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Show Irish Wake A wake Is a vigil - with a corpse. Ti,e word Is derived from "waecan." Anglo-Saxon for a watching. It Is still customary In many countries for , friends and neighbors of the deceased : to sit up nignts with the corpse until It Is buried. The custom probably originated In the (indent superstition that unless enrtrhlly guarded 8 corpse was in danger of being carried car-ried away by spirits from Hades. The Irish wake Is especially notorious. In some narts of Ireland those remaining remain-ing up nights with a 'corpse spend the lime in drinking, dancing and te'llng jokes and stories. It Is a highly festive fes-tive occasion. Grace Greenwood In her "Stories of Travel" has this to say about the Irish wake: "A wake, sure lt' an entertainment a man glvt after he Is dead, when his disconsolate disconso-late friends all assembi at his house, to discuss his virtues and drink Ui poteen." Pathfinder liatazina |
