When a funeral lament turned to a merry reel

The custom of providing ‘Cosguis’ (funeral provisions) consisted of five rounds of whisky traditionally served on the way to the burial and it was strictly observed on the isle of Coll, together with the custom of a lament played by a piper as he led the solemn procession to the cemetery.

However, on one occasion, the piper might have been treated too liberally. When the cemetery came in sight, instead of playing the expected lament ‘Cha Tig Mor Bhean dhachaidh’ (Lochaber No More), it was the lively reel Calum Crubach (Miss Drummond of Perth) that he struck up!

At this time whisky was plentiful and cheap as several families continued illegal distilling on the island. Indeed Dr Johnson had reported on his visit in 1773 that more was produced than the local population could consume! This incident seemed to have put an end to the custom for a while and Coll’s first Free Church Minister the Rev. Mr Nicol, managed to have the whisky servings cut down to three in the 1860s.

Before him, Rev Neil MacLean had called in 1843 for a reformation of the custom of drinking ‘ardent spirits’ at funerals. ‘It is quite melancholy to consider what sums are worse than thrown away in this manner. There are instances of poor families parting with their last horse or cow to furnish an entertainment of this kind. They reckon it a point of honour to do so; and thus, what might have contributed to their support for a twelvemonth is wasted in a day, to keep up a savage and disgusting custom.’

But the custom was followed at all levels of society as Dr Johnson also reported the burial of the Laird in 1745 when 30 cows and 50 sheep were killed for the funeral provisions. A custom so long rooted in tradition could not be so easily eradicated!

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