Note 1211 — Chapter IX · THE PROTESTANT CONCEPTION OF MARRIAGE
Reading edition
On the archæology of the ring see further Saxse, Arcana annuli pronubii, 68 ff.; Wood, The Wedding Day, 217-34; Wheatley, Illustrations of the Common Prayer, 437-40; Brand, Popular Antiquities, II, 102 ff.; Douce, Illustrations of Shakespeare, I, 109 ff.; Jeaffreson, Brides and Bridals, I, 138-66; Gentleman's Magazine, 1795, pp. 727, 728, 987; also Gent. Mag. Library: Manners and Customs, 54-57; Notes and Queries, 3d series, VII, 12, 307, 350, 387 (metal of the ring); 5th series, XII, 407, 474, 514. The fourth finger in connection with the vein to the heart is mentioned by Aulus Gellius, lib. x, c. 10; also by Macrobius, Saturnal., lib. vii, c. 13, who "quotes the opinion of Ateius Capito, that the right hand was exempt from this office because it was much more useful than the left hand, and therefore the precious stones of the rings were liable to be broken; and that the finger of the left hand was selected which was the least used."—Gent. Mag. Lib., loc. cit., 54. The mediæval marriage ceremony is described by Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, ll. 450-509 (ed. Morris, London, 1891), 332-333.