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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.
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