UNERAL services of great magnificence entered largely into the customs of this pageantic epoch; and to this day, in Catholic countries, no religious ceremonies are conducted with more pomp than those intended to commemorate the departed. Besides the religious orders, there were numerous confraternities, guilds, and brotherhoods devoted to the burying and praying for the deceased. As no newspapers existed in those days, when a person of distinction died, the "Death Crier,"—in some parts of England called the "Death Watch,"—dressed in black, with a death's-head and cross-bones painted on the back and front of his gown, and armed with a bell, went the round of the town or village, as the case might be, shouting "Of your charity, good people, pray for the soul of our dear brother, [or sister] who departed this life at such and such an hour." Upon this the windows and doors of the houses were opened, and the "good people" said an ave or a pater for the "rest" of the dead, and at the same time the passing bell was tolled. In London, when the King or Queen died, the crier, or "Death Watch," who paraded our principal thoroughfares was, of course, a very important personage. Attended by the whole brotherhood, or guild, of the Holy Souls, with cross-bearer, each carrying a lighted candle, he proceeded processionally through the streets, notably up and down Cheapside and the Strand, solemnly ringing his bell, and crying out in a lugubrious voice his sad news. These criers, both in England and France, were paid, as officials, by the civic corporation so much per day, and were obliged, in addition to their usual mournful occupation, to inspect and report on the condition of low taverns and places of ill-fame. In the course of time they added to their "cry" news of a more miscellaneous character, and after the Reformation, became, we may well imagine, those rather musty folks the "Watch," who only disappeared from our midst as late as the early half of this century.
Figs. 18 & 19.—Death Criers—French costumes of 17th Century. The English dress was almost identical.—From a rare print in the collection of Mr. Richard Davey. Engraved expressly for this publication.
Fig. 20.—Pall from the Church of Folleville, France, now in the Museum at Amiens. It is of black velvet, with stripes of white silk let in, embroidered with black and gold thread. It was placed over the coffin. Similar palls existed in England, and one or two are still preserved in our national collections.