Above, a Scottish hearse from the 19th century.

Funeral customs in Scotland may have varied form place to place, and according to the resources of the family, so what follows may or may not accurately describe how Wighton deaths were handled in Meigle. The superstitious practices that were intended to ensure that the soul of the deceased did not find its way back home were more predominant the further north one went into the Highlands.

At the moment of death the windows were thrown open for the purpose of easing the departure of the soul. The window remained open only for an instant for fear the soul might return. The women would prepare the deceased for burial - washing the body - which symbolized the purification of the soul. The body was then dressed in dead clothes more commonly known as winding sheets. After completing the washing of the body, the women would kistan the body - that is, lay the body in the coffin.

The ringing of bells at deaths and funerals was fairly common. The bell-ringer would stand at the town square, ring his bell, then announce the death of the deceased. This announcement served as an invitation for the entire community to attend a feast and funeral at the home of deceased. In some cases, the door of the home was painted black and decorated with white tear shapes.

For several days the body was waked. Members of the family, numbering 2 to 10 people, usually the young and unmarried, would watch over the body around-the-clock, to keep the spirit from falling to the Devil. Curtains or blinds were drawn until after the funeral. Family and friends of the deceased would come and pay their last respects. Readings were made from the Bible, along with the singing of hymns, and conversing in low hushed tones. Neighbors would help by bringing extra chairs for the watchers or extra fuel to help heat the house throughout the Dead Days.

Funerals were great occasions in which the entire community generally played a part. The deceased family was responsible for providing a feast. (If they could not afford it, an auction was held afterward, selling off the deceased's assets.) The men and women would celebrate separately - the men in the barn and the women in the house. Funerals of the day could lead to a great deal of eating and drinking which might degenerate into revelry. However, a more lasting negative consequence of such funerals was the impoverishment of the bereaved family that might result.

After the feast, a ceremony would be held to commemorate the deceased. Each person would have the opportunity to toast the deceased and his other family and friends. Adults and children alike would then file past the coffin, touching the deceased's brow or breast, lest they be haunted by the corpse's spirit afterwards. After all had paid their respects, the coffin was closed.

The coffin would be covered by a mort-cloth, a black, usually velvet, piece of cloth. This cloth was owned by the parish and a charge was made for its use. (Use of the parish mort-cloth was one of the main ways of raising funds for the support of the parish's poor.) In rural areas, the undertaker was usually the local joiner who built the coffin. Sometimes, if a coffin was too expensive, the body was simply wrapped in a sheet.

Eight women relatives would take the first lift. When the coffin was raised, the chairs on which it had rested were carefully turned upside down for fear the ghost might be sitting on them. The coffin was carried through the house to the men waiting outside. The casket left the house, feet first so that the soul could not find its way back home.

The funeral procession commenced at 3:00 p.m. with the bell ringer leading the way. Processions were traditionally on foot, a custom that persisted into the 20th century. The coffin was carried by eight men at a time, with all of the men of the community having the chance to help carry it. The procession was usually solemn but it could also be wild. Due to excessive drinking at the feast by the men, unexpected events occurred. Sometimes the procession would lose the coffin or even get in fights with other funeral processions which were headed toward the same church yard.

But, burials were also conducted with much more decorum. Here's an account from a parish minister. None, even of the common people, attend without a particular invitation. After some entertainment (for at the burial of the poorest here, there is refreshment given, consisting of whisquy, or some foreign liquor, butter and cheese with oat bread), the friends of the deceased, and neighbours of the village, who come to witness the interment, are drawn up in rank and file, by an old serjeant, or some veteran who have been in the army, and who attends to maintain order, and give, as they term it here, the word of relief. Upon his crying Relief!, the four under the bier prepare to leave their stations, and make room for another four that instantly succeed. This progression is observed, at the interval of every five minutes, till the whole attendants come in regularly; and if the distance requires it, there is a second, a third, or a fourth round of such evolutions gone through. When the persons present are not inflamed with liquor, which is now seldom the case, there is a profound silence generally observed, from the time the corpse has been taken up till the internment is over.

If the distance that the procession had to take was lengthy (recall that it was from the deceased's home), the men would rest at designated places by the roadway, switch pall bearers, or share whiskey. The men would throw a stone at the side of the road as a token. Even today, these heaps of stones, or cairns, can be found by the roadside.

Only the men attended the burial ceremony at the cemetery. Close relatives lowered the coffin into the ground. If the women followed the casket, it would be to the cemetery church gate only. Or, they might stay behind at the house to look after the children and prepare the food for the after-funeral feast that was known as a dredgy.

Sources

Steven, Maisie C. Parish Life in Eighteenth-Century Scotland, Scottish Cultural Press.

Various web sites, including

Scottish Burial Customs (http://freepages.folklore.rootsweb.com/~bldr/customs2.html)