{"id":1301,"date":"2018-07-04T22:08:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-05T02:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1301"},"modified":"2018-10-28T13:55:02","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T17:55:02","slug":"mock-wedding-of-alan-and-marjorie-skeoch-in-summer-of-1963","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1301","title":{"rendered":"MOCK WEDDING OF ALAN AND MARJORIE SKEOCH IN SUMMER OF 1963"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
OUR MOCK \u00a0WEDDING SUMMER 1963<\/div>\n
(Fifth Line, Erin \u00a0Township, \u00a0Wellington \u00a0County)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
july 2018<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

This \u00a0may seem \u00a0like a strange \u00a0picture but it was one of the touching \u00a0events of our marriage. \u00a0 \u00a0Uncle \u00a0Frank Freeman dressed up as \u00a0the bride (i.e. Marjorie) and \u00a0it looks like young Christopher Peers was the groom. \u00a0(i.e. alan) Not sure about that as \u00a0the groom might have been \u00a0Aunt Lucinda Freeman.<\/p>\n

All our kith and \u00a0kin on the Freeman side \u00a0were gathered at Uncle Frank and<\/div>\n
Aunt Lucinda\u2019s \u00a0farm \u00a0on the Fifth Line \u00a0of Erin Township and \u00a0the Mock Wedding proceeded.<\/div>\n
\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Things like this are unusual today. \u00a0Deep in the past \u00a0rural \u00a0folk in Herefordshire<\/div>\n
England had all kinds reasons to make \u00a0merry and mock weddings were<\/div>\n
top of the list. \u00a0The same \u00a0was true \u00a0for rural \u00a0Canada. \u00a0 Farmers had \u00a0limited<\/div>\n
contact with big towns and even less with big cities like \u00a0Toronto. \u00a0City<\/div>\n
people were \u00a0regarded as different and \u00a0just a little too worldly.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Mock \u00a0Weddings, \u00a0One \u00a0room school concerts, birthdays, \u00a0threshing bees,<\/div>\n
funerals, Christmas, New Years were reasons to gather together.<\/div>\n
Now \u00a0that is not much different than city folk.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But take a look at my Uncle Frank\u2026the bride \u00a0is really different and<\/div>\n
I doubt she (he) \u00a0was common in the big city celebrations where<\/div>\n
he might have been regarded as a cross dresser.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Eric and \u00a0I were very lucky to live \u00a0in both worlds. \u00a0 We were city<\/div>\n
boys mostly. \u00a0But sometimes we were part of rural \u00a0life\u2026accepted in<\/div>\n
other words. \u00a0Otherwise there would \u00a0have been \u00a0no mock wedding.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Imprinted. \u00a0What was \u00a0imprinted? \u00a0 Without thinking we knew \u00a0we were welcome<\/div>\n
at Uncle Frank and \u00a0aunt Lucinda\u2019s place\u2026anytime, \u00a0any season\u2026no prior<\/div>\n
notice \u00a0needed. \u00a0 Just coming through the front door simply was \u00a0always<\/div>\n
a big event\u2026a reason to laugh and sing. \u00a0 There \u00a0are people \u00a0like that here and<\/div>\n
there in our life experience. \u00a0 People \u00a0who \u00a0you know would love to see \u00a0you.<\/div>\n
And there \u00a0are others who want prior notice \u00a0and \u00a0even then you are \u00a0never<\/div>\n
sure you are wanted.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
alan \u00a0skeoch<\/div>\n
july 2018<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
P>S> \u00a0 I just noticed that Uncle \u00a0Frank had broken \u00a0his arm. \u00a0 Wonder \u00a0if we<\/div>\n
noticed at the mock wedding. \u00a0 Uncle \u00a0Frank was a non drinker and a \u00a0non smoker<\/div>\n
but seems to have \u00a0found a corn cob pipe for the bride to puff. \u00a0Parties at the<\/div>\n
Freeman Farm did not need alcohol to make \u00a0merry. \u00a0 Being a part of the Temperance<\/div>\n
movement did not mean \u00a0being dour and deadly.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
*Elsie Freeman was our mother. \u00a0Her father \u00a0and mother, Edward and \u00a0Louisa Freeman \u00a0migrated \u00a0to Canada<\/div>\n
around 1908 for a \u00a0variety of reasons. \u00a0 One \u00a0reason was \u00a0to escape the class system in<\/div>\n
England. \u00a0\u201cGot sick \u00a0of \u00a0tipping my \u00a0hat to my \u00a0betters, Alan.\u201d \u00a0Granddad would say occasionally.<\/div>\n
Canada was \u00a0not a land of milk and \u00a0honey they discovered. Their farm in Erin \u00a0Township \u00a0had one \u00a0great crop\u2026stones. \u00a0 So they were poor.<\/div>\n
But they made the best of \u00a0it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OUR MOCK \u00a0WEDDING SUMMER 1963 (Fifth Line, Erin \u00a0Township, \u00a0Wellington \u00a0County) alan skeoch july 2018 This \u00a0may seem \u00a0like a strange \u00a0picture but it was one of the touching \u00a0events of our marriage. \u00a0 \u00a0Uncle \u00a0Frank Freeman dressed up as \u00a0the bride (i.e. Marjorie) and \u00a0it looks like young Christopher Peers was the groom. \u00a0(i.e. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1301"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1636,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301\/revisions\/1636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}