Namely, the striking.  MacThoy Bachelor Parties are a free-for-all.  The casual observer will mark the good-natured pushing, shoving, and slapping with much mock-nelliness.

To those in-the-know, the nelliness is real.  The pushing and shoving is due to the constant drunkenness of the men.  The fight was very well for someone's life.

MacThoy widows have endured--even to this day--a reputation for offing spouses.   And despite their reputations there was queue of  men willing to risk matrimony and their very lives to see if the rest of the widow's rep was true.

Thus these melees would erupt with the betrothed fighting to stay alive against thwarted suitors.  (It is interesting to note that if the groom failed to survive the night, his successor was dubbed the Best Man a term which has survived in modern ceremonies but with albeit different tenor.--ed.)

As most people know, the Brawl has been taken into just about every culture in the world where men meet in groups with alcohol and where women still have to chase them down in order to consummate the marriage-widowing contract.

These days, the MacThoi have taken what used to be an outside-in view of the Brawl and made it the reality. That is, it is USUALLY a good-natured drunken affair. The nelliness is still real, though.

Remnants of this event may be found in the MacThoy Games with the sport of Brawling.

Handfasting Continues

--details supplied by Gryph, Head Bear at the Fortress of the Armored Bear.