_DEATH._
It is not surprising that the solemn period of death should have been
surrounded with many superstitious ideas,--with a great variety of omens
and warnings, many of which, however, were only called to mind after the
event. In the country, when any person was taken unwell, it was very
soon known over the whole neighbourhood, and all sorts of remedies were
recommended. Generally a doctor was not sent for until the patient was
considered in a dangerous state, and then began the search for omens or
warnings. If the patient recovered, these premonitions were forgotten,
but if death ensued, then everything was remembered and rendered
significant. Was a dog heard to howl and moan during the night, with his
head in the direction of the house where the patient lay; was there
heard in the silent watches of the night in the room occupied by the
sick person, a tick, ticking as of a watch about the bed or furniture,
these were sure signs of approaching death, and adult patients hearing
these omens, often made sure that their end was near. Many pious people
also improved the circumstance, pointing out that these omens were
evidence of God's great mercy, inasmuch as He vouchsafed to give a
timely warning in order that the dying persons might prepare for death,
and make their peace with the great Judge. To have hinted, under such
circumstances, that the ticking sounds were caused by a small wood moth
tapping for its mate, would have subjected the hinter to the name of
infidel or unbeliever in Scripture, as superstitious people always took
shelter in Scripture.
Persons hearing a tingling sound in their ears, called the _deid bells_,
expected news of the death of a friend or neighbour. A knock heard at
the door of the patient's room, and on opening no person being found,
was a sure warning of approaching death. If the same thing occurred
where there was no patient, it was a sign that some relation at a
distance had died. I was sitting once in the house of a newly married
couple, when a loud knock was heard upon the floor under a chair, as if
some one had struck the floor with a flat piece of wood. The young wife
removed the chair, and seeing nothing, remarked with some alarm, "It is
hasty news of a death." Next day she received word of the death of two
of her brothers, soldiers in India, the deaths having occurred nearly a
year before. There was no doubt in the mind of the young wife that the
knock was a supernatural warning. The natural explanation probably was
that the sound came from the chair, which being new, was liable to
shrink at the joints for some time, and thus cause the sound heard. This
cracking sound is quite common with new furniture.
If, again, some one were to catch a glimpse of a person whom they knew
passing the door or window, and on looking outside were to find no such
person there, this was a sign of the approaching death of the person
seen. There were many instances quoted of the accuracy of this omen,
instances generally of persons who, in good health at the time of their
illusionary presence, died shortly after. Another form of this
superstition was connected with those who were known to be seriously
ill. Should the observer see what he felt convinced was the unwell
person, say, walking along the street, and on looking round as the
presence passed, see no person, this was a token of the death of the
person whose spectre was seen. I knew of a person who, on going home
from his work one evening, came suddenly upon an old man whom he knew to
be bed-ridden, dressed as was formerly his wont, with knee breeches,
blue coat, and red nightcap. Although he knew that the old man had for
some time been confined to bed, so distinct was the illusion that he bid
him "good night" in passing, but receiving no reply, looked behind and
saw no one. Seized with fright, he ran home and told what he had seen.
On the following morning it was known through the village that the old
man was dead. And his death had taken place at the time when the young
man had seen him on the previous evening. This was considered a
remarkably clear instance of a person's wraith or spirit being seen at
the time of death. However, the seeing of a person's wraith was not
always an omen of death. There were certain rules observed in relation
to wraiths, by which their meaning could be ascertained, but these rules
differed in different localities. In my native village a wraith seen
during morning, or before twelve noon, betokened that the person whose
wraith was seen would be fortunate in life, or if unwell at the time,
would recover; but when the wraith was seen in the afternoon or evening,
this betokened evil or approaching death, and the time within which
death would occur was considered to be within a year. This belief in
wraiths goes back to a very early period of man's history. The ancient
Persians and Jews believed that every person had a spirit or guardian
angel attending him, and although generally invisible, it had the power
of becoming visible, and separating itself for a time from the person it
attended, and of appearing to other persons in the guise of the
individual from whom it emanated. An excellent example of this
superstitious belief is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. When
Peter, who was believed to be in prison, knocked at the "door of the
gate" of the house where the disciples were met, the young woman who
went to open the door, on recognising Peter's voice, was overjoyed, and,
instead of opening, ran into the house, and told the disciples Peter was
at the door. Then they said "It is his angel" (wraith). Thus the whole
company expressed their belief in attending angels. The belief in
wraiths was prevalent throughout all Scotland. It is beautifully
introduced in the song of "Auld Robin Gray." When the young wife
narrates her meeting with her old sweetheart, she says, "I thought it
was his wraith, I could not think it he," and the belief survives in
some parts of the country to the present day.
If a dying person struggled hard and long, it was believed that the
spirit was kept from departing by some magic spell. It was therefore
customary, under these circumstances, for the attendants to open every
lock in the house, that the spell might be broken, and the spirit let
loose. J. Train refers to this superstition in his _Mountain Muse_,
published 1814:--
"The chest unlocks to ward the power,
Of spells in Mungo's evil hour."
After death there came a new class of superstitious fears and practices.
The clock was stopped, the looking-glass was covered with a cloth, and
all domestic animals were removed from the house until after the
funeral. These things were done, however, by many from old custom, and
without their knowing the reason why such things were done. Originally
the reason for the exclusion of dogs and cats arose from the belief
that, if either of these animals should chance to leap over the corpse,
and be afterwards permitted to live, the devil would gain power over the
dead person.
When the corpse was laid out, a plate of salt was placed upon the
breast, ostensibly to prevent the body swelling. Many did so in this
belief, but its original purpose was to act as a charm against the devil
to prevent him from disturbing the body. In some localities the plate of
salt was supplemented with another filled with earth. A symbolical
meaning was given for this; that the earth represented the corporeal
body, the earthly house,--the salt the heavenly state of the soul. But
there was an older superstition which gave another explanation for the
plate of salt on the breast. There were persons calling themselves "_sin
eaters_" who, when a person died, were sent for to come and eat the sins
of the deceased. When they came, their _modus operandi_ was to place a
plate of salt and a plate of bread on the breast of the corpse, and
repeat a series of incantations, after which they ate the contents of
the plates, and so relieved the dead person of such sins as would have
kept him hovering around his relations, haunting them with his
imperfectly purified spirit, to their great annoyance, and without
satisfaction to himself. This form of superstition has evidently a close
relation to such forms of ancestor-worship as we know were practised by
the ancients, and to which reference has already been made.
Until the funeral, it was the practice for some of the relations or
friends to sit up all night, and watch the corpse. In my young days this
duty was generally undertaken by youths, male and female friends, who
volunteered their services; but these watchings were not accompanied by
the unseemly revelries which were common in Scotland in earlier times,
or as are still practised in Ireland. The company sitting up with the
corpse generally numbered from two to six, although I have myself been
one of ten. They went to the house about ten in the evening, and before
the relations went to bed each received a glass of spirits; about
midnight there was a refreshment of tea or ale and bread, and the same
in the morning, when the relations of the deceased relieved the
watchers. Although during these night sittings nothing unbefitting the
solemnity of the occasion was done, the circumstances of the meeting
gave opportunity for love-making. The first portion of the night was
generally passed in reading,--some one reading aloud for the benefit of
the company, afterwards they got to story-telling, the stories being
generally of a ghostly description, producing such a weird feeling, that
most of the company durst hardly look behind them for terror, and would
start at the slightest noise. I have seen some so affected by this fear
that they would not venture to the door alone if the morning was dark.
These watchings of the dead were no doubt efficacious in perpetuating
superstitious ideas.
The reasons given for watching the corpse differed in different
localities. The practice is still observed, I believe, in some places;
but probably now it is more the result of habit--a custom followed
without any basis of definite belief, and merely as a mark of respect
for the dead; but in former times, and within this century, it was
firmly held that if the corpse were not watched, the devil would carry
off the body, and many stories were current of such an awful result
having happened. One such story was told me by a person who had received
the story from a person who was present at the wake where the occurrence
happened. I thus got it at second hand. The story ran as follows:--The
corpse was laid out in a room, and the watchers had retired to another
apartment to partake of refreshments, having shut the door of the room
where the corpse lay. While they were eating there was heard a great
noise, as of a struggle between two persons, proceeding from the room
where the corpse lay. None of the party would venture into the room, and
in this emergency they sent for the minister, who came, and, with the
open Bible in his hand, entered the room and shut the door. The noise
then ceased, and in about ten minutes he came out, lifted the tongs from
the fireplace, and again re-entered the room. When he came out again, he
brought out with the tongs a glove, which was seen to be bloody, and
this he put into the fire. He refused, however, to tell either what he
had seen or heard; but on the watchers returning to their post, the
corpse lay as formerly, and as quiet and unruffled as if nothing had
taken place, whereat they were all surprised.
From the death till the funeral it was customary for neighbours to call
and see the corpse, and should any one see it and not touch it, that
person would be haunted for several nights with fearful dreams. I have
seen young children and even infants made to touch the face of the
corpse, notwithstanding their terror and screams. If a child who had
seen the corpse, but had not been compelled to touch it, had shortly
afterwards awakened from a sleep crying, it would have been considered
that its crying was caused by its having seen the ghost of the dead
person.
If, when the funeral left the house, the company should go in a
scattered, straggling manner, this was an omen that before long another
funeral would leave the same house. If the company walked away quickly,
it was also a bad omen. It was believed that the spirit of the last
person buried in any graveyard had to keep watch lest any suicide or
unbaptized child should be buried in the consecrated ground, so that,
when two burials took place on the same day, there was a striving to be
first at the churchyard. In some parts of the Highlands this
superstition led to many unseemly scenes when funerals occurred on the
same day.
Those attending the funeral who were not near neighbours or relations
were given a quantity of bread and cakes to take home with them, but
relations and near neighbours returned to the house, where their wives
were collected, and were liberally treated to both meat and drink. This
was termed the _dredgy_ or _dirgy_, and to be present at this was
considered a mark of respect to the departed. This custom may be the
remnant of an ancient practice--in some sort a superstition--which
existed in Greece, where the friends of the deceased, after the funeral,
held a banquet, the fragments of which were afterwards carried to the
tomb. Upon the death of a wealthy person, when the funeral had left the
house, sums of money were divided among the poor. In Catholic times this
was done that the poor might pray for the soul of the deceased. In the
Danish _Niebellungen_ song it is stated that, at the burial of the hero
Seigfried, his wife caused upwards of thirty thousand merks of gold to
be distributed among the poor for the welfare and repose of his soul.
This custom became in this country and century in Protestant times an
occasion for the gathering of beggars and sorners from all parts. At the
funeral of George Oswald of Scotstoun, three miles from Glasgow, there
were gathered several hundreds, who were each supplied with a silver
coin and a drink of beer, and many were the blessings wished. A similar
gathering occurred at the funeral of old Mr. Bogle of Gilmourhill, near
Glasgow; but when announcement was made that nothing was to be given,
there rose a fearful howl of execration and cursing both of dead and
living from the mendacious crowd. The village of Partick in both these
cases was placed under a species of black-mail for several days by
beggars, who would hardly take any denial, and in many instances
appropriated what was not their own. I am not aware that this custom is
retained in any part of the country now.
As the funerals fifty years ago were mostly walking funerals, the coffin
being carried between two spokes, the sort of weather during the funeral
had its omens, for in these days the weather was believed to be greatly
under the control of the devil, or rather it was considered that he was
permitted to tamper with the weather. If the day was fine, this was
naturally a good omen for the soul's welfare. I remember that the
funeral of the only daughter of a worthy couple happened on a wet day,
but just as the funeral was leaving the house the sun broke through and
the day cleared, whereupon the mother, with evident delight, as she
stood at the door, thanked God that Mary was getting a good blink.
Stormy weather was a bad omen, being regarded as due to Satan's
influence. Burns refers to this belief in his "Tam o' Shanter." When
referring to the storm, he says:--
"Even a bairn might understand
The deil had business on his hand."
The following old rhyme mentions the most propitious sort of weather for
the christening, marriage, and funeral:--
"West wind to the bairn when gaun for its name,
Gentle rain to the corpse carried to its lang hame,
A bonny blue sky to welcome the bride,
As she gangs to the kirk, wi' the sun on her side."
The wake in the Highlands during last century was a very common affair.
Captain Burt, in his letters from Scotland, 1723, says that when a
person dies the neighbours gather in the evening in the house where the
dead lies, with bagpipe, and spend the evening in dancing--the nearest
relative to the corpse leading off the dance. Whisky and other
refreshments are provided, and this is continued every night until the
funeral.
Pennant, in his tour through the Highlands, 1772, says that, at a death,
the friends of the deceased meet with bagpipe or fiddle, when the
nearest of kin leads off a melancholy ball, dancing and wailing at the
same time, which continue till daybreak, and is continued nightly till
the interment. This custom is to frighten off or protect the corpse from
the attack of wild beasts, and evil spirits from carrying it away.
Another custom of olden times, and which was continued till the
beginning of this century, was that of announcing the death of any
person by sending a person with a bell--known as the "deidbell"--through
the town or neighbourhood. The same was done to invite to the funeral.
In all probability, the custom of ringing the bell had its origin in the
church custom, being a call to offer prayers for the soul of the
departed. Bell-ringing was also considered a means of keeping away evil
spirits. Joseph Train, writing in 1814, refers to another practice
common in some parts of Scotland. Whenever the corpse is taken from the
house, the bed on which the deceased lay is taken from the house, and
all the straw or heather of which it was composed is taken out and
burned in a place where no beast can get at it, and in the morning the
ashes are carefully examined, believing that the footprint of the next
person of the family who will die will be seen. This practice of burning
the contents of the bed is commendable for sanitary purposes.