I have written previously about attitudes to death in yesterday's Brittany and the superstitions that surrounded that inescapable event. This post looks at how the reality of death was long treated in the Breton countryside; each family may have carried its own private traditions but there are enough areas of common ground, recorded in accounts written in the 19th and early 20th centuries, for us to reconstruct how yesterday's Bretons typically dealt with the death of a loved one.
In the east of the region when the death of a member of the household seemed near, many families would keep a bucket of fresh, clean water in the house, so that, if the patient died, their soul could immediately wash in it. It was said that those who neglected this kindness would see the dead person's tortured soul return in the form of a mischievous tan-noz; a nocturnal light known as Will-o'-the-wisp in English.
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However, in western parts of Brittany it was common practice, when someone was close to death, for all the pots and containers that held any liquids, such as water or cider, to be covered or emptied in fear that soul of the deceased should drown therein. Strangely, milk was considered to offer no risk and it was said that the newly released soul thirsted for it and imbibed plentifully in order to draw strength from it.
In the same region, it was also considered most imprudent to sweep the floor or to throw out any dust until the body of the deceased had left the house; otherwise, one risked throwing out, at the same time, the newly departed soul. Similarly, it was popularly advised not to sweep the house after sunset because this again risked sweeping away the souls of the dead who were thought to return to their former homes during the hours of darkness. Such piteous souls were welcome visitors and it was thought proper to leave a little fire smouldering in the grate overnight in case the dead returned to their former hearth but people took care to remove the tripod from the fireplace, lest the dead sat on it and burned themselves.
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In those houses wealthy enough to possess them, all clocks were stopped once someone had died and were only restarted once the body of the deceased had been removed from the house. If the household kept bees, it was traditional, even into the early 20th century, for the hives to be covered with a black cloth. In eastern Brittany, this ritual was thought necessary to prevent the bees from following their former master but in the west, it was said that ignoring this mark of respect risked the bees dying for want of mourning for their lost master. Although, in some communes in the far west, it was believed that the bees were ultimately destined to die soon after their master.
The notion that everything that belonged to a dead person would soon disappear after their death seems to have been once quite a widespread belief in the Breton countryside. The clothes of the deceased were said to be soon eaten by moths; no matter what steps were taken to protect them. If a farmer died, his cattle were thought cursed to die of misfortune or disease unless quickly sold-on by the heirs of the deceased.
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Around the town of Vitré, it was not unusual for the family of a dying person to go to the church to warn the priest of the approaching end of a loved one, whereupon the church bell was rung; nine strikes for a male and eleven for a female. With death near, almost all families in staunchly Catholic Brittany sent for the priest in order that the dying might receive the grace of Holy Unction or the last rites.
After a death, close friends and neighbours, usually women, washed the body of the deceased and prepared a makeshift funerary chapel inside the house; clean white sheets were hung covering the walls and windows of the room containing the body. As part of the preparation of the body, the women who washed the deceased were also careful to cover and block all the body's orifices so as to protect themselves from the Evil Eye and to prevent death from spreading through the house.
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The body itself was customarily dressed in the deceased's finest clothes, including footwear, and wrapped-up to the waist in a linen shroud or white sheet before being carefully placed upon the bed or the table. If the former, this too would be bedecked with white sheets; if the latter, a canopy made from another white sheet would usually be erected above it. This very personal chapel was always typically adorned with twigs of boxwood and laurel; while some families also surrounded the body with fresh flowers.
Burning candles were positioned near the feet of the corpse, while a small font holding holy water, in which was soaked a sprig of boxwood, was placed near the head. Throughout the day, relatives, friends, and neighbours came from near and far to gather with the deceased and express their condolences to the bereaved family. It was customary for the latter to abstain from all household chores and farm work until the completion of the burial service; such tasks were undertaken by the friends and relatives of the deceased.
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As word spread throughout the countryside, more and more people would come from the commune and its surrounding neighbourhoods to pay their respects to the dead. Typically, the closest relatives sat nearest the corpse while others crammed inside the one room or both if the house was fortunate to have two downstairs rooms. This constant stream of mourners ensured that there were always people present to pray for the salvation of the soul of the deceased; a central part of the Vigil of the Dead.
At nightfall, the priest returned to utter the solemn prayers for the dead and his departure was often taken as a signal for many of the more distantly-connected mourners to also leave. Before leaving, it was customary for the departing mourners to make the sign of the cross over the dead body using the piece of boxwood to sprinkle the holy water. Some communities enjoyed the luxury of possessing groups of young people who knew the prayers and hymns well and were happy to sing at nocturnal vigils even if they had not known the deceased well. One account from the first quarter of the 20th century claimed that dances in honour of the deceased also took place during these vigils.
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Sometime after midnight, a little food and drink was served after which only close family members remained in the house. At least one person remained close to the corpse at all times for it was believed that the dead should never be left alone. If the household carried young children, these were sent away to sleep with friends and neighbours because it was considered to invite great misfortune if a child spent the night under the same roof as a dead person.
Generally, burials here took place very quickly, sometimes as soon as the day after death. At the prescribed hour, the priest and his acolytes, bearing the church's processional crosses, arrived to lead the funeral cortege, that had steadily gathered throughout the morning, to church. The dead body, now encased in a wooden coffin, was loaded on to a cart for its penultimate earthly journey. If the deceased was a man, the men of the family led the procession of mourners, followed by the women dressed in the traditional mourning garb of black woollen capes and came first, then the women, dressed in black capes and wearing their mourning caps. These were immediately followed by the other male mourners and finally, the other female mourners. It was tradition that most of the families of the commune were represented, preferably by a person of the same sex as the deceased.
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In some eastern regions, it was customary for the funeral procession to leave a small wooden cross against the base of any wayside crosses passed by the cortege; such silent testimonies were cleared away at the end of every year. These same communities also organised their funerary processions differently to those more commonly noted across Brittany. The coffin was typically followed by the most trusted servant of the deceased holding a large lighted candle. The family of the deceased walked behind in a two-by-two formation with the closest relative accompanied by a friend, not related to the deceased, who the family wished to honour. The next part of the procession was made up of all the relatives of the deceased, positioned according to their degree of kinship, followed by the remaining male mourners succeeded by the remaining females.
After arrival at church, the coffin, carried by friends or neighbours, was placed on a wooden catafalque. Many of these are described as having been of great age and ornately decorated but sadly few remain today. At the end of the funeral mass, the long list of octaves and masses recommended by all those who had wanted to show their sympathy for the deceased were read. The Libera was sung and absolution given before the coffin was carried to the cemetery and placed on trestles in front of the calvary. After final prayers, each mourner filed past the coffin, giving a last blessing as they do so; those who were not immediate family typically did not attend the actual burial.
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A notable difference to the usual funeral customs followed throughout the region was noted around the eastern town of Châtillon-en-Vendelais. Here, the relatives of the deceased followed the funeral procession at a great distance. They did not enter the church during the ceremony but remained kneeling in the porch throughout the service. As soon as the mass was over, they returned home without attending the burial or even visiting the cemetery.
One widespread custom held that the door to the deceased's house should never be left locked during their burial nor should their house remain empty during this time. On returning from the cemetery, and having washed but not dried one's hands in the first stream encountered, a very modest meal accompanied by fresh milk or water, presided over by the next of kin, was provided at the home of the deceased. This was a sombre affair at which people were expected to leave as soon as they had finished their food but many families offered better fayre at a special meal hosted eight days later, known as the Eight-Day Service.
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Up until the 1930s, mourning lasted a year or rather I should specify that widowers mourned for a year while widows were expected to mourn for one year and six weeks. These mourning periods seem little changed to those applied to French court mourning towards the end of the 18th century: one year and six weeks for a widow against only six months for the widower. A disparity that was also noted here in the fact that men displayed no outward sign of mourning, save perhaps a black armband worn on the day of the funeral, when their wives died but tradition demanded that women wore their widow's cloak and headdress; a convention that slowly disappeared around the turn of the last century although widows still typically wore their morning garb for at least thirty days after the burial of their husband. On the west coast island of Ouessant, many widows once wore their cloaks as a permanent symbol for the rest of their lives but such conventions have now long been consigned to memory.
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