A singular practice, which was growing obsolete in the time of Lucas (says Dr. Whitaker) once prevailed in the parish of Warton; which was, that most householders were furnished with a kind of family pall, or finely wrought coverlet, to be laid over the bier when the corpse was carried to church. Amongst other funeral customs at Warton, were the great feasting and drinking; the funeral dole, distributed to the poor; the casting of odoriferous herbs into the grave; and the cake and _arval_-ale, already described, pp. 270, 271, _suprâ_.[197] FUNERAL CUSTOMS IN THE FYLDE. When the last offices of respect to a departed friend or neighbour were to be rendered, a whole district, called "their side" of the country, was "bidden" or invited to assist in carrying the remains to their narrow home. At a stated hour the crowd assembled, not to mourn with widowed wife or weeping children, but to consume ale and tobacco, and to talk over their farms or trade till all was in readiness to depart for the completion of the obsequies. A particular order was observed. From the door of his former home, and into, and out of, the church, the corpse was carried on the shoulders of four of his relatives--his nearest kinsman, the chief mourner, walking in front with the clergyman. At the close of the ceremony, after the sprigs of box or rosemary had been deposited on the coffin, each person also adding a sprinkling of dust, the rough voice of the parish clerk was heard grating harshly in that solemn moment, inviting the "bidden" to show further their respect to the deceased by partaking of a dinner provided at the village inn. How the day terminated may be supposed, and indeed was a matter of sad notoriety. Indeed, it was not very unusual to see those who were to convey the dead to the sepulchre, tottering from intoxication under their sad burden. The best features of these old-time funerals were that doles in money were distributed to the aged and the very young; the poor were fed, and sometimes warm cloaks or other useful articles of attire were given, to be worn in memory of the departed.[198] Fifty-five years ago, says Mr. Thornber, writing in 1837, the more respectable portion of the inhabitants of Poulton were buried by candle-light--a custom long observed by some of the oldest families in the town. It was regarded as a sacred duty to expose a lighted candle in the window of every house as the corpse passed through the streets towards the church for interment; and he was poor indeed who did not pay this tribute of respect to the dead. So late as 1813 this church was strewed with rushes. MODE OF BURIAL OF A WIDOW WHO HAD TAKEN RELIGIOUS VOWS.