the soul's welfare. I remember that the
funeral of the only daughter of a worthy couple happened on a wet day,
but just as the funeral was leaving the house the sun broke through and
the day cleared, whereupon the mother, with evident delight, as she
stood at the door, thanked God that Mary was getting a good blink.
Stormy weather was a bad omen, being regarded as due to Satan's
influence. Burns refers to this belief in his "Tam o' Shanter." When
referring to the storm, he says:--

"Even a bairn might understand
The deil had business on his hand."

The following old rhyme mentions the most propitious sort of weather for
the christening, marriage, and funeral:--

"West wind to the bairn when gaun for its name,
Gentle rain to the corpse carried to its lang hame,
A bonny blue sky to welcome the bride,
As she gangs to the kirk, wi' the sun on her side."

The wake in the Highlands during last century was a very common affair.
Captain Burt, in his letters from Scotland, 1723, says that when a
person dies the neighbours gather in the evening in the house where the
dead lies, with bagpipe, and spend the evening in dancing--the nearest
relative to the corpse leading off the dance. Whisky and other
refreshments are provided, and this is continued every night until the
funeral.

Pennant, in his tour through the Highlands, 1772, says that, at a death,
the friends of the deceased meet with bagpipe or fiddle, when the
nearest of kin leads off a melancholy ball, dancing and wailing at the
same time, which continue till daybreak, and is continued nightly till
the interment. This custom is to frighten off or protect the corpse from
the attack of wild beasts, and evil spirits from carrying it away.

Another custom of olden times, and which was continued till the
beginning of this century, was that of announcing the death of any
person by sending a person with a bell--known as the "deidbell"--through
the town or neighbourhood. The same was done to invite to the funeral.
In all probability, the custom of ringing the bell had its origin in the
church custom, being a call to offer prayers for the soul of the
departed. Bell-ringing was also considered a means of keeping away evil
spirits. Joseph Train, writing in 1814, refers to another practice
common in some parts of Scotland. Whenever the corpse is taken from the
house, the bed on which the deceased lay is taken from the house, and
all the straw or heather of