Once, in Campan, a young man got married with a girl of the village, but often, games of
love and luck came to antagonize this " custom " and one hardly liked these
"horebenguts" who came to remove your " heiress ".
The problem was different if the bride was a cadette not the eldest girl of the " house " who inherited possessions: earth, house, livestock was coveted
a lot.
Therefore, to have the right to "s'en
venir gendre" (son-in-law) in Campan the future "nobi",
(the stranger) had to fulfill a "tribute". If the future husband pleased
the youngsters and appeared extensively understanding,
all went very well, but if he refused to fulfill this " tribute " he received
"charivari" and "mounaques".
In the month preceding the marriage, all youngmen, with cow bells around the
necks, came to make noise around the house of the
"fiancee" every evening and on the day of the marriage the "nobis" and the cortege had the " privilege " to pass under a suspended
couple of mounaques at the corner of the street.
Mounaques and charivari were required when a widower or a widow either got remarried
or when an inmarried girl with a child took spouse.
The charivari stopped if youngsters received a consequent sum that permitted to
pay for ceremony.
This custom of our traditional and popular culture has been
modernised and the Mounaqueses decorate streets, rooms, washers, balconies and galleries of
the houses in Campan during the summer months.