ACCOVNT OF BOOKS. 



991 



tci, to pay some poor person of the 

 same sex, and nearly of the same 

 age wUh the deceased, for procur- 

 ing slips of yow, box, and other 

 evergreens to strew over and orna- 

 ment the grave for some weeks af- 

 ter interment; and in some instances 

 for weeding and adorning it on the 

 eves of Easter, Whitsuntide, and 

 the other great' festivals, for a year 

 or two afterwards. This gift is call- 

 ed diodlij^^ and it is made on a plate 

 at the door of the house, where, at 

 the same time, t'le body is standing 

 on a bier. It had its name from 

 the custom, which is now discon- 

 tinued, of the female relative giving 

 to the person a piece of cheese with 

 the money stuck in it, some white 

 bread, and afterwards a cup of ale. 

 When this previous ceremony is 

 over, the clergyman, or, in his ab- 

 sence, the parish clerk, repeats the 

 Lord's prayer ; after which they 

 proceed with the body to the church. 

 Four of the next of kin take the 

 bier upon their shoulders ; a custom 

 which is considered as expressive of 

 the highest mark that even filial 

 piety can pay to the deceased. If 

 the distance from the house to the 

 church be considerable, they are 

 relieved by some of the congrega- 

 tion ; but they always take it again 

 before they arrive at the church. — 

 I have been informed that, in some 

 parts of the country, it is usual to 

 6et the bier down at every cross- 

 way, and again when^thcy enter 

 the church-yard, and at each of these 

 places to repeat the Lord's prayer. 



" In some jiarts of Wales it was 

 formeriycusfomary for thefriends of 

 the dead to kneel on the grave, and 

 there fo say the Lord's prayer for 

 several Sundays subsequent to the 



interment, and then to dress the 

 grave with flowers. It mms also 

 reckoned fortunate for the deceas- 

 ed if a shower of rain came on while 

 they were carrying the body to 

 church, that his coffin might be moist- 

 ened with the tears of heaven. 



" I have observed that, in most 

 parts of North Wales, the same prac- 

 tice prevails which is common in 

 England, of crowding all the bodies 

 into that part of the church-yard 

 which is south of the church. The 

 only raason that I heard the Welsh 

 people give for this custom is, that 

 the north is the wrong side. The 

 true reason, however, is, that for- 

 merly it was customary for persons, 

 on entering a church-yard, and see- 

 ing the grifve of a friend or acquaint, 

 ance, to put up to heaven a prayer 

 for the peace of their soul ; and 

 since the entrances to churches were 

 usually either on the west or south 

 side, those persons who were in- 

 terred on the north escaped the com- 

 mon notice of their friends, and 

 thereby lost the beneiil of their 

 prayers. Thus the north side be- 

 coming a kind of refuse spot, only 

 paupers, still-born infants, or per- 

 sons guilty of some crimes, wcrft^ 

 buried there.* 



" In Mr. Pratt's Gleanings thro' 

 WaleSj I observe a charmingly ani- 

 mated description of the neatness 

 and elegance of the Welsh church- 

 yards, and of the attention that is 

 bestowed by the surviving relatives 

 ■ to the graves of tiicir kindred : but 

 I am sorry to say, if this gentle- 

 man has stated fafts, that the custom 

 is not general, as he has asserted ; 

 it must be completely local. Dur- 

 ing the seven months that I spent in 

 visiting and examining North U ales, 



* Grose's Olio, 22^. 



