The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-07-09
SCOTCH FUNERALS.

Everybody knows that there is &c
service at the grave in Scotland, al
though the clergyman under whom
the deceased ''sRt' ia often, indeed |
present. The hats of those
in attendance may be taken of the
moment after they have lowered the
coffin into the grave just for an instant.
but this is not always the case. This
habit of dispensing with religious ex-
ercises bad It's origin, no doubt, in
the Scotch horror OF doing anything
that might give color to the charge
of following the Roman Catholic
fashion Of praying for the dead. The
reading of a chapter of the Bible aud |
a short prayer in the house before the
coItege sets out for the cburcbyArd is |
the sole religious service, and the
preliminaries to this are sometimes OF
a kind to raise the idea that care
is taken tn disconuect il from the
peculiar circumstances of the occa-
sion.
Twenty years ago I was at a
funeral in the country at which the
minister and his colleague of the
church to which the deceased be-
longed attended. After the company
bad assembled, some decanters OF
wine and q tray with cake were
brought in and set upon the table.
The daughter Of the deceased, herself
sISergyman's wife, thensuggested that
the senior minister should Task q
blessingp This request served as an
excuse for long prayer appropriate
to the circumstances of the occasion
which brought Us together, and after
it was over Gaze and wine were
handed round. Then a request was
made that the junior clergyman "re.
turn thanks" and be readily enough
INDUCED in prayer, in which be
gathered up the fragments suitable to
the circumstances which his col
league had omitted, and that was the
whole religious service-simpIy g
grace before and after meat.
That terrible scoursGe, the cholera,
which visited the country in 1882,
gave fatal blow to the bacchanRlisn
orgies with which it had been the
fashion to celebrate funerals in Port
Glasgow. Men were willing enough
to pay the last possible marx OF re
speet to the dead, but naturally took
every precaution to avoid exposing
themselves to unnecessary risk. So,
instead of meeting in the house, ss
had been the custom, they simply
gathered in the street before the door,
and followed the hesrse to the place
Of burial.
When an invitation is given yer.
bslly to q funeral in Scotland. the
person invited usually asks; ''Wher
do you lift?" meaning sat what hour
is the funeral to take placer" The
manner of conveying the coffin from
the house TO a place of interment
still followed in EagleshAm, village
in the south of Renfrewshire, sbun
dainty explains this phrase. As car
be we'll enough understood, hearsec
and coaches are institutions belong
ing to towns and cities. not to villages
To the latter the coffin is borne tC
the grave on three poles, which arr
passed under it. long enough to leavt
sufficient portion for two men t
grasp on either side. OF course, it i
impossible to place these ''spokes'
ia position ia the house, so a coupl'
OF stools are brought out to the street
the coffin is placed upon them, whei
the cortege is ready to go the spoke
are passed under, the coffin "liIted.
and the procession moves of.
Though Eagleshsm is not ten mil 3
distant from Glasgow, the old iashiol
of warning everybody to the tunera
is still followed, and as the hsuse
generally are small, the eompsn
often enough meets N the church
Even in the sacred edifioe. after th
performance Of short religious exel
cises, tray with glasses on it
occasionally brought in, and g suppl
OF liquor served out TO all who Car
to partake OF it. In this village 1t
also the custom for the entire con
pany to wait in the churchysrd Ii
the burial has been completed, Eos
lesham in this respect presenting
favorable contrast to other place
where only one or two Of the near
relatives are left to see the sexton con
plete his work. The last shovelfnl
earth having been put ia, the chi
mourner gets up on a stone, an
taking of his hat, says, ir lou
voice, "Gent!emer. l thank you +
your company" which is the sign
TO disperse.
I feel persuaded that it is one OF &
"thiugs not generally known tn
waking" the deal has been prs
ticed IN one o: the northern Countl
in Ecoiland from time immemori;
and is slill in vogue there. When
. death occurs in Glen UIguhart, t
= survivors 10 the household Are new
= suffered TO be alone with their de
till the day OF the flneral. Tine DO
ia not cofined TIL the day OF int:
ment, for the simple reason that t
coffin has TO be made by the villa
Joiner after death takes place.
house With q corpse in 1t becomes
two or three days and nights that
tervene between death and burial I
rendezvous of all the neiehbors, "
sit and tell slories-ghost stories b
ing a decided Dreference-Ostens