When they came, their _modus operandi_ was to place a
plate of salt and a plate of bread on the breast of the corpse, and
repeat a series of incantations, after which they ate the contents of
the plates, and so relieved the dead person of such sins as would have
kept him hovering around his relations, haunting them with his
imperfectly purified spirit, to their great annoyance, and without
satisfaction to himself. This form of superstition has evidently a close
relation to such forms of ancestor-worship as we know were practised by
the ancients, and to which reference has already been made.
Until the funeral, it was the practice for some of the relations or
friends to sit up all night, and watch the corpse. In my young days this
duty was generally undertaken by youths, male and female friends, who
volunteered their services; but these watchings were not accompanied by
the unseemly revelries which were common in Scotland in earlier times,
or as are still practised in Ireland. The company sitting up with the
corpse generally numbered from two to six, although I have myself been
one of ten.
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