Tied In Knots

Can you hear it? The sound of hearts beating as one? Indeed, The Wedding is almost at hand! The hearts you hear are from those who are lining-up along specific London streets to catch a nanosecond glimpse of rosy-cheeked William and his new bride Kate clatter in a horse-drawn carriage along the route to Buckingham Palace following the Westminster Abbey performance/nuptials/knot-tying ritual.

As an aside, from where, exactly, did the term “tying the knot” originate? Just guessing, I think it could be one or all of the following: Men have to tie knots into a bow-tie (or at the top of long-ties) and for some men, wearing a tie of any sort was/is anathema to their routine. The wedding tie must look spiffy, and tied into the perfect knot. Thus, the man’s wedding day in “some” quarters went like this: “So-and-so is tying the knot today.” Could be. It’s a thought.

Or…perhaps the brides had been feeling the pinch of the girdle cinch (“knot”) whilst cutting off most of their circulation in order to have that ever-necessary tiny waist that gave most of the women of yore the “vapors” as they were sewn into their wedding dress, never to breathe a full breath again until the ordeal was over? Naw. I don’t think that’s the root of it. 

Is the answer to the above question as simple as representing – referring to – the “ties that bind” of marriage? Various sources refer to to an old custom where the priest (or Minister) would literally tie the hands/wrists of the couple together with rope during the wedding ceremony. Customs vary on how long the rope was to remain. Other sources indicate various knot-tying rituals involving rope. Not one source is conclusive.

Whatever the final answer, it sounds kinda creepy, doesn’t it?

So, back go we to the sidelines of the Romance of The Decade! I’m puzzled (not really) by such hype. The only part of William and Kate’s connection that is at all sensational, romantic, passionate, fascinating – whatever – is that he is a Prince and part of the last working Monarchy in the world. He’s good-looking, Diana’s first son, low-key, civil…a good egg, but not easy to peel.

I could go on and on and on. But I won’t. I’ll step back and let the media in all its overblown glory do the gushing and blushing for me.

Chow…..


(Picture via AP)