feet sides

pl. Ropes, used instead of chains, which are fixed to the hames before, and to the swingletree behind, in plowing. ( Scotch and North umbrian.) feet-washing, s. 1. A religious ceremony observed in the Roman Catholic Church, on which occasion, just before Easter, the Pope washes the feet of attendant ecclesiastics, in imitation of the action of Jesus Christ in washing the disciples' feet. 2. A ceremony performed, often with some ludicrous accompaniments, to a bride or bridegroom the night preceding marriage. "The evening before a wedding there is a ceremony called the feet - washing , when the bride-maids attend the future bride, and wash her feet."- Letters from a Gentleman in North of Scotland, i. 261. 3. Transferrently, the night on which this custom is observed. "The eve of the wedding-day is termed the feet - washing , when a party of the neighbors of the bride and bride groom a emble at their respective houses; a tub of water is brought, in which the feet of the party are placed, and a small piece of silver or copper money dropped into the water; at this moment one of the company generally to es in a handful of soot, by which the water is completely blackened; a most eager and ludicrous scramble now takes place among the lads and la es, striving who shall get the piece of money, pushing, shoving, and splashing above the elbows; for the lucky finder is to be first married of the company. A second and more cleanly ablution takes place."- Edinburgh Magazine , Nov. 1818, p. 412.