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It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
 
wildaho said:
Actually, it's a myth not backed up by documented fact.

We have an entire board dedicated to the History Of Mead. Here is a thread from Dan McFeely regarding this very subject in the child board "Mead Legends and Tales."

Nobody has posted there for a while but there is are some great discussions in there if you are curious.
Click to expand...

Well, wikipedia lists it too and I wouldn't dismiss it as myth so quickly. Here is a copy and paste of some of what they say that's related.

C & P

In many parts of Europe it was traditional to supply a newly married couple with enough mead for a month, ensuring happiness and fertility. From this practice we get honeymoon or, as the French say, lune de miel[4][5]

End C & P

The [4][5] reference these publications to back that up.

Gayre, Robert (1986). Wassail! In Mazers of Mead. Brewers Publications - Boulder, CO. ISBN 0-937381-00-4. , p.22

Acton, Bryan (1968 ). Making Mead. The Amateur Winemaker. SBN 900841-07-9. , p.14

There are other references to this tradition as well and at the very least, they say it's a theory, but I haven't read any reference to a real published publication that said it was disproven as myth, just opinion. I'm not so quick to jump on the myth train.

BTW, I apologize for posting the same subject as a previous poster. It did not show up in my search.
 
Last edited:
Interesting. The wikipedia article that you point to cites at least one reference (Gayre, "Wassail...") that Dan McFeeley specifically says has no affirmation of the "honeymoon" story in it, based on his posting in the earlier thread. I've come to trust everything that Mr. McFeeley posts, as he signs his name (and thus stakes his reputation as a mead scholar) to all his postings here. Wikipedia, for all its value, often suffers from incomplete or sometimes even faulty documentation. Anonymity is sometimes not a good thing... :rolleyes:

Dan! We need your scholarly input on this one, since I don't have my own copy of Gayre or Acton and I can neither confirm nor refute the Wiki references as cited. Care to throw a few more words down on this subject? ;D
 
Hey all,

Wayne and Wildaho are correct. There are no printed texts, references or other external sources of information that support the "honeymoon" myth. While it may be referenced in Gayre and listed in Wikipedia neither can point to any supportive documentation that will stand to historical scrutiny that I'm aware of. If you have some supportive documentation that is available I'd be very happy to see it as this would really give mead and meadmaking a wonderful point of reference.

Until such documentation can be referenced and verified this will remain an enjoyable mead myth.
 
I see what you mean, the more I search for answers, the more I see different versions of the story. but I don't see definitive proof that disproves the tradition either.

I guess next time before I post something like this, I better thoroughly check it out first.

This is a tough crowd. :D
 
Tough love baby! LOL

Just kidding. Seriously though, we'll jump in feet first if we can find the supportive evidence and it proves out the story. We try very hard not to promulgate anything that we can't verify, but hey, sometimes things get out there anyhow so it's really no big deal.

The more you search the more interesting tidbits of information you find out about mead though.
 
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