Apparently it's quite an old practise, and not always associated with weddings. There was a story in my family about an ancestor being killed in a shivaree. One of our relatives doing research actually tracked down the actual event and found the newspaper articles about it in the Montreal Gazette (and it differed greatly from the version that had been told to me).
Apparently a crowd had gathered a couple of nights running (they even put up posters to spread the word) to try to extort money from a wealthy member of the community. In one of these a shot was fired and my ancestor, a servant in the man's household, was killed. He left a wife and children, and his death led to the banning of shivarees in Montreal. Businessgypsy wrote:
I don't know if the custom is still being practiced in the US, but it was in my parent's day in remote parts of the Arkansas Ozark mountains. Could get way out of hand, to the point of fights and bloodshed. Sigh. Yes, I'm a hillbilly by birth. Raised with Cajuns, but hillbilly stock.
Glad we just have bachelor parties before the ceremony now.
I bought the CD, but I have to say I'm disappointed with her enunciation. It's darned hard to tell what she is singing on the first 1/2 of the CD. The later tracks, like this one, are clearer.
I still like her, but I'm not sure if I'm that taken with her style. I like to know what the song is about.
Stop praying. Get to work!
"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you." St. Augustine
Apparently a crowd had gathered a couple of nights running (they even put up posters to spread the word) to try to extort money from a wealthy member of the community. In one of these a shot was fired and my ancestor, a servant in the man's household, was killed. He left a wife and children, and his death led to the banning of shivarees in Montreal.
Businessgypsy wrote:
Glad we just have bachelor parties before the ceremony now.