Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1885-08-06
A HIGHLAND WAKE.
Solemn Whisky Drinking to the Doion
ous Sound Of the Bagpipes.

Solemn Whisky Drinking to the Doion
Gus sound Of the Bagpipes
49,. Jaues' Gazettel
The corpse was that Of a gillie, q soc
~ shepherd who owned the sheliDg,
br: though | was within two feet Of him
as he lay exposed in q white shroud, ]
avoided looking at his face, These she'll
ings are dark. unwholesome huts OF peat
for the most part; but rude attempt had
been made in this Que TO do honor TO the
dead. which Curiously altered its internal
appearances Black Is nowhere more the
emblem Of mourning than in Scotland.
vet the sbeiling was hung with white
White cloths more than half concealed its
dingy walls, handkerchief pinned across
the window shut out the dark, and the
dealtable was swathed in linen. IL Is
customary in the Highlands TO dress the
room in which the body lies in this way.
as well as the remains themselves, and had
not the shepherd been desperately poor
not a speck of another color than white
would have shown any where within his
hut, the dress of the mourners, OF course,
excepted. Kinney there was none, and
as the smoke rose from peat fire that
would have been better out. IL wandered
in little clouds through the room and
finally sank into the roof Of peat and
PUSHES.
There were six or seven persons present,
including the piper, who had been driven
inside by the inclemency Of the weather.
In more populated glen the attendance
would have been much larger The piper,
who was shepherd from the other side
of the hill, and who made several at.
tempts to air his noisy instrument outside,
was the only male mourner present, ex-
cepting the master of the Smelling OF
the women, one was the mother of the
deceased and another his sister, think.
The remaining three were elderly persons
all inhabitants of the narrow glen. When
the piper burst into dirge he deafened
the rest of the Smelling into silence;
when he stopped the wall was
taken up by the women. In
the distance the effect would.
no doubt, have been solemn; for the
chant, which, so far as ! could make out
not being acquainted with the Gaelic
tongue-eonsisting Of an irregular verse or
two with mythmic chorus, was slow
and measured Heard In such close prOX.
unity. however il was painfully shrill
The elderly dame who led the sing.
ing and superintendent the arrange,
ments generally. drank less than the
others. and seemed to grudge the time
that was not spent in mourning. Not so
the others with the exception OF the
young girl, who drank not al ALI; and as
the night wore into morning, aud q
gloomy light made its way through
The handkerchief on the window. a
second jar was preached 1t was
most fiery stutl; but 1t had no visi.
bic effect upon the mourners. Steadily
they drank Of il hour after hour. but It
did not make them boisterous: the chant
became lower as the day broke and TO
the end the praises Of the dead were re.
cited and listened to with severe counte.
Bances.
There was an occasional lapse into ST.
lence but when this became noticeable
the chant was raised with increased vehe
mence; and the old dame. bending over
the corpse and addressing II in Quaver.
ing voice, would draw the others round
her TO note some physical popularity.
Great stress is put upon the laying out
and dressing" Of the corpse and on the
appearance II presents. The wake proper
was now over. What remained 10 be
done was 10 convey the remsins Of the de
ceased to his last resting place. village
church-yard in neighboring glen,