They are now
only to be met with in the most distant and retired places of the
kingdom, where fashion and innovation have not been able to throng in,
and trample out all the curious and interesting traces of the olden
time.
In Glamorganshire, we are told, the bed whereon the corpse lies is
covered with flowers, a custom alluded to in one of the wild and
plaintive ditties of Ophelia:
White his shroud as the mountain snow
Larded all with sweet flowers;
Which be-wept to the grave did go,
With true love showers.
There is also a most delicate and beautiful rite observed in some of
the remote villages of the south, at the funeral of a female who has
died young and unmarried. A chaplet of white flowers is borne before
the corpse by a young girl nearest in age, size, and resemblance,
and is afterwards hung up in the church over the accustomed seat of
the deceased. These chaplets are sometimes made of white paper, in
imitation of flowers, and inside of them is generally a pair of
white gloves. They are intended as emblems of the purity of the
deceased, and the crown of glory which she has received in heaven.
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