'THEN on my finger I'll have a ring
Not one of rush, but a gold thing;
And I shall be glad as a bird in spring,
Because I am married o' Sunday.'

Not long before the time of Shakespeare, a ring of rushes was often a sufficient excuse for maidens to entertain their young swains to the traditional rites of spring whilst the marriage ring may well have been worn on the right hand, even on the thumb or forefinger.

It was not until the time of the Reformation in England that the custom of wearing a wedding band on the left hand became the norm and still, in Greece and other places, the right hand was considered the hand of power, authority and independence whilst the left was the hand of subjection and dependence and the more fitting place for the wife to wear her symbol of subjugation to her husband; so it was ordered in The English Book of Common Prayer that the ring be placed on the fourth finger of the woman's left hand.

Following England's civil war, the Puritans preached against the use of a wedding ring because of it's 'Heathenish origin' and prohibited its use during weddings, and, to this day, the giving of a ring is still quite optional in a civil marriage.

The origins of betrothal and nuptial rings go back at least to Roman times when rings were used as seals and symbols of ownership and wealth. Once, only highly ranked senators could wear gold rings, bearing seals of state. Others were allowed only rings of iron and some of these were keys to access storerooms. On marriage, the responsibility for the keys to a man's storeroom were given over to his bride and so came about the custom of giving a ring or Pronumbum (later a token gold ring) and with it 'all his worldly goods'.

It was then believed that the third finger had a vein, which went straight to the heart, so this became the marriage ring finger. In later times, the placing of the wedding ring was ritualised by the Christian church as it was touched to the thumb and first three fingers to the words of Benediction - 'in the Name of the Father (T), and of the Son (1) and of the Holy Ghost (2), Amen (3).'

As the circle was a symbol of wholeness and endless continuity, so the wedding ring as a plain circle came to be symbolic of endless love and the marriage bond; the gold of which it was made represented purity and noble and durable affection.