"Will you marry me"?......

Soumya Divakar Bollapragada
Feb 28, 2016
2 min read

"Will you marry me"?, asked Alice, of Peter, going down on her knees. She had a wicked glow in her eyes as she looked at the helpless Peter. She was sure he would wriggle out of the situation, but with what penalty? Peter was sweating and stammering.

"Aaalliceee... well here...", saying so, Peter promptly produced 12 pairs of gloves and a flowing silk gown and was even bending down to kiss Alice.

So what is this whole tradition about women proposing to their men on the leap year all about?Let's find out.

Ireland is home to some weird and funny tradtions and folklore. As we go down the pages of Irish history, it is said that the tradition began in 5th century Ireland when St. Brigid complained to St. Patrick that women had to wait far too long for men to propose. The legend goes on to say that St. Patrick declared that women could propose to their men on this one day in February during the leap year. (Though I am not too sure as to how many women would have jumped at this offer).

It is then said that the tradition was taken to Scotland by a few Irish monks. Later on, Scotland passed an additional law to decorate the existing one that allowed a woman to propose marriage to the man of their dreams in a Leap Year with the law also stating that any man who declined the proposal on this day would have to pay a fine. (OMG!!!!) Apparently, this law was allegedly passed by an unmarried Queen Margaret and the fine to be paid if a man declined could range from a kiss to gifting a silk dress 12 pairs of gloves.

The custom gifting of 12 pairs of gloves for the woman came from the fact that it was the man's duty to save the woman he was rejecting from shame in the society. you were rejecting. In some countries, Feb 29th has even been renamed as “Bachelor's Day”.

Anyways, BEWARE! If you are going to give this old traditional folklore a shot, then be prepared as it can go wrong for women as it can for men. All in the name of equality!

Contrary to all these beliefs, in Greece it is considered bad luck to get married on leap day.

Happy proposing women and men, ahem..cough cough!