A plate of salt is also placed upon the breast as an emblem of eternity.
Those who come to see the corpse are expected to touch it, in token that they are in peace with the dead. It is often said that if you do not touch it you will dream of it. The coffin must be carried to the church by the old-established "church-road," and the notion still prevails that the way over which a body is carried to its burial thereby becomes a highroad. Therefore in the case of private roads or bridges (the Prebend’s Bridge at Durham, certainly) a small toll is levied when a funeral procession passes over it. The coffin-bearers are usually chosen so as to correspond with the deceased in sex, age, and position. In the case of children and young girls, white scarves and gloves are worn; and if the dead person were a young unmarried woman, a "maiden garland" used to be laid on the coffin, and hung up in the church after the funeral. There are, or were, some of these garlands hanging in the church of Witton-Gilbert, near Durham. These have a glove, cut out of white paper, in the midst.
When arrived at the churchyard, the dead must be carried to the grave the way of the sun (east, by south, west, and north, for "ye wad no hae them carry the dead again the sun; the dead maun aye go wi’ the sun." This is an old British usage, and in the Highlands is called "making the deisul." It is practised to bring good luck; to go round in the opposite direction (or "withershins") is an evil incantation, and brings ill-fortune.
It should rain a little during the procession, for "happy is the corpse that the rain rains on!"
It used to be customary for anyone meeting a funeral to stop for a moment and take his hat off. This is still occasionally done.
The survivors should not grieve too much for the dead, as this hinders their repose.
When the head of a house dies, the bees should be told of their master’s death, and asked to accept the new one, or they will all die.
It is said that if a loaf of bread weighted with quicksilver be allowed to float in the water, it will swim towards, and stand over the place where the body of a drowned person lies.
There is a remedy for most diseases in the shape of a spell or charm.
Whooping-cough may be cured by passing the child under an ass; or by taking some milk, giving half to a white ferret, letting the child drink the rest. In Sunderland, the crown of the head is shaved and the hair hung upon a bush, so that the birds, carrying it to their nests, may take the cough with it.