Funeral - No mourning or flowers.

[carol8353]

My godfather died in 1998 ,his will specified that no women should go to his funeral.
It was a long held belief of his that only men were strong enough to mourn at a funeral.

[Mike in Cumbria]

I'm going to specify no royalty or media celebrities at my funeral.

Hordes of weeping women  more than welcome.

[carol8353]

I'm going to specify no royalty or media celebrities at my funeral.

Hordes of weeping women  more than welcome.

If the Duchess of Sussex wanted to go,you wouldn't be able to stop her 

[Kiltpin]

I am sure that it refers to the clothing. This book was written in the 60s -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ill-Dress-You-Mourning-Extraordinary/dp/0671542850

Regards

Chas

[Mart 'n' Al]

I've just searched the so-called advanced search on the British News Archive, for "No mourners", but it ignores short words.  I was hoping to find the earliest occurrence. 

I really think that they should have been clearer in 1941, to avoid any upset and embarrassment!  How do you tell if somebody wearing a black office suit was mourning or not?

Martin

[arthurk]

I've just searched the so-called advanced search on the British News Archive, for "No mourners", but it ignores short words.  I was hoping to find the earliest occurrence. 

I really think that they should have been clearer in 1941, to avoid any upset and embarrassment!  How do you tell if somebody wearing a black office suit was mourning or not?

Your original query was about "no mourning", not "no mourners", and that may make a difference...

As to the earliest use of the term, the online Oxford English Dictionary gives an example from c1450 of "blake mournyng"; without the black, there's another from 1561.

This is at http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/122947 - the entry is headed "mourning, n.1" and this is definition 6a. It seems you need a library card log-in to access it, but there are no doubt other online dictionaries which have something similar.

[Mike in Cumbria]

I'm going to specify no royalty or media celebrities at my funeral.

Hordes of weeping women  more than welcome.

If the Duchess of Sussex wanted to go,you wouldn't be able to stop her 

If it's my funeral, I won't be in a position to stop anyone.

[stanmapstone]

Googling "No mourning or flowers" brings up many results some in the last few years.
E.g.
WILSON Ursula Mary Peacefully at home on December 12, 2014? aged 100. Wife of the late Gerald Wilson. Much loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Service of Thanksgiving at All Saints Church, Manfield at 2.30pm on Monday, January 4, 2016. No mourning or flowers at her request.

Published in The Northern Echo on 17th December 2015

Stan

[Mart 'n' Al]

Arthur k said "Your original query was about "no mourning", not "no mourners", and that may make a difference..."

My error! 

Martin