The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-04-13
A HIGHLAND WAKE.
Solemn Whisky Drinking to the DOlor-
Gus Sound of the Bagpipes.
[St James Gazette

Solemn Whisky Drinking to the DOIor-
Sound of the Bagpipes.
[St. James Gazette.I
The corpse was that of a gillie, a son
of a shepherd who owned the Smelling;
but though / was within two feet of him
as he lay exposed in a 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 one to do honor to the
dead, which curiously altered its internal
appearance. Black is nowhere more the
emblem of mourning than IN Scotland,
yet the Smelling was hung with white.
White cloths more than half concealed its
dingy walls, handkerchief pinned across
the window shut out the dark, and the
deal-table was swathed in linen. 1t is
customary in the Highlands to dress the
room in which the body lies in this way,
as well as t--e remains themselves, and had
not the shepherd been desperately poor.
not a speck of another color than white
would have shown anywhere within his
hut the dress of the mourners, of course,
excepted. Chimney there was none, and
as the smoke rose from peat fire that
would have been better out, it wandered
in little clouds through the room and
finally sank into the roof of peat and
rushes.
There were six or seven persons present,
including the piper, who had been driven
inside by the inclemency of the weather
In a 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 a 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 l could make out
not being acquainted with the Gaelic
tongue-cOnsisting of an irregular verse or
two with a mythhic chorus, was slow
and measured Heard in such close prox-
unity, however, it was painfully ShrilL
The elderly dame who led the sing
ing and superintended 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 at all; and as
the night wore into morning, ana
gloomy light made its way through
the handkerchief on the window,
second jar was preached 1t was
most fiery stuff; but it had no visi
bic effect upon the mourners Steadily
they drank of it 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-
nanCes.
There was an occasional lapse into ST.
'ence; but when this became noticeable
the chant was raised with increased Vehe-
mence; and he old dame. bending over
the corpse and addressing it in a quayer-
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 it presents. The wake proper
was now over What remained to be
done was TO convey the remains of the de
ceased to his last resting place, a village
rch-yard in a neighboring glen.