Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-11-11
Graveyard Superstitions.

1t is seldom that one hears nowadays
OF tne0 nsertance of the quaint funeral
CUSTOMS which formerly existed in many
an English conntry village, the old
wor!d nonone which gave rise to them
having died out. owing perhaps to the in
Groouctlon OF railstays and school boards.
"the dead with The sun > to the grave.
a practice corresponding with the High
land usage OF making Sthe deazil'' or
walking three. times round person ac-
cording to the course of the sun. On
one occasion, in the village of Stranton.
near Vest Hartlepool, the vicar was
standing at the ehurch-vard gate. await
ing the arrival of the funeral procession.
when, much to his surprise, the entire
group, who had come within a few
yards of him, suddenly turned back and
marched round 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, We
wad no haze them carry the dead again
the sun; the dead maun ay 20 wi the
SUM-" This is not unlike q Welsh Gus
tom mentioned by Pennant, who tells us
that when q corpse was conveyed to the
church-yard from any part of the town
great care was always taken that it
should be carried the whole distance on
the right-hand side of the road. From
time immemorial there has been
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 remote corner of the
church-yard. The origin of this preju-
dice is said to have been the notion that
the northern part was that which was
appropriated to the interment of unbap-
tized infants, accommodated persons,
or such as had laid violent hands upon
themselves. Hence it was popularity
known as ''the wrong side 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 Sel6orse, abiding to this
superstition, says that as most people
wished to be buried on the south side of
the church-yard, it became such mass
OF mortality that no person could be in
tered ''without disturbing or displac-
ing the bones of his ancestors. Great
attention has generally been paid, also,
to the position of the grave, the popu-
lar one being from east to west, while
that from north to south has been con-
sidered not only dishonorable, but I'M
lucky.
A curious surviving custom at Welsh
funerals is termed the 'sparson's
penny, After reading the burial ser
vice in the church, the Clergyman stands
behind table while psalm is being
sung. In the mean time each of the
mourners places piece of money on
the table for his acceptance. This GER
emory is regarded as a token of respect
to 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, similar custom,
called ''spade-money," is kept up. AT
ter the corpse has been committed to
its resting place, the grave-digger pre-
sents his spade as a receptacle for do
nations, these offerings, which often
amount to goodly sum, being regarded
as his perquisite. In Yorkshire, at the
funerals of the rich in former days, it
was customary to hand ''burnt wine" to
tue cOiupduy Ill SllEcI udS9Ou, Out VI
which every one drank. This beverage
seems to have been a heated prepare
ton of port-wine with sugar and spice,
and should any remain, it was sent
round in the dagon to the houses OF
friends for distribution. This, of course,
was species of funeral feast, called in
the north of England an ''arval"-a
lingering survival of the offerings that
originally were 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 re-
mote period, and which has invested it
with an atmosphere of dread-it having
been generally supposed that they are
haunted by epecters and apparitions.
Indeed, it has been truly pointed out by
Mr.. Tylor that through all the changes
of religious thought from first to last in
the course of human history, the hover
ing ghosts of the dead make the mid
night battle-ground place where mems
flesh creeps with terror.