it was supposed to be a happy and leap-y day but it turned out not as expected. not complaining. I had some ups today too!
Before I start, here is a myth or a so-called belief for this particular ‘special’ day:
Leap years confer upon women the "privilege" of proposing marriage to men instead of the other way around. The convention was (in literature, if not in reality) that any man who refused such a proposal owed his spurned suitor a silk gown and a kiss — provided she was wearing a red petticoat at the moment she popped the question.
I don’t get the last bit of owing his suitor and provided she was wearing a WHAT?! haha! if you’re in the blue too:
1) spurned suitor: the girl/lady he rejected.
- well, that is nice.. wouldn’t it be a good thing to get a silk gown and a kiss even if I got rejected? haha~ :)
2) A red petticoat:
hmm~ that’s one belief.
The origin of this romantic tradition is long forgotten and steeped in legend. One tidbit often repeated in 19th-century sources claimed it grew out of a statute passed by Scottish Parliament in 1288, of which one of the many quoted versions reads:
It is statut and ordainit that during the reine of hir maist blissit Magestie, ilk maiden ladye of baith highe and lowe estair shale hae libertie to bespeak ye man she likes; albiet, gif he refuses to tak her till be his wif, he sall be mulcit in ye sume of ane hundredth poundis or less, as is estait mai be, except and alwais gif he can mak it appear that he is betrothit to ane other woman, then he shall be free.
confusing?
Another tale :
..dates the origin of ladies' privilege to the 5th century, around the time St. Patrick supposedly drove the snakes out of Ireland (speaking of tall tales). As the story goes, St. Patrick was approached by St. Bridget, who had come to protest on behalf of all women the unfairness of always have to wait for men to propose marriage. After due consideration, St. Patrick offered St. Bridget and her gender the special privilege of being able to pop the question one year out of every seven. Some haggling ensued, and the frequency ultimately settled upon was one year out of four — leap years, specifically — an outcome which satisfied both parties. Then, unexpectedly, it being a leap year and St. Bridget being single, she got down on one knee and proposed to St. Patrick on the spot. He refused, of course, bestowing on her a kiss and a beautiful silk gown in consolation.
This sounds more like it.
Honestly, I doubt I would be the one going down on one knee. If you ask me, yes, I would prefer a one-knee proposal (but not FROM me, instead TO me). I’m still quite ‘traditional’, which adds a moral to my story: looks can be very deceiving!
So that’s leap year/leap day.
Nothing special would really happen on this day (for me at least), now and ever. Haha! I don’t think I’ll ever EVER do anything like THAT on THIS day. Teehee!
Though I think Red Petticoats can be really cute.. HMM!~
Love, Hannah
