The Dumb Cake.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in
possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” wrote Miss
Austen. In her time, it was presumed that the most pressing concern of any
young lady was to discover which single man might be in want of
her. A chapbook printed in the early 1800s gives directions for a magical
ritual by which a group of young ladies may know which of them is next to
be married, and to whom, provided that one of the young ladies is willing
to donate some of her urine. This tradition seems to be
ancient, and to have had a long life. A quick search finds plays called
“The Dumb Cake” in 1788
and 1907.
Nearly the same directions are given in a book of Games
for Hallow-e’en in 1912, though the use of urine is
euphemized as “being careful not to use spring water.” In many places the
ritual was reserved for St. Mark’s Eve. On that night, Washington Irving
writes in “Love
Charms,” “Several of them [the servants in Bracebridge Hall] sowed
hemp-seed to be reaped by their true lovers; and they even ventured upon
the solemn and fearful preparation of the dumb-cake.”
In order to make the Dumb
Cake to perfection, it is necessary to observe strictly the following
instructions:—Let any number of young women take a handful of wheaten
flour, (not a word is to be spoken by any one of them during the rest of
the process,) and place it on a sheet of white paper, then sprinkle it
over with as much salt as can be held between the finger and thumb: then
one of the maids must bestow as much of her own water as will make it into
a dough; which being done, each of the company must roll it up, and spread
it thin and broad, and each person must (at some distance from each other)
make the first letters of her Christian and Surname, with a large new pin,
towards the end of the cake: if more Christian names than one, the first
letter of each must be made. The cake must then be set before the fire,
and each person must sit down in a chair, as far distant from the fire as
the room will admit, not speaking a single word all the time. This must be
done soon after eleven at night—and between that and twelve each person
must turn the cake once, and in five minutes after the clock strikes
twelve, the husband of her who is first to be married will appear, and lay
his hand on that part of the cake which bears her name.
From The
New Golden Dreamer. A true interpretation of dreams, with
other curious matter regarding love and courtship.