FUNERAL CUSTOMS. Quaint Observances by English Villagers-"Spade Money,"

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 120, 19 September 1885, Page 6

FUNERAL CUSTOMS. Quaint Observances by English Villagers-" Spade Money,"

i,_ ;- „_ .., -, i- i,' •-; -„/.; i ;,,.>- :• 'It is seldom' 'that one nears nowadays of jthe observance of <the quaint ;funeral cusitoms which formerly existed in <many, an 'English ' country - village, the Old- World notions which gave rise 'to them .having died out, owing, perhaps, to the introduction of railways and School Boards. Thus, in 1 the North of England only a few years ago it was usual to carry " the dead with the sun "to the grave— a practice corresponding with the Highland usage of making.:'/ the deazil," or walking three times around a person according to the courst of the Biiih On one occasion, in the village of Scranton, near West Hartlepool, the vicar was standing at the church-yard gate awaiting the | arrival of the funeral procession, when, I much to his surprise, the entire group, who had come -within a few yards of him, suddenly turned back and marched around the church-yard wall, thus traversing its west, north, and east boundaries. On inquiring the reason of this extraordinary procedure, one of the mourners quickly replied, " Why, yo wad no hae them carry the dead again the run ; the dead maune ay go >wi the sun ." This is not unlike a Welsh custom mentioned by Pennant, who tells us that when a corpse was conveyed to the church-yard, from any part of the town great cafe was taken that it always should be carried the whole distance on the right hand side of the, road. From time immemorial there has been a strong feeling of repugnance among the inhabitants of rural parishes to burial "without the sanctuary." This does not mean in unconsecrated ground, but on the north side of the church, or in a remote corner of the church-yard. The origin of this prejudice is eaid to have been the notion that the northern part was ihat which was appropriated to the interment of unbaptized infants, excommunicated per eons, or such as had laid violent hands upon themselves. Hence it was popularly known as the "wrong aide of the church." In many parishes, therefore, this spot remained unoccupied, while the remaining portion of the church-yard was crowded. White, in his " History of Selbourne," alluding to this soperstitious, says that "as most people wished to be buried on the south side of the churchyard, it became such a mass of mortality that no person could be interred without disturbing or displaying the bones of his ancestors." Great attention has been paid, also, to the position of the grave, the popular one being from east to west, while that from the north to the south has been considered not only dishonourable but unlucky. A curious surviving cuitom at Welsh funerals is termed the "parson's penny." After reading the burial service in the church, the clergyman stands behind a table while a Psalm is being sung. In the meantime each of the mourners places a piece of money on the table for his acceptance. This ceremony is regarded as a token of respect for the deceased, although it was no doubt originally intended to compensate the clergyman for praying for the soul of the departed. In some Welsh parishes also a similar custom called "spade money" is kept up. After the corpse has been committed to its resting-place the grave-digger presents his spade as a receptacle for donations, these offerings, which often amount to a goodly sum,being regarded as his perquisite. In Yorkshire, at the funeral of the rich in former days, it was customary to hand " burnt wine " to the company in a silver flagon, out of which every one drank. This beverage seems to have been a heated preparation of port wine with sugrar and spice, and should any remain, it was sent round in the flagon to the houses of friends for distribution. Thip, of coursp, was a species of funeral feast, called in the North of England an *' arval " — a lingering survival of the offerings that were originally made to the ghost of the deceased. Among the superstitions that still cling to the church-yard may be mentioned one that has existed from the most remote period, and which has invested it with an atmosphere of dread, it having been generally supposed that they are haunted by spectres and apparitions. Indeed, it has been truly pointed out by Mr Taylor that, through all the changes of religious thought from first to last in the course of human history, the hovering ghosts of the dead make the midnight burial-ground a place where men's flesh creeps with terror. — " Boston Times."