_Game-feathers protracting the Agony of Death._--In a recent Number this
singular superstition was stated to be prevalent in Sussex. In the
adjoining county of Surrey the notion appears to be deeply rooted in the
minds of the lower classes. A friend, residing in my parish
(Betchworth), has given me several examples, which have fallen under his
notice during the past winter.
"I was calling, a few weeks since, upon an old man whom I had left the
previous day apparently in a dying state. At the door I met an old
neighhour, and inquired if he was still living. 'Yes Sir,' she said; 'we
think he must change his bed.' 'Change his bed!' I replied. 'What do you
mean?' 'Why, Sir, we think he can't pass away while he lies in that bed.
The neighbours think there must be game-feathers in the bed.'
'Game-feathers! What do you mean?' 'Why, Sir, it is always thought a
poor soul can't pass away if he is lying on game-feathers.' 'Oh,' I
said, 'there is nothing in that; that is not the reason of his lingering
on.' 'No, Sir,' she replied, 'I think so too, for I know the bed well. I
was at the making of it, and the feathers were well picked over.'
"Not long after I looked in upon another aged man, who had been confined
to his bed upwards of four months, gently dropping into his grave
without any other apparent complaint than old age. He was a fine, hearty
old man, with a constitution which kept him lingering on beyond
expectation. 'Well,' I said, 'how are you this morning?' 'Oh, Sir, I
have had a sad night. I hoped, when you left me, I should drop asleep
and never wake more in this world.' 'Yes, poor fellow,' said his sister,
who stood by his bedside, 'he does not seem able to die; we think we
must move him to another bed.' 'Another bed! Why so?' 'Why, he does not
seem able to die, and we think there must be wild feathers in his bed.'
The old man evidently thought with his sister, that his bed had
something to do with the protraction of his life. He died, however, at
length without being moved. It is needless to remark, that the
superstition would no doubt have been confirmed, and the flickering lamp
of life might have been extinguished a few hours sooner, had they
carried into effect their proposal to drag him from one bed to another,
or to lay him upon the floor. The woman who helped to lay out the corpse
came to see me, and I took the occasion to ask if she knew the belief,
that a person could not die whilst lying upon game-feathers. She assured
me that she knew it to be the case, and that in two instances, when she
had attended persons who could not die, they had taken them out of their
beds, and they had expired immediately. I found all expostulation in
vain; no argument could shake so strong a conviction, and I have no
doubt that this strange notion is extensively entertained by the
peasantry in these southern counties."
I have since been informed that a similar belief exists in Cheshire, in
regard to pigeons' feathers.
In the part of Surrey where I reside another popular belief still
lingers, noticed elsewhere by writers on superstitions of this nature.
On the decease of the head of a family, where bees are kept, some person
forthwith goes to the hives and informs the bees of the event. Without
this precaution, it is affirmed that they would speedily desert the
hives.