The old customs of Servia are rapidly disappearing under the pressure
of laws and European institutions. Many of these could not have
existed except in a society in which might made right. One of these
was the vow of eternal brotherhood and friendship between two
individuals; a treaty offensive and defensive, to assist each other in
the difficult passages of life. This bond is considered sacred and
indissoluble. Frequently remarkable instances of it are found in the
wars of Kara Georg. But now that regular guarantees for the security
of life and property exist, the custom appears to have fallen into
desuetude. These confederacies in the dual state, as in Servia, or
multiple, as in the clan system of Scotland and Albania, are always
strongest in turbulent times and regions.[20]
Another of the old customs of Servia was sufficiently characteristic
of its lawless state. Abduction of females was common. Sometimes a
young man would collect a party of his companions, break into a
village, and carry off a maiden. To prevent re-capture they generally
went into the woods, where the nuptial knot was tied by a priest
_nolens volens_.
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