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Article OLDEN HOLIDAY CUSTOMS ← Page 8 of 11 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Olden Holiday Customs
With store of ale , too , And thus ye must doe , To make the wassail a swinger . " The loA'ing cup passed round at corporation festivals is merely a relic of the Wassail-Boivl of olden time . Before quitting our theme it will not be amiss to observe some
of the ceremonies attached to certain other prominent occasions , not of an annual public nature . Such are funerals and weddings , which have , among nations of every grade of civilization , been marked Avith such ceremonies as appeared in their estimation most appropriate and desirable . The hired mourners Avho form part of an English funeral observanceare not without
, their parallel among the ancients ; for , says Marolles , the Romans used Lictors , clothed in black , to give effect to their funeral rites . We have lost a far more grateful custom—that of strewing the flowers oi r er the resting-place of the departed . At old English funerals , the grave Avas covered Avith floAvers and hung Avith garlands—the latter always in the case of a deceased
maiden , when gloA'es were also suspended over the grave . The performance of these ceremonies Avas looked upon as a religious duty due to the deceased , and was so regarded anciently . Describing the grief of Anchises for Marcellus , Virgil sings : — " Full canisters of fragrant lilies bring , Mix'd with the purple roses of the spring ;
Let me with funeral flowers his body strew , This gift which parents to their children owe , This unavailing gift , at least , I may bestow . " St . Jerome says , speaking of the death of the wife of Paumacliius , " Whilst other husbands streAved violets , lilies , roses , and purple flowers , he bedewed her ashes Avith the balsam of alms . " Gay Avrites : —
" Upon her grave the rosemary they threw , The daisy , butter-flower , and endive blue . " The Natches , on the Mississippi , paint the body of the deceased , and bury with him his arms , together with a kettle , and a supply of food . They bewail him for three entire months , entirely relinquishing employment and amusement .
The day is not long past when the funeral ceremony Avas , among ourselves , concluded with feasting . This frequently led to excess and presented the feature of an Irish wake . In the north of England traces have been found of the observance of burial feasts , called Amis , believed to have been instituted by Cecrops . We have accounts of the continuance of these in the Highlands , and also in the Isle of Man . A writer in the " Gentleman's Magazine" for 1780 , says : " Our ancient funerals , as ivell as some modern ones , were closed Avith merry-makings , at
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Olden Holiday Customs
With store of ale , too , And thus ye must doe , To make the wassail a swinger . " The loA'ing cup passed round at corporation festivals is merely a relic of the Wassail-Boivl of olden time . Before quitting our theme it will not be amiss to observe some
of the ceremonies attached to certain other prominent occasions , not of an annual public nature . Such are funerals and weddings , which have , among nations of every grade of civilization , been marked Avith such ceremonies as appeared in their estimation most appropriate and desirable . The hired mourners Avho form part of an English funeral observanceare not without
, their parallel among the ancients ; for , says Marolles , the Romans used Lictors , clothed in black , to give effect to their funeral rites . We have lost a far more grateful custom—that of strewing the flowers oi r er the resting-place of the departed . At old English funerals , the grave Avas covered Avith floAvers and hung Avith garlands—the latter always in the case of a deceased
maiden , when gloA'es were also suspended over the grave . The performance of these ceremonies Avas looked upon as a religious duty due to the deceased , and was so regarded anciently . Describing the grief of Anchises for Marcellus , Virgil sings : — " Full canisters of fragrant lilies bring , Mix'd with the purple roses of the spring ;
Let me with funeral flowers his body strew , This gift which parents to their children owe , This unavailing gift , at least , I may bestow . " St . Jerome says , speaking of the death of the wife of Paumacliius , " Whilst other husbands streAved violets , lilies , roses , and purple flowers , he bedewed her ashes Avith the balsam of alms . " Gay Avrites : —
" Upon her grave the rosemary they threw , The daisy , butter-flower , and endive blue . " The Natches , on the Mississippi , paint the body of the deceased , and bury with him his arms , together with a kettle , and a supply of food . They bewail him for three entire months , entirely relinquishing employment and amusement .
The day is not long past when the funeral ceremony Avas , among ourselves , concluded with feasting . This frequently led to excess and presented the feature of an Irish wake . In the north of England traces have been found of the observance of burial feasts , called Amis , believed to have been instituted by Cecrops . We have accounts of the continuance of these in the Highlands , and also in the Isle of Man . A writer in the " Gentleman's Magazine" for 1780 , says : " Our ancient funerals , as ivell as some modern ones , were closed Avith merry-makings , at