IT sounds like a form of medieval torture but Blackenings, which were once carried out to ward off evil spirits before a marriage, still go on today in some parts of Scotland, The prenuptial ritual, normally carried out the day before a wedding, sees the future bride or bridegroom seized by friends and covered in soot, treacle, flour and feathers. In past times the victim or victims would be loaded onto a cart and paraded around the town however today, when Blackenings are carried out notably in orkney Aberdeenshire, Angus and Fife, they are put on top of a pick up truck and driven around to the sound of horns and claxons. The victim is usually rendered incapable through alcohol throughout and will likely end up tied to a lamp post or thrown into the shallow sea. Blackenings are closely related to the Penny B ritual where donations would be made towards the cost of the wedding feast. The Bride would be taken to a room where here friends would wash her feet in long-married woman had dropped her wedding ring in