Chapter Viii. Churchyards, Cemeteries, Orientati : CHAPTER VIII CHURCHYARDS, CEMETERIES, ORIENTATION AND OTHER BURIAL CUSTOMS WE have already seen that the pagan burial-places were considered as something sacred and set apart, and how the early Christians inherited the guardianship of the dead, and erected their first places of worship...
Chapter Xii. Cremation, Embalming : CHAPTER XII CREMATION, EMBALMING WHATEVER may be said for or against cremation as a method of disposing of the bodies of the dead, frequent controversy on the subject in recent years has been the means of inducing people to give some thought to the whole matter of funeral reform. Under a protecting...
Chapter Iii. Preparation For Burial, Coffins : CHAPTER III PREPARATION FOR BURIAL, COFFINS, "GRAVE-GOODS," SUTTEE IN order to follow the various burial customs as clearly as possible, we will consider them in their natural sequence. Death has taken place, with or without such a supernatural warning as we have noted in a previous chapter...
Chapter I. The Provisions Of Nature : CHAPTER I THE PROVISIONS OF NATURE IN the animal kingdom a dead body arouses no feelings of fear or repulsion. In most cases it is looked upon as a generous gift of Nature, of which the fullest advantage is to be taken, or the opportunity lost to competition. It is difficult to appreciate how vast...
Chapter Xiii. In Memoriam : CHAPTER XIII IN MEMORIAM "They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old, Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn At the going down of the sun, and in the morning We will remember them." --Lawrence Binyon. IN dealing with the subject of this chapter, important as it is, to some...
Chapter Xiv. Memorials, Epitaphs, Rings : CHAPTER XIV MEMORIALS, EPITAPHS, RINGS AND MOURNING CARDS AT a time when a lavish expenditure on "memorials" of various kinds has taken place, we shall do well if we consider the origin of a very old custom. When we have stripped any one of our funeral observances of its crape and tinsel--those...
Chapter X. Plague : CHAPTER X PLAGUE IT is to be hoped, that with all that modern science has done towards the better ordering of our sanitary arrangements and the scientific treatment of the refuse of the cities, we, in this country, may never again experience such a devastating scourge as the plague which swept over...
Chapter Ix. Trees, Flowers, Body Snatching : CHAPTER IX TREES, FLOWERS, BODY-SNATCHING INSEPARABLE from the picture which the mind presents at the thought of an old grave, is the yew tree. Often of great size and antiquity, it stands as a land-mark, overhanging with extended arms the tombstone it shelters. Here we shall probably find...
Chapter Iv. Wakes, Mutes, Wailers, Sin Eating : CHAPTER IV WAKES, MUTES, WAILERS, SIN-EATING, TOTEMISM, DEATH-TAXES DURING the period between death and burial (which varies according to custom and climatic conditions) it seems natural enough that the body of a deceased person should be kept under close observation, for one reason or another, not...
Chapter Ii. Death Warnings When Does Death : CHAPTER II DEATH WARNINGS--WHEN DOES DEATH TAKE PLACE? IT is perhaps natural that around the three great mysteries--birth, love and death--a crowd of superstitions cling, the children of those unnamed fears which accompany so many of us from the cradle to the grave, and which certainly dominated...
Chapter V. Bells, Mourning : CHAPTER V BELLS, MOURNING THE "passing bell" is the herald of death, but the custom of ringing it has largely been abandoned in this country. Its object was to call attention to the fact that a soul was "passing" into the next world, and asked your prayers. More than this, it was believed th...
Untitled : Title Page Forword Acknowledgment Contents Chapter I: The Provisions of Nature Chapter II: Death Warnings--When Does Death Take Place? Chapter III: Preparation For Burial, Coffins, 'Grave-Goods,' Suttee Chapter IV: Wakes, Mutes, Wailers, Sin-Eating, Totemism, Death-Taxes Chapter V: Bells, Mourning...
Acknowledgment : ACKNOWLEDGMENT THE Author wishes to express his sincere thanks to many friends who have helped him with this book. In particular, he would mention the following public bodies, firms and individuals who have lent pictures for reproduction: Messrs. J.D. Field & Son (for some particularly interesting...
Chapter Vii. Early Burial Places : CHAPTER VII EARLY BURIAL-PLACES THE earth is one vast burial ground. Even the chalk deposits favoured by the early cave dwellers are composed of countless millions of primitive forms of life deposited in the dark morning of creation. These caves made by the natural course of water percolating...
Chapter Xi. State And Public Funerals : CHAPTER XI STATE AND PUBLIC FUNERALS A DEAD lion may be a more impressive sight than a dead mouse, yet with the hand of death heavy upon them there is little to be said for any difference between the two, and even less when Nature has finished her task. As to the value of popular esteem...
Forword : FORWORD AN exhaustive treatise on funeral customs, ancient and modern, has yet to be written. Leaving to the theologian and philosopher the thankless task of assigning the mystery of death its proper place and functions in the scheme of creation, the writer has confined himself to a general survey...
Title Page : FUNERAL CUSTOMS THEIR ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT BY BERTRAM S. PUCKLE LONDON T. WERNER LAURIE LTD. 30 NEW BRIDGE STREET, E.C. 4 1926
Chapter Vi. Funeral Feasts And Processions : CHAPTER VI FUNERAL FEASTS AND PROCESSIONS WE have seen that certain parts of the body have been eaten in the belief that by this means such special virtues as the dead may possess would be transferred to those who thus participated; and we must bear this ceremonious cannibalism in mind...
