Will you...?

So, leap year day (but see my post of 24/2/08) and this is the day when traditionally women can propose marriage to men.  Of course in this 21st century the idea that there is a hierarchy in such matters is very passé, but where did the concept originate?  It seems to be Celtic in origin, and the most frequently quoted source is a supposed meeting in Ireland between St Brigid and St Patrick in the 5th century, when she complained to him that women were fed up of waiting for their boyfriends to propose, and he agreed that they should have the right to initiate proceedings themselves once every four years on leap year day.  There is a problem with this story in that - to the extent that we can have any confidence about dates back then - St Brigid would only have been about ten years old when St Patrick died. Anyway, the tradition seems to have been taken by Irish monks to Scotland, and certainly there is a Scots law of 1288 making it an offence punishable by a fine for any man who turns down a proposal of marriage made by a woman in a leap year (not just on the 29th it would seem).  In English law it has been suggested that at one time February 29th was a "non-day" and had no legal status, and that therefore ordinary traditions and customs did not apply. Anyway, like I say, it's an out-of-date concept these days, but interesting nontheless.