Fife Folklore - Funerals

In a close-knit Fife fishing community every blind was drawn along the route taken by the hearse and a long,
long line of walking mourners, who were always men, dressed in dark clothes, with black socks, and ties, and gloves and scarves. The hearse was generally preceded by the town’s officer in his red-trimmed uniform and top hat.

The dead cla’es
Most homes had a special set of sheets, towels, and pillow-cases laid aside for a death, for the corpse remained in bed until the evening before the funeral. Some families had a custom of making up the marriage bed with fine linen, and when this had had its first washing, it was laid aside for dead cla’es.

Kistin’ or coffin in‘
A short ceremony, conducted by the minister and
attended by relatives and close friends, when the body was laid in the coffin the night before the funeral.

Funeral letters
Invitations to a funeral, on black-edged cards in black-
edged envelopes, usually delivered by hand. To be asked was an acknowledgement of friendship with the deceased, but many people went to the funeral
without an invitation.

Mournin‘s
Dark clothes worn by relatives. There were many unwritten rules about what should be worn and for how long, according to the closeness of kinship with the dead person. Some families even had black-edged handker-
chiefs for Sundays. Half mournin‘s were the greys and mauves worn by children, or by those moving away from unrelieved black.

Mournin’ baund
Occasionally, if a boat owner died, a mourning-band
of blue, instead of white, would be painted on the boat, under the gunnel or round the funnel, or as a mouth-piece at the bows.

Kirk yaird
Although a funeral was a solemn occasion, and great respect was paid to the dead, the church yard was not a haunted place for fisher folk. Young girls of ten or eleven years old would often walk there with a little bunch of flowers for the family grave. It was a favourite Sunday walk for many, and in St. MonanS the women took their knitting there on fine weekday afternoons, sitting on a wooden seat to enjoy the sea-view.

If visitors commented, they would answer, “Oh, well, we’re among oor ain folk!”

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