314 Excursion through North Wales. [Nov. 1, 
same spot, to console with his prayers 
the widow and her family. 
As we sat at breakfast the next 
morning, Mr. W— proposed, as we had 
nothing better to do, that we should 
go again to the cottage, and see the 
burial. 44 You will have an oppor¬ 
tunity,” said our friend, 44 of witness¬ 
ing a Welsh funeral, the peculiarities 
of which are of a very interesting cha¬ 
racter, and the poor widow and her 
friends will think themselves highly 
honoured by our A'isit.” We willingly 
agreed to the proposal, and set off about 
10 o’clock. On our way to the cot¬ 
tage we overtook several persons, whom 
by the black colour of their clothes, and 
their dejected demeanor, we guessed to 
be flocking to the funeral; nor were we 
mistaken. When we arrived we found 
about a dozen people already there, and 
their number was quickly augmented 
to more than twenty. We beheld, 
when we entered, a scene of some little 
bustle, inconsistent, we thought, with 
the melancholy occasion ; but a sad and 
mournful silence was diffused over the 
whole, which impressively told that 
the meeting was not .one of mirth or 
gaiety. There was, indeed, an air of 
painful sorrow in the scene. The wo¬ 
men, with their long black cloaks, 
and the men with their dark gloomy 
dresses, with the solemn and downcast 
countenances of them all, communi¬ 
cated to us a sympathetic feeling, and 
we felt fully inclined to share in the 
sorrow for the loss of the poor mountain 
peasant. We no sooner made our ap¬ 
pearance than the widow’s daughter 
immediately hastened to us, and led 
us to a small table on one side. She 
thanked us in the name of her mother, 
who was not present, for the honour 
we were pleased to confer upon them 
by our attendance at the burial, and 
then placed before us some wlieaten 
cakes, a bowl of milk, some butter and 
cheese, and a bottle of excellent cur¬ 
rant wine; begging we would not be 
sparing of them, she quitted us, to ad¬ 
minister to the wants of her other 
guests. About 11 o’clock, the clergy¬ 
man, whom we met on the preceding- 
evening, arrived, and was greeted 
with the most cordial and gratifying 
respect by the company assembled. 
Having returned their salutations, he 
spoke a few words in Welsh, and en¬ 
tered the inner chamber, where the 
corpse lay, followed by us all. Here 
we observed the poor widow and her 
boy, seated near the bier which sup¬ 
ported the coffin of the deceased. She 
rose as the clergyman advanced, who, 
as soon as his auditors were settled, 
pronounced in his native tongue the 
sublime and emphatic injunction, 44 Let 
us pray !” All knelt round the bier, 
and the pious minister, the shepherd of 
this mountain flock, prayed long and 
fervently over the corpse of the de¬ 
parted. Although we understood but 
little of the language in which he ad¬ 
dressed the Father, we could not listen 
unmoved to his impressive supplica¬ 
tions. The rude and rugged hearts of 
the peasantry were touched to the very 
core,—the women wept aloud, and the 
weather-beaten features of the men 
were plentifully moistened with tears. 
We glanced round the group before we 
rose from prayer, and saw the discon¬ 
solate widow restingher head on the bo¬ 
som of her lovely daughter, whose sobs 
plainly indicated the internal agony she 
endured. After the minister had im¬ 
plored the extension of the DivineMercy 
towards the family of the brother they 
had just lost, he exhorted his auditors 
to be patient and resigned under their 
afflictions, and to trust in Him, who 
would succour them. Having finished 
his exhortation, we arose, and prepared 
to perform the remainder of the mourn¬ 
ful ceremony. The cottage was nearly 
a mile from the parish church, and the 
procession of the mourners was soon ar¬ 
ranged. Six young women led -the 
way, then followed the clergyman, 
and next to him the bier, supported by 
four of the dearest friends of the de¬ 
ceased. The widow, as chief mourner, 
was fallowed by her daughter, leading 
by the hand her little brother, the rest 
of the company in pairs came after, 
and we walked in the rear. We no 
sooner began to move onwards than 
the young women, who led the proces¬ 
sion, commenced a mournful and dirge¬ 
like chaunf, of great pathos and simpli¬ 
city. It is impossible to describe the 
effect of this funeral lament. The 
wildness of the scenery through which 
we passed, the mournful occasion on 
which we were assembled, and the ex¬ 
quisite melody of the hymn itself, told 
at once to the heart, and fixed the 
imagination to a sad and awful subject. 
The singing was continued till we 
reached the church porch, when the 
bier was placed on the ground, and the 
Lord’s Prayer pronounced over the 
corpse by the clergyman. We then en¬ 
tered 
