is very common.↩. The coffin was covered with a mort cloth (or plaid if the family were too poor). What can be sadder than generations of incredible toil….? It was produced to accompany the beginning and end (at least) of the Yorkshire TV series "Harry’s Game", made in the early 1980s and set in the NI Troubles. A term used by the Vikings to describe someone who had a look of death about them expressed in the word feigr “destined to die soon” and even animals could bear this sign. Most want to die “on country”, and will often avoid potentially life-saving or prolonging therapy if that means they must travel, and may not die “on country” as a result. "I would just like to say that you don’t sing (or play) sad songs about death ‘for fun’, but as a way of showing sympathy or empathy. It was not uncommon to see a funeral followed by baying cattle and was a mark of awe and reverence for the departed. For example, recently a dear friend of mine moved away. Gin want that soul to live The cross roads are still a place in Scottish folklore where roads to the otherworld are said to be open. The first of the Milesians to die in Ireland and become Lord of the Dead. All the mirrors covered with white linen and all the clocks were stopped. The smell made the crowd gag. Especially if a cleric couldn’t be found. …"And when you’re in some foreign land, ↩, Laws were passed in 1645 by the general assembly to prevent wakes being carried out because of how “messy” they got. a custome in this country. I have been told by my Scottish ancestors of the sentiment that “you do not own the land, the land owns you”; which has echoes in the Australian aboriginal understanding of a human being’s place in life and the connectedness to ‘country’. It is recorded on her album "Cuilidh". Other tutlery spirits might manifest differently with various signs from sounds, like dogs barking or bulls roaring, to lights and animals. The activities carried out at funerals and around the dead reinforce the idea Scottish folk magic is related to the management of spirit and the dead. Couldn’t help it. Those who were closet to the deceased would give food, drink, tobacco and snuff as required. Lastly, she arranges three ‘toom’ or empty dishes on the hearth, as near as possible to the fire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scHr3a8HS4A, An Chúilfhionn Gam: "I would just like to say that you don’t sing (or play) sad songs about death ‘for fun’, but as a way of showing sympathy or empathy." The practice gave rise to various abuses, and in 1617, was finally abolished in the Highlands and If you haven’t read it I suggest you have a wee read. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The body wasn’t taken through a field least it turned the field fallow. The spirit fled, the poor dead eyes were closed, also by the nearest relative, and generally kept so by means of copper coins placed upon them. Believe me love it’s true, In Denmark, it was forbidden to bury the dead in the clothes of the living. Birlinn, Edinburgh; 2004. In similar fashion our Germanic ancestors would lay the departed out on a plank or stones. The bean throwing is interesting. The significant role played by women as community lay priests and the disfigured or possibly disabled (those touched by the sidhe) is important. To able to give someone a good death was important. Once the green turf was covering the coffin there would be another dram of whisky and folks would return home to the final part of the funerary party. Beans were associated with spirits in Roman times. Being quite gassy myself I chuckle at this idea that I’m full of spirits, but this was no frivolous concern to the Romans. There is a belief that death follows us, signs and portents are presented to us and death will rarely surprise if we know what to look for. I wish that you were staying here , Much like the earlier Border reivers. The cries are called by the Irish the ‘Ulogohne and Hûllulu , two words extremely expressive of the sound uttered on these occasions, and being of Celticstock, Etymologists would swear to be the origin of the  of the Greeks , and Ululatus of the Latins. Bhain tú an croí istigh i lár mo chléibh díom However, we have records of the first lifting of the Coffin being done by woman first then passed to men and pictures of women in wake processions. These special candles for watching the dead were the remains of especially large candles burned at Yule and extinguished at the close of the day. He noted they died at liminal times. I introduced a series of writing exploring the role of the oft neglected dead in Scottish folk magic. If all miss the sieve it augurs bad for the soul. The connection of the dead to Speaing (fortune telling) is interesting one. Until the last few years, when a death occurred all the people of a township ceased working until after the funeral, which was attended by every adult male. …and if done badly, leave your audience empathising with anyone who has already passed on…. There would be a plate over the stomach of the deceased with a mound of earth in it or on occasion a small green piece of turf or salt. Cultural interplay has provided Scotland a rich diversity and depth of folklore. Fairy faith a repository for all things that couldn’t be taken into Christianity’s increasing ideological expansion 2. The Romans were powerless to stop the restless dead entering their homes on the unlucky days of the Lemuralia festival (the 9th, 11th and 13th of May) where spirits of the doorways conspired to let them enter. They were fitted with shoes called Helskor “the shoes of hel” to help them more easily move to the next life. It was not uncommon for the dead body to join in the games. 18 Then she must measure three handfuls of common salt into an earthen ware plate and lay it on the breast of the corpse. The burial mounds of our ancestors  Sidhe mounds. Migration, exploration and invasion. to the designs of ye Christian Religion such an abuse is ; they also (tho written by the late Ewan MacColl this song has certainly fallen into the trad repetoire) The next part of the series we will explore the suggestion the witch’s’ familiar was a departed soul. This feast of the cross roads was marked by the Pater Familias and not an official ecclesiastic. She didn’t say who she was, but it was always given down be people then, that the banshee belonged to the criers. Vitriol 9 poured over it, dissolving the body. Anyone that was at that in times gone by, it was left thet they’d be crying I suppose when they’d be dead. […] is a funerary custom. 26. This stream would be found along the kirk road. Come death, and pass life –  Scottish folk charm to urge death. For over a decade now i’ve heard the songs and laments. ↩, the origin of the term when “death comes a knocking” ↩, Meyer’s version of Germon Mythology  provides a list of over 2600 of similar superstitions ↩, The covering of the mirrors could have other purposes. The chiefs had rough and ready methods; they were not influenced by the fine distinctions which prevail in modern communities, where justice between man and man is a recognised principle ; they were arbitrary in their dealings with their followers, as they were uncertain in their relations towards one another. Though not fully comprehensive, I think it provides enough examples to connect Scottish folk magic to the world of the dead and supports my original supposition and gives this element of Scottish Folk Magic more prominence within the corpus. All the attendants going out of the room return to it backwards repeating the ‘Rhyme of Saining’: Thrice the torchie, thrice the saltie [torchie = candle, saltie = salt] Another festival honouring the dead was the Roman Laralia festival. In her interesting and moving autobiography "The Other Side Of The Rainbow", Clannad’s lead singer Moya Brennan tells of the making of this piece, and how the first playback of the finished version left the band fairly awestruck by what they found they had created. I think the presence of the turf has a greater significance. These philosophies shaped a unique form of folklore relating to the dead born from this melting pot.