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FOLKLORE of SUSSEX
The funeral customs of Sussex present a few unusual features and customs.
There are slight traces of an old belief that to put salt on coffins afforded
them protection against evil forces; One writer mentions an old woman's
recollection that a High Church priest, some time in the late nineteenth
century, offended people in her village by forbidding them to sprinkle coffins
with salt 'to stop the Devil flying off with the body'.
More frequently mentioned is a charming custom at the burial of shepherds;
a lock of wool was laid in their hands in the coffin, so that at the Last
Day they could prove what their work had been, and so be forgiven for the
many times they had had to miss Sunday church. The custom was sometimes
kept up in this century, for instance at Alfriston and Flamer in the 1930's;
in Falmer, a shepherd was buried with crook, shears and sheep-bell at his
side.
When a sick man was at the point of death, certain rituals could ease
his passing. Doors and windows should be opened, to let the soul leave freely;
if he still lingered, some would open drawers and cupboards too. It was
often held that if there were game-birds' or pigeons' feathers on the pillows
or bed, the dying man would remain in agony.
Children grave's were placed near to the pathway so that they would
not feel so lonely as their friends passed close by.
Paupers from workhouses were buried with little ceremony and it was a
common sight to see a corpse being brought to the graveyard for burial on
a farm wagon or pony cart.
The last night funeral in Horsham was carried out in 1829 for a Mrs. Killick
of Tanbridge. The church was illuminated entirely by candles.
Nowadays we associate death with black, but this was not always the case.
The bearers at many funerals in past centuries wore their best white smocks
- in fact, funerals were probably the last occasions when smocks were worn
by men as a matter of course, some time after they had gone from everyday
use. Sometimes it was the women who wore white. In 1798 a journeyman carpenter
was buried in Salehurst churchyard, with the pall being supported by six
young women dressed in white.
Funeral Customs
