Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/400

 368 Collectanea.

Wine over a Cofiin.

Gipsy Ceremonial at Funeral of a Boy — The funeral of little Marko Dakar, the Hungarian gipsy hoy who died suddenly on Friday last, took place at St. Mary's Cemetery, Ilford, yesterday. The grief of the parents at the mortuary was heartrending.

Before the coffin was closed each member of the funeral party placed silver and copper coins inside it, and the father also placed some bread and meat beside the coins. The secretary of the Gipsy Club, at the request of the mourners, took a photograph of the dead child, who was dressed in his best clothes with a new red hat and beautifully embroidered shoes, and the coffin was then closed.

At the graveside the father of the child poured wine over the coffin, and when it was lowered into the ground more wine was sprinkled over it. The mourners listened attentively to the short service, at the conclusion of which the Roman Catholic priest asked why they did not attend Mass. The father replied, "We can only pray in Romany, and God does not understand the language."

During the afternoon the ceremony of " trisn " ^ was observed by the gipsies, this consisting of sitting round the fire and making incantations for the spirit of the departed. This ceremony will be repeated to-morrow, and a funeral feast will be held six days later, and again six weeks, six months, and twelve months after the funeral. — Daily Mail, i8th Nov., 1913.

Sussex Folklore.

Omens. — If the sun shines on Christmas Day a good fruit year may be expected.

On Christmas night all the cattle kneel and pray at midnight.

March will search,

April will try,

May will tell you if you'll live or die.

^ For the trisn funeral ceremony, stc Journal Gypsy Lore Society, vol. vi.,. p. 300.