Scotland/Scots > Reminiscences of a Highland parish

228
A HIGHLAND PARISH.
cede the real ones, and that “ warnings ” are given
of a coming death by the crowing of cocks, the
ticking of the death watch, the howling of dogs,
voices heard by night, the sudden appearance of
undefined forms of human beings passing to and
fro, &c.
It has also been the custom of the poorest per¬
sons to have all their dead clothes prepared for
years before their death, so as to insure a decent
orderly interment. To make these clothes was a
task often imposed upon the ladies, or females in
a parish who were good at their needle. The
pattern of the shroud was a fixed one, and special
instructions were given regarding it by the initiated.
Such things are common even now among Highland
families who have emigrated to Glasgow. A short
time ago a highly respectable lady in that city,
when she found that her illness was dangerous, gave
a confidential servant the key of a box, where, in
the event of death, all would be found that was
required to dress her body for the grave.
The old wrapping of the body was woollen
cloth, and the Gaelic term used to express it, (olla-
nachd,)which may be translated “ woollening,” is