[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: question on British funeral practices

[Kathryn Cawte]

Pip!Squeak
>
> It's still popular in some areas to use a hearse pulled by black
> horses, especially if the deceased was the much loved matriarch of a
> very large family. If so, the sides of the hearse are glass so that
> you can see the coffin, and wreaths will probably spell out words
> like 'mum', 'gran'. Such wreaths will be carefully placed against
> the coffin, so that passers by can see them.
>
>
K

This is *especially* true if the dead person is a Londoner (I'm tempted to
be more precise and say from the East End but I'm not certain as to whether
it's more widespread) or if they are from one of the 'New Towns' which were
pretty much full of transplanted Londoners (Stevenage comes to mind. I have
seen this kind of thing there before.) However it also conjures up images
for me of East End 'heroes' like the Krays (why some sections of the London
population are so keen on these really nasty crooks is beyond me)

However you do get oddballs everywhere so pretty much anything goes - my
father swears he wants a New Orleans style thing with a horsedrawn hears and
a trumpet player. Of course I told everyone I wanted Meatloaf "Good Girls go
to Heaven (but the Bad Girls go Everywhere) played at my funeral so it may
be that oddness is hereditary ;)

K