E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
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.
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“Vera true, vera true. We’ll have a’ to pay … a sort of penny-wedding it will prove, where all men contribute to the young folks’ maintenance.”—Sir Walter Scott: Fortunes of Nigel, chap. xxvii.
