Boys sometimes ask the girl's father for permission to court her, but usually they don't. When the boy comes to the house and asks to see the girl or when the parents see them together after meeting, at singing, etc. they are pretty sure they are dating. Before the boy asks the girl to marry, he asks her parents for permission to marry her.
When singing the young folks usually start singing religious songs: Amazing Grace, Lord's Prayer, religious songs you might sing. After the adult leave, they sing many of the modern songs that are on the radio. Usually the last song they sing is a religious one. I asked Erin and Kevin if anyone yodel and they said if they know how to do it. It's not a common or popular thing though.
When Joseph and I were courting, I use to think a buggy was a buggy-they are all alike, but I found out that's not so. Buying a new buggy is like buying a new car. You can get the plain model or you can load it up with all the options. (See www.Amish Stories.net Amish Buggy Shop) It's the same with courting buggies. You can get the plain model or you can add lots of things on it, like the courting buggy above. A new buggy costs about $8,000. and you can start adding from there.
When Kevin got courting age, we bought a used one for about $5,000. A lot of the fancy items are what Kevin added or paid to have put on it-the white stripes, the deer license plate, battery heater, and more. After Kevin and Bridget married, the courting carriage went to Erin who also added a few things to it. When we got it, we explained that this is the only courting buggy we are getting and all our boys are using the same one. If two are courting at the same time (which hasn't happened yet), they will have to share it.
I can't really tell you the difference between the Mennonite and Amish courting buggies. They look pretty much the same. There is a limit to what is allowed on courting buggies. Some Mennonite and Amish are more stricter than others. There is also a limit in our household of what Joseph and I will allow the boys to put on that buggy. We feel that when one of our buggies go out that is not just transportation, but represents our religious ways.
They do not have insulation in the buggies. We do have a battery operated heater in our buggies plus we have coverings like blanket or quilts that we take along in the winter.
I hope that this has answered your questions.
Be with the Lord,
Martha
JEAN WILL HAVE BEEN ON AMISH STORIES AND NEW YORK STATE OF MIND TWO YEARS THIS COMING FRIDAY. THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL POST THAT DAY.
Glad Martha is answering our questions on courting.
ReplyDeleteThe rain has stopped here so I hope it gets warmer.
Marilyn
How extremely interesting!
ReplyDeleteWe have been rain free for two days and in the 70's! I have started to clean out garden beds. I have a few pansies planted too. =)
Oh, pansies are my favorite flowers. Now that I have an edge around my porch, I plan on buying some of them and planting them this year. Will tell Martha you enjoyed the posts.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn
Hey folks and that link to Amish Stories is not working, but you can get around that by just going to my site directly. Around at least in the Lancaster area our old order Mennonite buggies are all black, unlike the Amish ones which have grey tops. So that makes telling the Amish/Mennonite buggies very easy over here, and "great" job Martha with another insightful post by the way. Richard
ReplyDeleteThank you Richard for telling us. I will also give Martha your compliment.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn
No problem Marilyn, help is my middle name! Richard
ReplyDeleteI know !!! I know !!!!, Richard
ReplyDeleteMarilyn
Thank you for another interesting post Martha. I never heard of a courting buggy before you told us about it, and it's such an interesting custom. I liked hearing about the singing too.
ReplyDeleteDoreen
Thank you Doreen, I will pass it on to Martha. I am having problems with my computer right now and I am using my old one. Want you to know in case you don't hear from me.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn