Mooney. | 284 Oct. 19, 
first dipping his hands into holy water; neither should any cne visit a 
sick person on coming from a wake.* 
THe FUNERAL PROCESSION AND BURIAL. 
The wake generally continues until the morning of the third day, when 
the friends make the final preparations for the funeral. Until of late years 
the priest rarely attended the funeral or was present at the burial, but it was 
customary to celebrate a requiem mass, known as the “ month’s mind,” 
at the hous of the deceasd one month after the death. Another, known as 
the ‘‘ year’s mind,”’ was sometimes celebrated in the chapel on the first 
anniversary. , It is a matter of congratulation if the funeral occur upon a 
Sunday, as that is the day upon which Christ ascended into heaven, and a 
shower is accepted as a sign that the fires of purgatory wil soon be 
quenchd for the soul. <A saying, quoted by Napier, indicates the exist- 
ence of a similar belief in Scotland.+ On the other hand, it is unlucky to 
dig the grave on Monday, probably because the week would be unfortu- 
nate if begun in such a manner. The corpse is not put into the coffin until 
the procession is about to start, when the friends kiss the face for the last 
time and the lid is then fastend down, holy water being frequeutly sprinkled 
upon the coffin and attendants at the same time. In some parts the coffin 
is then brought out and placed on chairs outside the door, while the can- 
dles which hav been kept constantly burning about the corpse ar ranged 
on other chairs around the coffin and remain so until the procession begins 
to move. Should the corpse be that of husband or wife, the friends of 
either party frequently endeavor, as soon as the coffin has been taken out, 
to overturn the table or chairs upon which the body rested, in order that 
the next death may be among the relativs on the other side of the family, 
and this has sometimes occasiond a struggle even in the hous of death. 
Instances of this practice hav occurd in Washington. The lid must not 
be naild on the coffin of a new-born child, or, according to Lady Wilde, 
the mother who bore it will never hav another. 
In districts where hearses hav not yet come into use the coffin is carried 
on a bier or on poles supported on the shoulders of four or six men. In 
some districts of Ulster, according to Carleton, the bearers formerly kept 
their arms hanging down in front, with the end of the pole resting upon 
the breast, until the churchyard was reachd, when the near relativs took 
the coffin upon the shoulders and made the circuit in the ordinary way.t 
It is always carried with the feet of the corpse to the front, and when 
set down at any time before or after reaching the churchyard the face is 
always toward the east. The bearers are relievd at intervals, all the men 
in attendance usually assisting by turns, as this is considerd a mark of 
*Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends of Ireland, ii, 119, London, 1887. 
t+James Napier, Folk Lore or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland, 65, Paisley, 
1879. 
{ Wm. Carleton, ‘The Party Fight and Funeral,’ in Traits and Stories of the Irish 
Peasantry, ii, 114 and 126, Loudon, 1853. 
° 
