The Lettes are not at all fond of going on foot, and make use of tlic lioofs of their active little horses upon every occasion. Even the women always ride, and understand the mannging of horses as well as tlie men. They even go to their work on horseback, or in sledges, and v hen a nussage is to be carried, tlie girl or lad to whom it is intrusted, immcdiat^'ly jumps on horseback and gallops away. Hand-harrows, wheel-barrows, and other such vehicles are never used by the Lettes. They use their sledges and liorses for every thing that has to be conveyed from one place to another ; and they could not endure to carry with their own hands so much as the little portion of milk, the pound of butter, the little heap of flax, which they have to sell, or the hare they have secretly shot in the forest, or the bundle of wood they have felled there in the same unlawful manner. They will often harness two horses to a sledge, to take a single hare to market. They almost always go to church on horseback, or in sledges. When taking the dead to be buried, they place the coffin in a sledge, and ride behind it on horseback.
The wedding customs of the Lettes, though they have much in common with other northern nations, have also much that is peculiar to themselves. After the suitor has made sure of the consent of his mistress and her relations, and has calculated exactly how many linen stockings, how many pounds of wool, and how many lambs his intended will bring him, and whether she has a cow or not, and whether she is an industrious housewifely maiden, he enters the house with various ceremonies and compliments, and addresses a poetical speech to the bride's father, or any person appointed to represent him. In this address he states that he wishes to find, for a friend of his, an industrious and virtuous maiden, who can bleach, wash, spin, weave, milk, sweep, knit, and sow. He has nowhere been able to find one to satisfy him, but is sure he shall be successful in so excellent and far-famed a household.
The spokesman of the bride thanks him for the intended honour, and places before him all the girls of the house, except the wished-for one. The suitor praises them, but declares that she he seeks is not present. He has heard there dwelt in this house the tenderest virgin, the gentlest lamb, the fairest dove, in the world. After various speeches, apologies, questions, and compliments on both sides, the bride at length comes forward. Two torches are borne before her, and two behind.
After she has given her consent, her father and suitor join hands, and drink a glass of brandy, beer, or mead together, and the betrothment is finished. At the wedding, the bride's procession, and that of the bridegroom come separately to the church, and they meet at the altar. As at the Russian weddings, crowns are placed on the heads of the bride and bridegroom. They are made of silver, or of silvered tin, and are formed into wreaths of flowers, leaves, or corn. On most estates there are several such crowTis, which are borrowed by the peasants for their weddings. The weddings of the Lettes last three days. The first day passes at the bride's house. The handsomest unmarried wedding guest is usually chosen to conduct the bride to her husband's house, and is adorned with ribbons, handkerchiefs, gloves, and plumes of feathers. The bridegroom's house is decked out with branches of fir and birch, and with wreathes, plumes, and bunches of fantastically-arranged corn and grass, and with rows and festoons of red, yellow, and black berries.
The bride, decked out in all her finerj', walks silent and sad among her g-uests, helping them to mead and beer, shedding tears and imploring their compassion. Her grief at leaving her mother, her friends, and the scenes of her youth, overpowers all her joy. Her unmarried female friends surround her, and endeavour to console her, by extolling the happiness of the marriage state. The married women raise one chorus, and the unmarried another, singing alternate verses, in which the one party praise the joys of youth and childhood, and lament the sorrows and pains of a matron's life, while the other side congratulate the bride, and enlarge upon the happiness and advantages of matrimony. They often become so zealous, that their voices rise to an absolute scream. The male guests amuse themselves in the mean time with eating and drinking. Every guest as he enters is welcomed and complimented by the bride, and greeted with an extempore couplet by the singers and jesters. The bride presents every guest, when he departs, with a white handkerchief and a pair of gloves.