Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/379

 Co/ieclanea. 347

and away he went to the grave of his newly-buried wife, from which the question, "Will I sell them drink, Nanny?" found answer, " Hae they ony siller, John?" "Awat they hae plenty o' siller." " Weel, weel, gie ye them drink as lang's they hae siller, an' ye'll get plenty o' guid auld bottle't ale i' the amery ahint the hallin door." Some wag in the company had no doubt assisted the dead woman in answering this question." (Dinnie's Account of the Parish of Birse, Aberdeen, 1865.)

The wag may have assisted in the answer, but the fact remains that the man went out to commune with the dead, as in the Coull case.

Funerals.

Michie {Deeside Tales, p. 20) makes reference to the following : " It was one of the superstitions of the times that if the perpetrator of a murder could by any chance see through beneath the body of his victim, he would escape the punishment of his crime. So far from proving always true, this belief had sometimes even led to the detection of the murderer, when he might otherwise have escaped. Cases have been known where, during the funeral of a person who had met his death by foul means, the culprit was de- tected by displaying some anxiety to look under the coffin. This superstition also gave rise to a singular custom, long observed in the Highlands at the funerals of persons supposed to have been . murdered. Before 'lifting,' the coffin was draped with Highland plaids, which hung from its sides to the ground, so that no one might be able to see through beneath it when it was being con- veyed to the place of interment."

"■jRei's/in" a funeral. — A, M. (died in 1910, aged S3) told me a tale narrated to him by his father as having happened at a funeral in Stratlidon in the old days. While the coffin was being carried over a burn it became suddenly so heavy that the procession came to a stand-still in mid stream and no progress could be made. At last one old man asked if any man was present who shaved on the Sabbath day. One of those present acknowledged that he did, and was told to step forward and lay his hand on the coffin. It immediately became lighter, and the procession went forward without further difficulty.