The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-06-09
The Greek Tnnaral.

The Constantinople correspondent of an
Edinburgh paper refers to the death Of
his washerwoman, as follows "a few
hours before the funeral the body was
placed in bath filed with wine, and there
washed by the priest and his deacon. The
corpse was afterwards dressed in the best
costumes Of the deceased, and laid, face
uncovered, in the coffin. This being done,
the priest recited several prayers, and
sprinkled the coffin with holy water, and
this was also done by the relatives and
their friends. The corpse was then car
ried out by bearers, and on reaching the
door of the cottage the person the most
dear to the deceased approached, bearing
a cup full Of white wine and sponge, and
after having had them blessed by the
priest, proceeded to wash the mouth of
the dead woman with the wine, as sym-
Dol of washing away her iniquities This
done, the cup was thrown on the ground.
trod on, and broke in many pieces, and its
fragments hastily covered over with earth
or thrown into the sea. The funeral pro-
cession was then formed, and started In
the following order:-First came the dea-
con, carrying the lid Of the coffin, and ac-
companied by three friends of the deceas.
ed-one carrying tray, with numerous
small glasses, another with a tray with
small bits of toasted bread, and the third
carrying large bottle Of wine. These
were followed by the choristers, the priest
the body (the face uncovered, } and lastly
by the relatives and friends. In this
order the company paraded through all the
streets Of the village, the women Of the
family, assisted by the professional weep-
ing women crying and loudly lamentinr
and all afterward returned to the house Of
the deceased. There the corpse was laid
for few minutes on the ground at the
entrance, and then taken up and held high
in the air by the bearers, the relatives and
friends thereupon passing under the coffin
as 4 token Of respect for the dead. The
funeral thereafter proceeded to the church.
where, while the usual ceremonies were
being gone through, the wine and toast
were handed round, and each person par
took of them, saying, in loud voice,
may the LORD receive her" the deacon
answering each time, "Amen," and in
censing the speakers. A fresh collection
was made for the family, and then the
funeral started for the burial ground.
There the corpse was despoiled Of It's iinery,
the coffin covered up and laid in the earth
amid the fresh lamentations Of the women.
Sweetmeats were then thrown on the grave.
and each assistant was bound to pick one
up and eat it. saying affesh, aSIay the
Lord receive her" The funeral having
thus concluded, the family and friends
retire to the nearest cafe, where / had the
satisfaction Of seeing the husband Of the
defunct washermoman consoline himself
BY getting gloriously drunk on nraki," a
kind Of white brandy, which is largely
drunk by the lower orders in this country.
Three days after the funeral, plates of
boiled barley covered with sugar, called
"colivas," were sent round to all the ne
quaintances Of the family, and eaten IN
memory Of the deceased. This latter Gus
tom in the richer families is renewed three
months and nine months after the death. 2