Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/104

88 ride him, he makes friendship with the possessor of the deceased, in order to secure on the day of burial the first coffin shaving, and the first portion of the sod turned up by the gravedigger.

× If a man murders another he either drinks or burns the blood to hinder the duppy from riding him.

× To plant down the duppy they will cut a tree and invert it in the grave.

× If they believed that the person is killed by some one they will dress him black for burial, put boots upon his feet, arm him with a knife and a horsewhip, a spur upon one of his boots to ride and kill the killer when he rises from the dead.

They believe that a man rises three days after death, when he will go about and take the shadow of all the things he possessed during life.

If a person dies where there are little children, after the body is put into the coffin, they will lift up each little child, and calling him by name, pass him over the dead body. In the case of an adult he will put his hand upon the chest and say a few words. The common belief in this is, that the duppy will not hurt them.

When the coffin with the body is taken out, someone with a broom sweeps the house, casting all the refuse after it, saying he is sweeping out the dead.

When the body is taken out of the house it is generally placed on two chairs while some devotional exercises are being performed. On lifting the coffin, the people have a belief to lift it two or three times before removing it altogether.

One common belief is, that a body can run while on the way to be buried, and it can give weight, especially when the person who killed it carries the coffin. At this stage the coffin is believed to be dropping to the ground, when some one will rush up and say, "Come! don't mind! come, let us go." The reason for the weight was nothing but the want of the proper balance of the coffin.

Another stupid belief is to throw the water that washed dead body [sic]] upon the grave.

If a man dies and leaves his yam-heads, as he rots they will rot also.

When a person dies on a bed, the head of the bed is generally turned, and in some cases the doorway.

It is also said that any one who has a wound, regardless how