0 Cop CAPRI 25 - Caesar Augustus

TRADIZIONI
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lo, salsiccia e contorni vari, il tutto innaffiato
con vino casereccio a volontà.
Con la torta nunziale veniva servito il vermouth;
lo champagne o lo spumante sono
un’usanza tarda, più moderna che pochi
potevano permettersi allora.
A volte, prima del tramonto, i commensali
si recavano a Tragara dove al Caffé
Carmela il “compare” di matrimonio offriva
a tutti un caffè ristoratore.
Via con le danze
Ritornati a casa della sposa si dava inizio alle
danze che duravano fino a tarda ora. Gli invitati
più illustri sedevano a corona intorno
alla stanza unitamente ai parenti più stretti.
Gli uomini per prepararsi al ballo si toglievano
le giacche restando in panciotto e in maniche
di camicia, mentre i giovani in segno
di rispetto mettevano dietro l’orecchio i fiori
d’arancio. La madre della sposa occupava il
posto d’onore vicino allo sposo, così come
un posto di riguardo era riservato alla sarta
che aveva confezionato l’abito della sposa.
Si ballavano il valzer, la polka e infine la tarantella;
si declamavano brindisi con versi
poetici improvvisati e ben auguranti e si offriva
a tutti del buon vino e dolci caserecci
tradizionali.
I festeggiamenti si chiudevano con il ballo finale
degli sposi che poi si ritiravano nella loro
casa dove la suocera aveva preparato con
cura il letto matrimoniale e da dove ne uscivano
dopo sette o otto giorni.
Il giorno dopo le nozze, però, era usanza che
la sposa a conferma della sua probità e del
corretto comportamento mantenuto durante
il fidanzamento, esibisse allo sguardo di
tutti il fazzoletto, non più immacolato, dove
erano stati avvolti gli anelli nunziali regalati
dal “compare di anello”, detto anche “compare
di fazzoletto”.
R. FURHOFF - MASTERFILE
attachments of the bride and groom. During
the ceremony, the violin player from the band
would play the Hail Mary.
There was also a legend about the place
where marriages were celebrated, which was
given credence in the popular tradition and
mentioned by the French writer Julia
Kavanagh in the beautiful pages on Capri in
her book Summer and Winter in the Two
Sicilies (1858). She writes that the man from
Capri who served as a guide had led her to
the cave now known as the Grotta di
Matermania, but he had called it the “Grotta
del Matrimonio” (The Marriage Cave)
because, as he said, everyone in his family
had celebrated their wedding there.
Before the luncheon set up in the bride’s house
with dignified simplicity, under an arbour when
possible, chocolate and biscuits were served to
the guests. Next came the various courses:
ravioli with meat sauce and a type of pasta
called ziti since it was served on these
occasions (ziti=fidanzati=fiancés). The second
meat courses included chicken, sausage and a
variety of side dishes, all washed down freely
with homemade wine. Then the wedding cake
was served with vermouth (champagne or
sparkling white wine were a more recent,
modern custom that few could afford back then).
Sometimes, before sunset, the guests would
go to Caffé Carmela in Tragara where the
wedding godfather would offer everyone a
reinvigorating cup of coffee.
Let the dancing begin
When everyone got back to the bride’s house, the
dancing would begin and carry on late into the
night. The most distinguished guests sat in a ring
around the edge of the room together with their
closest relatives. The men took off their jackets to
dance in their waistcoats and shirt sleeves while
the younger men placed orange blossom behind
their ears as a sign of respect. The mother of the
bride occupied the place of honour near the
groom, just as a special seat was reserved for the
“seamstress” who had made the wedding dress.
People danced the waltz, the polka and the
tarantella through the night; toasts were
recited, wishing the couple well in improvised
poetic verses, and fine wine and traditional
homemade sweets were offered. One last
dance of the newly-weds brought the
celebration to a close. Then the couple would
retire to their new home, where the mother-inlaw
had carefully prepared the marriage bed,
not to emerge until seven or eight days later.
The day after the wedding, however, it was
the custom for the bride, in order to prove
her integrity and worthy behaviour during the
engagement, to show everyone the
handkerchief – now no longer spotlessly
white – which had been used to wrap the
wedding rings, gifts from the best man,
known as the “godfather of the ring” or “of
the handkerchief”.