The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1872-10-11
| from "Mark Boydis "Reminiscences" !"
hshed by d. Appleton & Col
SCOTCH FUNERAL.
1 never enioyed en- afternoon NOR,

the Iar-1amed L0cnlnVar some twenty
five years ago. We were living al
y at the keepers house, and our friend
: the Laird of--field came to dine and
! spend the day with US. l had no'
seen my worthy friend since / was 6
!, boy, when he was in the habit O
coming over as a guest to my fathers
No man was so extensively aequain
ted with every person and everything
; in our district as himself. The rsir
poured, and all shooting being out o.
, the question, had with him the
!; longest and most agreeable converse.
ton on Galloway matters l ever had
either before or since.
II Among other topics, 1 got upor
the subject of Scotch funerals, and
asked the laird if the manner In
which they were now conducted had
been altered or improved since 1 left
the country. "Weel they hde am
pruiUsd and they hde not improtived
for they still gang on in mony places
maist The same as when Ye yer q bill
O. lad" I sought for information
in regard to the services"
To those not initiated in the arcana
of a Scotch funeral 1 should explain
what the Services were in my day.
The parties invited to the tunera. as
sembled in the dining-room. The
servants began their duties by hand
. ing round tray with glasses Of port,
sccompanld by sponge-cake, Scotch
currant- bur, short bread and biscuits !;
few minutes elapsed, when the tray
went around again with sherry; a
moderate interval ensued, when
glasses of brandy circulated-always
favorite, and generally eliciting
such remarks as, "here's something
that will baud the grip J" then follow
ed round of whiskey, and the LAST
two "services" were usually rum or
shrub; l have seen both. Having
recounted to the laird my early i'm
preston of Scotch funerals, he said /
was nearly as rscht as possible, and
then described to me a disgracefnl
scene he had Witnessed at the funeral
of my grandfather, at which q clergy
man of the Kirk OF Scotland.-"Was
it not a mercy he did not belong to
Galloway ?' said the laird-''fell aft
his horse in the avenue quite fou, his
horse rinning a1UG and the minister,
unable to move, was dragged to one
side of the road, speechless and in
sensible while the funeral procession
was passing"
"Weel,' continued the laird, ''as
we are on this subject, l must tell
you that l was sair!y put to it naysel,
and no hundred miles from Uhdre
we are sitting. Did you reeollect
Mr.--?" ayes do; he who
had SO excellent an appetite 2'' "The
verd man what a guide memory you
must kae to mind sac lang pack! /
was lang connected ,oi' him, and took
a. the trouble about the funeral. We
gied gxds aoheen O. his triens q din
ner after we returned frae the Kirk
yard, and was put DOT O. temper af-
ter it. Ihad the key o'the cellar, ,and
there was naetking wanting in the
way o. drink, and everything was
ganging on discreetly when a suhalp o.
q chap uitkosayRdnee consulting me,
began, that be did, and finished g
very g1ds amusing sang; for was
torfoughte7ed wi a. the arrangements
O. the funeral that day, and rsra fool
ishly did'nG stdp him at first, al it
would hae prevented a. the coLies
hdngie afterward. But the sang was
osOer, and there was nae use looking
back; but it was q vera improper pro.
ceeding in the house. o. mourning.
The de'I was In the naaist o. them
that afternoon, for they actually caa'd
on him for anither sang. Then l
Spok out, and 1 tauld them distinctly
that if there was anither verse O. sang
in that room not anither bottle O.
drink should they hae. That was
the only threat that would stap it,
for they liked the drink ouOer wseL and
we had nae naair singing
Following up the same subject, /
remember the late Mr.. John MacMil-
Ian, formerly of Charleston, South
Carolina, and afterwsrd of Liverpool,
describing to large party in London
a scene which he Witnessed at afuner-
al in Kirkcudbrightshier, either in
the Glenkeas district or the Minnigaf.
He had left Galloway as q youth,
never having been at a Scotch coun-
try funeral ; but on the first visit to
his family he was asked to attend the
funeral of a gentleman farmer, q
friend of his fathers.
The party invited had assembled
at the house of mourning, great
number arriving on horseback. Then
commenced the services" to which
Mr.. MacMillin, although a Scotch
man, was q stranger. When the
hearse came to tle door to receive
the coffin, a scene of outrageous i'm
propriety presented itself, such as he
would never be able to forget, for
the spectacle core before him of the
wife and daughters Of the deceased,
overwhelmed in grief, WatcheDg from
behind their bed-foom curtains the
the departure of the remains of him
whose spirit had fed, end in whom
their dearest affections centered.
The operation of mounting the
horses as a Sc quenee to the services
was q most difficult one, although it
was not yet IL O'Clock, A. NJ. A con
siderable proportion of the funesal
cortege had to be lifted into their sad
dies, amid the jeers and noisy laugh
ter of those who had been asked that
day to pay respects to the memory of
the deceased. When the procession
was about to move, one OF the riding
party exclaimed in loud voice, which
the rocr ladies heard, 1--WE aaus tax
the near cut across the moor, and we
shall bate the hearse and corps some
miles ken the roddie weel." This
was unanimously agreed to, and Mr..
Macmillan, who was on horse back,
was invited to join the equestrian
party, which, on leaving the hearse
and procession of carriages and gigs
(sometimes very numerous at q
Scotch funeral immediately struck
across the moor, when q series of
Meltonian feats ced,-lesPlng
bitches, breaking down stone walls,
alias dikes, and jumping in every
variety OF style. This vas usually
followed dy some heavy falls, accom-
panied by plenty Of uproarious laugh
ter. Mr.. Macmillan described the
scenes of that funeral and the funeral
ride as something monstrously inde-
cent. Several Of the riders Fever
reached the church-yard at al, having
INDUCED in the "services' to such an
extent that, after being cotoped from
their horses, they had to be consigned
to the care Of shepherd Of some
other farm-servant who had heen
watching the proceedings ofthe party,
until they had recovered from their
disgraceful intoxicstion.
In returning to his fathers house,
Mr.. Macmillan told us that he asked
himself, in potdering over the pro-
ceedings of tnat day, "Am ], after
ten years absence in America and
other parts Of the world, again in
morsl and intellectual Scotland ?"
"WHY dosn't your fatner take q
nf lIttIa