chance to object that it's bigamy, or someone can point out that you can't marry your first cousin ;) There are two methods: if you are married in church, then on the two Sundays before the marriage, the priest of each half of the couple's home parish (and possibly also the church where the marriage is being celebrated, but I don't know about that) will read the following statement: "I publish the banns of marriage between X, of this parish, and Y, of the parish of Z. If any of you know any reason why these persons may not be joined in marriage, you are to declare it. This is for the first/ second time of asking" If you're getting married in a registry office in a civil ceremony, then a notice to that effect is pinned up outside the office two weeks ahead of the big day. Bann means basically 'announcement relating to ecclesiastical law', I think.

And I just had to explain about reading the banns to a fellow Brit, so you can be excused not knowing... mind you, Iwas shocked to find a British person who didn't know the term.