The following is an interesting snippet that I thought I would share with
you all
A Victorian Funeral procession
In September 1870 one of the last of the old-fashioned funeral processions
took place, following the death of one of the wealthiest women in the
county, namely Mrs Catherine Bridget Florentia Davies of Lime Grove,
Carmarthen. All invited to the funeral were invested with rich silk
hat-bands and scarves, and all the tenants wore long black cloaks and silk
hat-bands. The hearse and mourning coach, heavily plumed, were drawn by
four black horses appropriately caparisoned for the solemn occasion, all
having a most imposing appearance. The procession left Lime grove at eight
in the morning, and the cortege took five hours to cover the twenty miles to
Llangadog, at a pace that permitted the foot mourners to accompany the
coaches. Two mutes (hired mourners) headed the funeral procession.
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Imagine all the mourners having to walk the 20 miles there, and they had to
come back again, they must have been exhausted!!!
Regards
Pauline James
Carmarthenshire FHS
http://members.aol.com/cmnfhs1/