_To the Editor._
Sir,--It is usual at the funeral of a person, especially of a
householder, to invite persons to attend the ceremony; and in Carlisle,
for instance, this is done on the day of interment by the bellman, who,
in a solemn and subdued tone of voice, announces, that “all friends and
neighbours of ----, deceased, are requested to take notice, that the
body will be lifted at ---- o’clock, to be interred at ---- church.” On
this occasion the relatives and persons, invited by note, repair to the
dwelling of the deceased, where they usually partake of a cold
collation, with wine, &c.; and at the outside of the door a table is set
out, bountifully replenished with bread and cheese, ale and spirits,
when “all friends and neighbours” partake as they think proper. When the
preparations for moving are completed, the procession is accompanied by
those persons who are disposed to pay their last mark of respect to the
memory of the deceased. This custom, it has been remarked, gives an
opportunity for “that indulgence which ought to belong to the marriage
feast, and that it is a practice savouring of the gothic and barbarous
manners of our unpolished ancestors.” With deference to the writer’s
opinion, I would say that the custom is worthy of imitation, and that
the assembling together of persons who have only this opportunity of
expressing their respect for the memory of the deceased, cannot fail to
engage the mind to useful reflections, and is a great contrast to the
heartless mode of conducting interments in many other places, where the
attendants frequently do not exceed half a dozen.
The procession used often to be preceded by the parish clerk and
singers, who sang a portion of the Psalms until they arrived at the
church. This part of the ceremony is now, I understand, seldom
performed.