#funerary tradition

[bunad]

Part of a Likkross

A Likkross is a ceremonial cloth lain on top of the casket in the shape of a cross.

This one was made in 1796 in Hjartdal, Telemark, of linen embroidered in wool threads in smøyg, cross stitch, blackwork, and freehand techniques.

photo: Eva Brænd - Norsk Folkemuseum

[physiologicdeadspace]

Famadihana is a funerary tradition practiced in Madagascar. It involves exhuming the remains of family members from their crypts, wrapping them in a fresh, silk cloth and dancing with the corpses to live music around the tomb. It is also known as ‘the turning of the bones’. The custom is based on the belief that the spirits of the dead can join the world of the ancestors only after their body has fully decomposed and certain rituals have been completed, It takes place every 7 years and involves the gathering of the extended family.

The practice is viewed by some as outdated and it has declined as a result of an increase in the price of silk shrouds. Some people still see the practice as important and as a method of respecting the dead and building strong family ties.

[wadestone]

St. Stephens church is a lovely box-shaped Georgian church built in 1821 replacing an 11th century building. The church is no longer used and is owned by the Churches Conservation Trust.

The interior of the church has painted plaster walls and numbered box pews. There is also a three-decker pulpit and a gallery on the west and north sides.

Inside the church, behind a glass panel are two Maiden’s Garlands, a third, modern replica, is hung in the nave. The garlands were made by the friends of a young woman who had died before she was married. Her coffin bearers would be young girls dressed in white, the garland was carried in front of the coffin and hung up in the church after the funeral.  Of the two original garlands in the church; one was made for Elizabeth Harland with died in 1848 aged 19, the other was made for Jane Levitt who died in 1859 aged 20.

The garland consisted of two hoops intertwined, decorated with white paper flowers and ribbons, in the centre of which was a white glove, often home-made, of paper or fine linen, upon which was written or worked in some fine stitch the initials or name in full and age of the deceased. According to locality this garland was either carried in front of the coffin by one of the deceased’s dearest companions, or laid upon it.

R Blakeborough. Yorkshire Wit, Character, Folklore & Customs. 1911. Saltburn

  The Maiden’s Garlands of Robin Hood’s Bay St. Stephens church is a lovely box-shaped Georgian church built in 1821 replacing an 11th century building.