Note 294.2 — Chapter XIII · NOTES
Reading edition
iii. Arch. Cambr., N.S., 330. Traces of a similar custom are found in Derbyshire. There no wine is drunk at a funeral until after the party has returned from the church. Wine is then offered first to the bearers. This order is strictly observed; and it is believed that “every drop that you drink is a sin which the deceased has committed. You thereby take away the dead man’s sins and bear them yourself.” Addy, 123, 124.