x 
1888.] 269 [Mooney. 
the west and some parts of the north the plate of tobacco is placed upon 
the breast of the corpse. According to Hall,* a quantity of salt is usually 
placed upon it also. JI hav not met with this practice, but in Connemara 
those who attend the wake or funeral put some salt into their pockets 
before leaving home, and take some in their mouths before eating any- 
thing on their return. Salt is believd to keep spirits at a distance, and 
the spirit in this instance seems to be the ghost of the deceasd. In Scot- 
Jand a plate of salt was formerly placed upon the corpse, the purpose 
being to keep the devil from disturbing the body.+ In Ireland, as else- 
where, there ar many curious beliefs in regard to salt. In Cork the tobacco 
and pipes ar placed-just above the feet of the corpse, while in Antrim they 
ar placed on a separate table. The corpse thus laid out is said to be os 
cionn clair (6s cin clawr) or ‘‘over board.’’? In Carleton’s account of the 
old wake ceremonies in some of the northern counties he says that the 
corpse is sometimes laid out wnder a deal board (under board) with a sheet 
thrown over the body so as to conceal it, or is sometimes allowd to rest 
in the bed, with the face uncoverd, while sheets with crosses upon them 
ar pind up about the bed on all sides excepting in front.t He also refers 
in another place to a curious belief of whose existence in Ireland I hav 
no further knowledge, altho it is common to many uncivilized tribes, viz. : 
That if the corpse be buried with the feet tied the spirit will be hinderd in 
its movements in the next world.§ If there be a clock in the hous, it is 
stopd until after the funeral, a custom observd also in Scotland. Should 
the corpse remain ‘‘lumber’’ (limber) after laying out, there will soon 
be another funeral in the family. 
THE WAKE AND CAOINE. 
We now come to the Wake, calld in Gaelic téram* (thoru), concerning 
which most of us hav heard so much and yet know so little. There is a 
prevalent impression among some who should know better that the Irish 
wake is a mere drinking orgy on the occasion of a funeral, but to the 
student of human development it appears something very different—a 
survival of an ancient death rite which is older than history and was once 
almost as widespread as the human race itself. While the wake, with its 
curious mingling of grief and hilarity, of wild lamentation and boisterous 
revelry, seems strangely inconsistent when viewd in the light of our 
* Mr. and Mrs, 8. C. Hall, Ireland, Picturesquely Illustrated, i, 222, n.d., New York, 
R. Worthington, importer. 
+ James Napier, Folk Lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland, 60, Paisley, 
1879. 
{ Wm. Carleton, ‘‘ Larry McFarland’s Wake,” in Traits and Stories of the Irish Peas- 
antry, i, London, 1853. This work—consisting of five volumes in this edition—is invalu- 
able to the student of Irish folk-lore, the more so as it describes customs and beliefs 
prevalent seventy years ago in eastern Ulster, a part of the country from which they hay 
now almost entirely disappeard. The author was an Irishman by birth and education 
and thoroughly in sympathy with the people. 
2 ‘The Party Fight and Funeral,’’ idem, ii, 118, London, 1853. See also page 244, of this 
paper. 
