Death in the Victorian Era part 9: Funeral Mutes

 

 It would be unheard of today, and probably considered an extravagant expense, but during the Victorian Era “Funeral Mutes” were considered a normal sight at most upper-class funerals.

Mutes were usually men whose job was to stand outside the door of the deceased person's house and then accompany the coffin to its final resting place. They wore mainly black (or very dark clothing), carried long walking sticks (called a wand) which were covered in black crape, and wore solemn looks upon their faces, much like the clichéd funeral director image we have become accustomed to through cinema and TV shows like Scooby-Doo.

 It is thought the tradition may be a leftover from the old Roman tradition of “lictors” that escorted the funeral processions of Rome’s prominent citizens through the streets to their final resting places.    In the early usage of funeral Mutes, they were essentially ceremonial funeral protectors, standing guard at the doorways of the dead, but as time went on they become more symbolic of the correct way to mourn and conduct oneself at a funeral and set the overall tone for the event.  

 Mutes had their own customs too, black was worn when in service for an adult, but white adornments were added when in service for a child, this included white gloves, a white sash, a top hat with a white lace veil tied around it and sometimes a white scarf tucked inside the Mutes jacket.

 They were generously supplied with gin by their employers, to help them fight the cold when they walked alongside the hearse – this sometimes saw those Mutes who were not so professional, end up very drunk.

 Probably one of the best-known Mutes is Oliver Twist from Charles Dicken's second novel of the same name. Twist, a young boy, is sold by Mr Bumble to Undertaker and Coffin Maker, Mr Sowerberry to work as a mute at children’s funerals and to be his apprentice undertaker.

 By the late 1890s the employment of Funeral Mutes had all but ceased and was seen as a very extravagant cost for the middle and lower classes. By World War One they were all but forgotten.

Next Week:  Death in the Victorian Era part 10: Mourning Cards

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Death in the Victorian Era part 8: Coffins

“Nothing can be more hideous, than the raised metal work, called coffin furniture that is so generally used at the present time; heathen emblems, posturing angels, trumpets, death’s heads and cross bones, are mingled together in a glorious confusion, and many of them partake of a ludicrous character.”  A. Welby Pugin, Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament and Costume, 1844.

One of the peculiar rituals of Victorian Era death was the “turning of the screws”. It became part of the rituals of placing a deceased family member in a coffin. The head of the family, or a very close relative, would place the lid of the coffin on the casket, and then they themselves, not the undertaker, would take very ornate screws, and twist them into place, sealing the coffin lid.

 Some coffins of this period also contained viewing windows. Many of you may have heard of other Victorian period innovations such as “saved by the bell”, the coffin that contained a wire mechanism that went up to a small bell to let passers-by know you weren’t dead, and to come and rescue you!

Coffins in this period ranged from the cheap, pauper burial coffin to elaborate decorative coffins with tin plate embellishments and ornate carvings.
 In 1848, Almond Fisk, an American, patented a metal coffin dubbed “Fisk Airtight Coffin of Cast

or Raised Metal” that he thought would revolutionise the funeral industry. The coffin looked like a large metal sarcophagus, decorated with Victorian-era symbology of angels, crosses, skulls, or whatever the client desired – it did not prove to be a hit, as many people were scared that if they were not actually dead, they had zero chance of escaping from this coffin.

 There was also wicker “cooling coffins”, these particular coffins were not for burial, but for the family to lay the body in to keep it safe from flies and animals whilst the “wake” occurred (the wake in this period was a three or day 24-hour watch of the body to make sure someone wasn’t just in a coma, but actually dead).

Coffins bound for above-ground mausoleums or family crypts would be lined on the interior, (or “triple shelled”) with lead and could weigh up to a quarter of a ton.

An engraved breastplate was one of the most important features of any Victorian-era coffin. Usually, it was the first decorative piece added to a coffin. These plates, even found on pauper’s coffins, were usually highly decorated and contained the name age and date of death of the deceased and motifs, religious iconography and were sometimes adorned with biblical scripture.

 The insides of coffins were usually lined with black silks, crape and other expensive materials and handmade pillows under the body and head. The outside of coffins featured the previously mentioned ornate screws, but also, ornate, metal lifting handles, and sometimes ornate metal hinges – the metals could range from tin, iron, and brass, to silver and even gold!

Next week: Death in the Victorian Era part 9: Funeral Mutes

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Death in the Victorian Era part 7: 
Cemetery Design and Symbolism

Cemetery Symbolism was alive and well in Victorian Era England and a lot of what we see today in our own Australian Cemeteries hark back to this period, some symbology though has been adapted to Australian conditions and way of life.

 There is a huge amount of symbology to be found in cemeteries, and it is something have written about previously on my other “Eidolon Blog” 

http://eidolonparanormal.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/cemetery-symbolism-part-1.html

http://eidolonparanormal.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/cemetery-symbolism-part-2.html

http://eidolonparanormal.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/cemetery-symbolism-part-3.html

http://eidolonparanormal.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/cemetery-symbolism-part-4.html

http://eidolonparanormal.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/cemetery-symbolism-part-5.html

 From Freemason, Catholic, Anglican and family symbology, to Gothic-influenced statues, urns, broken columns, Military, sailing and Egyptian obelisks, there is some great artistry in the Victorian Era cemeteries. Catacombs, Family mausoleums and Crypts were also found amongst the grandiose cemeteries that the Victorian Era brought into being (for South Australian cemetery symbolism you cannot go past West Terrace Cemetery, The Seppelt family mausoleum at Seppeltsfield or the Jesuit Crypt under St Aloysius Church at Sevenhill)

In 1832 the English Parliament passed a bill encouraging the establishment of seven private cemeteries in a ring around outer London. The first to open, in 1832, was Kensal Green, followed by West Norwood (1837), Highgate Cemetery (1839), Nunhead (1840), Brompton (1840), Abney Park (1840), and Tower Hamlets (1841).

 These new cemeteries were seen by the middle class of England as extensions of their social status and a way to immortalise their family names, through monuments to their dead.

 The graves of the period were extremely ornamental and were built to be symbolic of the family, or of the interests of the deceased. One could expect religious symbolism, crosses, Angels, the HIS inscription or passages from the Bible.

 Some would symbolise the working nature of a person, an anchor for a sailor, a horse and whip for a coachman or a sword for a military officer. Other families preferred symbols of death, such as skulls, the reaper or funeral urns.
 What is most curious about a lot of the symbology in early Victorian Cemeteries is how many graves feature pagan, Egyptian or Roman symbology. Perhaps the people of the era did not put too much thought into their choices and chose from only what appealed to them, or perhaps it has a deeper meaning within a family to be represented by a mystical pyramid.

 There was also, amongst some of the religions, such as Methodism and Protestants, not to have anything that could be remotely seen as Catholic-inspired upon their graves, forsaking the use of crosses, angels, and bibles etc for other things such as torches, wreaths or “holding hands”.

With the slowly rising popularity of cremation, and the upcoming World Wars, Cemetery burials and monuments began to change during the Edwardian period, and today in our age, the modern cemetery is very rarely decorated with such ornate, beautiful imagery as it was in the Victorian Era.

 Next Week: Death in the Victorian Era part 8: Coffins

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