Staying In Until the Burial

Brand recalled a village in County Durham where it was the rule that a person should not leave the house until the burial of a near relation. A simple countryman whose wife lay dead in the house was nevertheless seen walking slowly up the village street, and a neighbour ran to ask where he was going. He answered that he was off to the joiner’s shop to watch them make his wife’s coffin, as it would be a little diversion for him. Hone tells the story beside a Scottish one of a wright who kept fine deal in his barn to make his own coffin.