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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: nanny jan on Monday 05 June 17 18:41 BST (UK)
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Tv news coverage of the young Scottish girl killed in Manchester and I was curious about the white cord that was being held at the front of the coffin.
Is this a Scottish tradition? It is not something I have seen in England.
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I think this helps explain. https://www.flickr.com/photos/browniebear/7316578186
Apparently the cord at the front of the coffin was held by her father. There was also one at the rear held by her mother and siblings.
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Thanks JenB. :)
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Aye, it's an honour for family friends to get a card!
Skoosh.
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There's always something to learn on Rootschat! Thanks Skoosh. :)
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In the highlands and islands, until about 25 years ago women could not attend funerals at all, and in my mother's home village the cords are still given to male relatives in order of closeness (eldest son, second son, brother, nephew etc). The coffin is carried to the graveside by all male mourners taking it in turns, with the chief mourners resuming their places as pall-bearers just before the coffin reaches the graveside. The undertaker hands you a card with your cord number, and calls the numbers in order. The cords are thrown in at the end of the interment.
When my grandmother died in 1985 my cousin Lesley stood up at the end of the service in the house ready to go the the cemetery, and was very quickly and firmly told that was NOT appropriate. I see that the practice varies further south, where widows and sisters not only now stand at the graveside but can hold a cord
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It certainly happened in Glasgow, not common now as burials are rare! Highland funerals commonly have a wee service outside the house of the deceased then to the burial in the kirkyard
Skoosh.
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When visiting family in West Yorkshire in late 1960s- 1970s and reading the local newspaper there were often announcements of funerals but for "gentlemen only to meet at....".
Nobody could explain why.
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Tv news coverage of the young Scottish girl killed in Manchester and I was curious about the white cord that was being held at the front of the coffin.
Is this a Scottish tradition? It is not something I have seen in England.
Glad you asked that Nanny Jan, I too wondered about that white cord!
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The cords were white, probably for a youngster!
Skoosh.
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Many years ago now I was on holiday in Tobermory on the Scottish island of Mull when there was a funeral. All the businesses in the village closed and most, if not all, of the male inhabitants walked behind the coffin from the kirk through the streets to the graveyard. The women remained indoors; whether they had been allowed to attend the funeral service in the kirk I don't know, but hopefully they were allowed to be present at the wake.
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They'd be making the sandwiches & heating the pies Gillg! ;D
Skoosh.
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I wondered about the cord too. How old is this custom , does anyone know ?
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The tradition of the men of the village carrying the coffin on its bearer is centuries old. The bearer id laid over the grave, the cords are distributed, then the bearer is removed and the mourners lower the coffin. I suspect its been done similarly in the highlands for centuries. Certainly in my mother's village the mourners whose families are long eastablished locally stick to the traditions they grew up with.
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Thankyou djct it is an interesting custom indeed.