Sackcloth and ashes

“ Ethnographical studies have established the fact that things were first hung on the body as amulets or trophies, that is, for superstition or vanity, and that the body was painted or tattooed for superstition or in play. The notion of ornament followed. The skull and body have been deformed and mutilated, and the hair has been dressed or removed, in order to vary it and produce effect. Savages lie in ashes, dust, clay, sand, or mud, for warmth, or coolness, or indolence, and they could easily find out the advantage of a coating on the skin to protect them from insects or the sun. ”

“ Roughly drawn images are occasionally found in them. In rare cases, when cremation has been applied, the ashes are collected into a small earthenware urn, and deposited in one of the Chokdens. The ashes are usually made into a paste with clay, on which, when flattened like a medallion, a representation of Buddha is either stamped from a mould, or engraved by means of a pointed tool. ”

“ But the phrase “ashes to ashes” forbids that interpretation. It has, so far as may be known, never been taught that man originally came from ashes, though, figuratively, in moments of contrition, he has declared himself to be “but dust and ashes.” The collocation of the phrases seems to betray a compromise between modes of burial. Parenthetically, we note that the Roman practice, as described by Horace, was to cast earth three times upon the body [800] . ”

“ Under the earth and a layer of ashes the skeleton lies with its head covered by a little brazier of baked clay, and accompanied by arrows, fragments of double-edged knives, obsidian fragments, bird-bone necklaces strung on twisted bird-gut, smooth stones, some small semi-spheres of baked clay with a hole in the centre of each, and a few grotesque idols. ”

“ When the burial was by incremation, the ashes were carefully placed in the cinerary urn, and interred either by themselves, or with more or less ostentatious surroundings. In many instances a hole was dug in the earth, or in a Celtic barrow, and the urn, on being placed in it, simply covered with a flat stone. At other times it was placed in a sarcophagus, or chest, and surrounded with vessels of various kinds and with other relics. ”

“ But their insatisfaction herein begat that remarkable invention in the funeral pyres of some princes, by incombustible sheets made with a texture of asbestos, incremable flax, or Salamander's wool, which preserved their bones and ashes incommixed.
How the bulk of a man should sink into so few pounds of bones and ashes, may seem strange unto any who considers not its constitution, and how slender a mass will remain upon an open and urging fire of the carnal composition. Even bones themselves, reduced into ashes, do abate a notable proportion. ”

“ In another mound, 8 or 9 feet high, in the same county, he found near the top a considerable bed of kitchen refuse; at the bottom, on the original surface, ashes and burnt human bones. "These bones," he remarks, "had evidently been burned before burial, and had been gathered in miscellaneous confusion and placed in a narrow space 5 or 6 inches wide and from 2 to 3 feet long. The ashes were doubtless brought with them, at least there appeared to be no evidences of a local fire in the reddening or hardening of the clay or in remnants of charcoal." ”

“ They were, most probably, fashioned by the females of the tribe, on the death of their relative, from the clay to be found nearest to the spot, and baked on or by the funeral pyre. The glowing ashes and bones were then, as I have already stated, collected together, and placed in the urn, and the flint implements, and occasionally other relics belonging to the deceased, deposited along with them. In some instances, however, it is probable that even the cinerary urns were burned in a separate fire, as were the “drinking cups,” which are usually fired to a much harder degree than they are. ”

“ The ashes of the dead were collected in a piece of Kangaroo-skin, and every morning, before sunrise, till they were consumed, a portion of them was smeared over the faces of the survivors, and a death song sung, with great emotion, tears clearing away lines among the ashes. ”

“ But these graves do not hold hideous skeletons: only urns with ashes, and sometimes a few little pieces of bone. The bodies were all burned, and the ashes consigned to earthenware urns, which vary in size according to the rank the person held in life. ”

“ The ashes being riddled or sifted on the hearth, if any one of the family be to die within the year, the mark of a shoe will be impressed upon the ashes.201 In Wales they make a bonfire, and when it is extinguished each one throws a white stone into the ashes. In the morning they search out the stones, and if any one is found wanting, he that threw it will die within the year.202 In Manxland the ashes are carefully swept to the open hearth and nicely flattened down by the women before they go to bed. ”

“ A human bone from a burial-ground, over which powerful mantrams have been recited, if thrown into an enemy’s house, will cause his ruin. Ashes from the burial-ground on which an ass has been rolling on a Saturday or Sunday, if thrown into the house of an enemy, are said to produce severe illness, if the house is not vacated. ”

“ Below these, to the depth, of 2 or 3 feet, the hard yellow clay was mixed throughout with similar stones, charcoal, ashes, stone chips, and fragments of rude pottery. Near the center and 3 feet from the top of the mound were the much decayed remains of a human skeleton, lying on its back, in a very rude stone-slab coffin. Beneath this were other flat stones, and under them charcoal, ashes, and baked earth, covering the decayed bones of some three or four skeletons which lay upon the original surface of the ground. ”

“ These graves are round bowl-shaped holes, the excavations being from about two to four feet in diameter, and three to four feet deep: into these the remains of the funeral pyre, such as burnt bones of the corpse, ashes, charcoal, fragments of clay, urns, ornaments, jewels, other objects 128and weapons are thrown in, without order or method. The burnt bones and the charcoal are scattered sometimes over a bed covering a certain space, or sometimes in a heap together.
In other graves the antiquities are found resting on the black mould itself. ”

“ The dead are cremated, and the widow breaks one or two of her bangles. Fire must be carried to the burning-ground by the father of the deceased, if he is alive. On the day following cremation, the hot embers are extinguished, and the ashes collected, and shaped into an effigy, near the head of which three conical masses of mud and ashes are set up. ”

“ He watched the bright blaze for an hour, until the hickory billets had turned into white ashes, flaking the tiles at his feet.
On the table at his side lay an unfinished letter, and by the dying embers the man who had the world at his feet groaned. “Ashes of life! The ashes of a dead past.” ”

“ A very small portion of the remains is ashes, but the mass is in the form of calcined bones in small fragments, very white, odorless, entirely deprived of all animal matter, and may be preserved any length of time without change. ”

“ When later the charred skull and thigh bones of a little child were raked out of the ashes in the fireplace the dark tragedy was made clearer still, and the rough men turned from the scene with sick hearts and grim mouths. ”

“ Under the burnt clay, in each chamber, were found the remains of several human skeletons, all of which had been burnt to such an extent as to leave but small fragments of the bones, which were mixed with the ashes and charcoal. ”

“ At different levels above it and over the whole of its area there were found many fireplaces or hearths, formed of two long narrow slabs set on edge and parallel to each other with a paved space between, and filled and surrounded by ashes and bones of animals broken and split. In one of these accumulations of ashes and food refuse there were found a fragment of bronze and a portion of an iron knife; and in another a broken armlet of glass. A broken double-edged bone comb, ornamented with dots and circles, and a portion of a stone disc with a bevelled edge, were also found. ”

“ Some workmen engaged in excavations in the bail within the boundaries of the old Roman city at Lincoln lately came across a crematorium and a sarcophagus. In the latter ten urns were found, which contained ashes and calcined bones. The urns were of different sizes and shapes, and were all provided with saucer-shaped covers. Only one of them, however, was extracted perfect. The interior of the sarcophagus was lined with long, thin bricks, that perished on being exposed to the air. ”

“ They then collected the bones and ashes. How they were ever able to discriminate between men, dogs, and horses, it is hard to say. Probably the whole was sanctified, in their opinion, by juxtaposition. The bones might be distinguished, but not the dust. Such bones as could be identified, were washed and anointed by the nearest relatives. What an [Pg 16] office! How custom changes the complexion of such matters! These relics were then placed in urns of wood, stone, earth, silver, or gold, according to the quality of the parties. ”

“ And on their breasts, shoulders, and foreheads, they make marks by threes with ashes, which they wear in accordance with the custom of their sect, saying that they do it to remind themselves that they have to turn to ashes: for when they die they burn their bodies, and so this ceremony continues among them. ”

“ The latter crime is usually punished by the stake; in some parts of the country the roadside shows at every few miles a heap or two of ashes with a few calcined and blackened human bones mixed with bits of half-consumed charcoal, telling the tragedy that has been enacted there. ”

“ Thus no burial mounds proper seem to exist on the island. The ashes or unburned bones of the dead are found enclosed in large earthen vases, together with what may be considered as the most valued property of the deceased, or the most appropriate gifts of friends, in the shape of weapons, ornaments, vessels, and implements of stone, clay, and perhaps metal, all of which will be described in their turn. When the burial urn is found to contain unburned bones, its mouth is sometimes closed with the skull; in other cases one or more inverted earthen pans are used for that purpose. ”

“ The consumption of sackcloth for covering every man and beast must have been rather large, and the Nineveh sackcloth manufacturers must have had enormous stocks on hand to supply the sudden demand. The city article of the Nineveh Times, if such a paper existed, would probably have described “sackcloth firm, with a tendency to rise.” Man and beast, all dressed in or covered with sackcloth! It would be sometimes difficult to distinguish a Ninevite man from a Ninevite beast, the dress being similar for all. ”

“ When the fire died down people took some of the ashes home with them, either to keep them in the house as a preservative against thunder or to scatter them on the fields for the purpose of destroying corn-cockles and darnel. ”

“ Charcoal or ashes found in pockets or beds indicate that fire was maintained in one spot for considerable periods, and must therefore have been controlled and used, possibly even produced, by human agency. A bone needle with an eye proves that some one must have sewn, and one may therefore assume that garments were worn at the time. ”

“ The joists being sawed off to their proper lengths, and fully prepared, they and the plates were well charred, and laid upon the ashes; particular directions being given, that no scantling or board might be cut or planed in the place, lest any dust or shavings might drop among the ashes. ”

“ Sometimes they burned the body and put the ashes in an urn, which they placed under a cromlech, or cairn, or burial mound. Urns were always made of clay, which was baked till it was hard. They are often found in graves, especially under cairns and cromlechs: and they nearly always contain ashes and bits of burnt bones. Occasionally, as has been already said (p. 43, note) , persons were buried standing up, especially kings and warriors, who were placed in the grave fully armed.
The king basely agreed to do so; and forthwith he laid a plot to slay the sons of Usna ”

“ Intermingled with the ashes are pipes, implements of bone, shell, and stone, a mastodon’s tooth, bones of various wild animals, including birds and fishes, and in some of them large sherds of pottery-ware indicating vessels of from ten to twelve gallons capacity or even larger. With the exception of a single dorsal vertebra no human remains have yet been found in these pits, unless the ashes be so considered. ”

“ But if any one, watching till it opens, throws a cloth over it, and then, when the magic hour has passed, burns the blossoms carefully, the ashes will serve as a mirror in which you can read the fate of absent friends; if your friends are well and happy, the ashes will resume the shape of a lovely flower; but if they are unhappy or dead, the ashes will remain cold and lifeless.228 In Thuringia people think that he who has on his person or in his house the male fern (Aspidium filix mas) cannot be bewitched. ”

“ XVIII The Funeral Ceremonies of a Dowager Princess There are five degrees of mourning, as follows:—For parents, grandparents and great-grandparents; for brothers and sisters; for uncles and aunts; and for distant relatives. In the first sackcloth without hem or border; in the second with hem or border; in the third, fourth and fifth, pieces of sackcloth on parts of the dress. When sackcloth is worn, after the third interval of seven days is over the mourners can cast it off, and wear plain colours, such as white, gray, black and blue. ”