Jumping the broom (or jumping the besom) is a phrase and custom relating to a wedding ceremony in which the couple jumps over a broom. It is most widespread among African Americans and Black Canadians [citation needed], popularized during the 1970s by the novel and miniseries Roots, and originated in mid-19th-century antebellum slavery in the United States.[2] The custom is also attested in Irish weddings.[3]
Possibly based on an 18th-century idiomatic synonym for a sham marriage (a marriage of doubtful validity), it was popularized with the introduction of civil marriage in Britain by the Marriage Act 1836. The expression may also derive from the custom of jumping over a besom ("broom" refers to the plant from which the household implement is made) associated with the Romanichal Travellers of the United Kingdom,[4] especially those in Wales.[5]
- ^ "Cathnach's illustrated twopenny-sheets of the 1820s carried charming drawings of broomstick weddings" R.B. Outhwaite, Clandestine Marriage in England, 1500–1850, A&C Black, 1995, p. 140.
- ^ Norman Kolpas, Katie Kolpas "Practically Useless Information on Weddings" Thomas Nelson Inc, 2005 p30
- ^ "Mullach Ruadh | The Schools' Collection: Marriage Customs". dúchas.ie National Folklore Collection, UCD. 1937–1939. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ Dundes, Alan (26 May 1996). ""Jumping the Broom": On the Origin and Meaning of an African American Wedding Custom". The Journal of American Folklore. 109 (433): 324–329. doi:10.2307/541535. JSTOR 541535.
- ^ Thompson, T. W. "British Gipsy Marriage and Divorce Rites", quoted in The Times, Issue 54004, 21 September 1928; p.11. A paper read at the 1928 jubilee congress of the Folk Lore Society in London refers to this: "In Wales there was preserved until recently a marriage ritual of which the central feature was the jumping of the bride and bridegroom over a branch of flowering broom or over a besom made of broom."