AN ANGLO-SAXON WIDOW.
PRIEST OF THE 10TH CENTURY, WEARING A BLACK DALMATIC EDGED WITH FUR, READY TO SAY REQUIEM MASS.
The funeral feast was a common practice among the classical ancients, and was kept up to a comparatively recent period, in various European countries. The Cup of Consolation consisted of light refreshments prepared and sent in by the friends of mourners, who were not supposed to busy themselves with domestic affairs at such a time. The illustration gives a good idea of the mourning habit adopted by the immediate family of the deceased. Caves were used for the disposal of the dead, as well as elaborately constructed sepulchres, of which many remain to this day. Earth burial was in favour with some nations, but in time of war or pestilence cremation was resorted to. The practice of embalming we owe to the Egyptians, who carried it to a great state of perfection. One of the earliest embalmments on record is that of Joseph, whose body accompanied the Israelites on their journey through the Wilderness. He was placed in a coffin, a distinction in the East only accorded to those of the highest rank, the usual mode being to simply swathe the corpse closely in wrappers and bandages, thus retaining the shape of the human form. The Jews largely used spices and perfumes, which were employed both for anointing and for wrapping up the body—a very necessary precaution in hot climates. The Egyptians, on the death of a relative or sacred animal (the cat, for instance), attired themselves in yellow garments and shaved off their eyebrows. Their funeral processions were magnificent. When a king quitted this mortal sphere, the temples were closed for seventy-two days, and there were no sacrifices, solemnities, or feasts. Companies of two or three hundred men and women, in mean attire paraded the streets, singing plaintive songs and reciting the virtues of him they had lost. They ate no meat, or food dressed by fire, and omitted their customary baths and anointings. Every one mourned as for the death of a favourite child, and spent the day in lamentations. The Pyramids, those wonderful monuments to Egyptian monarchs, are memorials of the reverence and industry of the nation, whose high state of civilization is attested to by their works.
HIRED MOURNERS.
Burial clubs were common among the Anglo-Saxons, and heavy fines were inflicted on those who did not attend the funeral of a member. The corpse was placed on a bier, and on the body was laid the book of the Gospels, a code of belief and a cross as a symbol of hope. A silken or linen pall was used, according to the rank of the dead person. The clergy bore lighted tapers and chanted the psalter, the mass was performed, and a liberal offering made to the poor.
From a 9th century MS. in the National Library, Paris, is given a sketch which clearly defines the mourning habit of that period. The gown is evidently of black woollen cloth, trimmed with black and white fur; and a gauze veil of the same sombre tint envelops the head. From the same source a drawing of an Anglo-Saxon priest is given, on account of his wearing a black dalmatic, edged with fur, a vestment only adopted when a requiem mass was performed.
MOURNING IN SACKCLOTH