Tea at Trianon: Traditional Irish Wakes

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Traditional Irish Wakes

From Irish Central:

Irish wakes are anything but a somber affair. Merrymaking was a common part of the traditional Irish wake and a major part of the grieving process in Ireland. A pagan ritual was the root of much of the goings-on at an Irish wake and much of the carrying-on was frowned upon by the church. Storytelling, mischief-making, and games were all part of the send-off in an attempt to ease the suffering of the deceased's family. The wake custom most likely has its roots in the ancient Jewish custom of leaving the burial chamber unsealed for three days with relatives returning during that time to check for any signs of life.
There is a myth that the tradition first came to Ireland as a result of the frequent lead poisoning suffered by drinkers of stout from pewter tankards. As this lead poisoning often left drinkers in a catatonic state resembling death—á la the Father Ted episode in which Father Jack is thought to have met his maker—the mourners were required to keep a watchful eye on the body in case they'd made a terrible mistake. Whatever the true story behind its beginning, the wake gives family and friends one last opportunity to remember the life of the person they've lost before the burial, an attempt to offer some kind of solace in the face of their loss. As in other Celtic countries, Irish mourners adopted the custom as a way to keep vigil over their dead until the time of burial, and it evolved into an occasion mixed with both sadness and merriment. (Read more.)

From Ireland Reaching Out:

The wake started right after death occurred, with the “laying out” of the corpse – preparing and exposing the corpse for public view in the family house – which was provided by non-professional carers: almost exclusively women of the village, helping hands who would gather around the family of the deceased at such critical moment. After the corpse was washed it would be covered in white linen with black ribbons covering the rims.

As the corpse was laid out, the keening of the dead could finally take place, once the night had set in. The keening, or Caoineadh, was a ritual lament performed by “professional” keeners, depositaries of the oral tradition to which the lament belonged. It was the great pagan goddess Brigid that is said to have introduced the custom of keening, following her own son's death. The cry marked the start of the wake, intensifying then at each crucial moment of the ceremony. Keeners would raise their lament

when a new person arrived at the wake house
when the corpse was placed in the coffin,
when the funeral cortege headed for the graveyard and, finally,
at the moment of burial.

The lament was also performed at intervals between the wake house and the graveyard. Similarly, to the laying out of the corpse, the keening was a prerogative of women. They were given food and alcohol for their services. (Read more.)