Mordaunt Broome Salmon  


Newspaper Unknown
Publication Date Unknown
The wedding took place on Monday 25 July 1887
A WEDDING AT RAJKOTE
(From our own correspondent)
Rajkote, July 24

"Pack clouds away and welcome day"  
 
  "Pack clouds away," that was the prayer of many of us on Sunday evening, for a bright and beautiful girl was to be married on the morrow, and we longed for a bright and beautiful day. But kindly nature thought it better to remind us that while a wedding is a thing of a day, a marriage is a thing for life, and that a few showers in the morning do not preclude a glorious day. So hearts and spirits rose superior to weather, and that again relented and did little to mar the outward beauty of a very pretty wedding. The wedding and nothing but the wedding, seems my proper theme, but I must remember that for many interested readers at a distance some preliminary account is necessary. The occasion then was the marriage of Maud Ethel, the eldest daughter of Colonel Hancock, now acting as Political Agent of Kattywar, to Captain Mordaunt Broome Salmon, of the 3rd Bombay Cavalry, son of General W. B. Salmon. Rajkote is not a place of easy access in the rains. All the wedding guests after their longer or shorter railway journeys had to set out from Wadhwan on a weary drive, taking them from 2 or 3 in the afternoon to 2 or 3 or even 4 o'clock the following morning. But what will not devotion achieve? And what family can be named more deserving of devoted friends then that of Colonel and Mrs. Hancock? From Abu, from Bombay, and even from distant Poona, guests came, filling the station with life and brilliancy, and filling the ample rooms of the ever-hospitable Kothi (as the Residency is called) with a joyous company on the occasion of a ball on Saturday evening. And here for the benefit and improvement of those who sometimes laugh at the rapid growth and rapid lapse of affection among young ladies, let me mention that one of the bridesmaids left all the delights of Poona and underwent this trying journey to grace the wedding of a friend, found and made in only one passage to India. Surely there must be something of very sterling quality on both sides to account for such a piece of magnetism as this. Soon after 3 o'clock on Monday the church, which had been prettily decorated by the ladies of the station, was filled from end to end, and the gorgeous raiment of several of the Kumars from the Rajkumar College added to the effectiveness of the scene. Then the bridegroom entered, looking every inch of him the gallant soldier he is reputed to be. He was attended as best man by Captain J. Hanwell, A.D.C., whom much experience has rendered proficient in this highly interesting office.
And then to the strains of a wedding hymn sung by the accomplished amateur choir of Christ Church, entered the bride herself. I will not attempt to describe her. I can only state a little of the effect produced upon the spectators as she was led up by her father to the alter to be made a wife. If men's faces were not marks, if their hearts could be read as this paper can, then that moment would have shown that chivalry is not dead, that the face of a fair girl can still lift men from their selfishness. Not then was our coming loss felt. Not then did we stay to think how the light of that bright presence was to be withdrawn from drawing-room and tennis lawn and every pleasant company in Rajkote. No, this and every other feeling gave place to the fervent prayer that the brilliant vision of that moment might be, indeed as it should be, but the prelude to a bright and happy married life. Nor was there wanting good promise of this. For the bridegroom in his responses spoke as a bridegroom should - and as bridegrooms too seldom do - firmly and proudly, and yet with a tone that showed him not unconscious of the sacredness of the trust he was then accepting. And very sweet to hear was the confidence of the bride's voice. So these were wed, and to the music of Mendelssohn's march the new husband and wife passed down the church again, and all the carriages streamed away to the Kothi. There one of famous Mr. Buzzard's works of art reigned supreme in the great hall, but presently fell a victim to the gallant bridegroom's sword. Innumerable wedding presents were displayed in the drawing-room. Many were of great beauty, but my eyes, I confess, were not for such things, and the only present I shall mention was the bridegroom's gift of a diamond star. Major Hunter, as an old friend of Colonel Hancock's, in an eloquent and happily conceived speech, proposed the health of the bride and bridegroom. Wisely, in consideration of highly strung nerves he dealt with the subject chiefly in a light vein; but still the listeners had the satisfaction of feeling that both the tribute they felt to be due to the charms of the bride, and their fervent wishes for her happiness were adequately conveyed. Captain Salmon's reply was eloquent with gratitude for the great prize he had won. And Captain Hanwell gained all hearts by his sympathetic identification of himself with his subject in returning thanks for the bridesmaids.
  Then the band of the 8th Regiment played again while the travelers prepared for their journey, and when they returned we were left to wonder whether the young wife in her quiet travelling dress was not more lovely even than the bride in her glory. So they went, and the best wishes of all Rajkote went with them.