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As soon as a couple announced the date of their marriage, the potential groom would start saving any small change, mainly pennies. By the time the wedding day approached he would hopefully have a bag full of coins. As the newly weds emerged from the church, local children would wait eagerly for the groom to shout 'scramble' and throw the bag of coins into the air. It was quite a skill to avoid being trampled on, whilst trying to collect as much money as possible. Small children were often thrown out of the way by much larger more experienced scramblers. The noise was deafening and could be heard from streets further away, thus attracting more children. Although some children did sustain minor bruises, on the whole no-one was seriously hurt and adults would hang out of their windows and laugh at the spectacle. Increasing use of cars at weddings and in general brought greater dangers to scrambling children. I particularly remember when I caught my leg in the bumper of the wedding car and was dragged a few feet before anyone could hear me scream. Fortunately I suffered only a few scratches and bruises, but the incident put me off jumping into the thick of a scramble for some time. Both the bride and groom were horrified and comforted me by giving me a handful of coins for myself. |
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