LH, someone beat you to it a long time ago.:-) Back when virginity was of such importance among the landed gentry, it was not unheard of for a young bride who may have played around a bit, to be outfitted with a bladder of sheep's blood for that all important wedding night proof of purity, often witnessed by important personages who wanted to see their genes carried on. Pretty gross to contemplate, but I am sure it saved a few women their lives and/or kept them from lives of complete desolation as shamed women.