The Twentieth Century Sin-Eater

The Twentieth Century Sin-Eater#

In the years that followed the second controversy, references to the sin-eater typically started to fade away, except as the occasional historical note or curiosity, such as this remark in the Hornsey & Finsbury Park Journal, Saturday, 10th February 1900, p5 in an article on death customs:

Superstition at Haringey

… Perhaps the most curious of all the superstitions connected with death is that attached to the office of
SIN-EATER.

In each village an old gaffer who came at a death and, sitting on a stool outside the door, was furnished with bread and ale, which he consumed, and a groat, which he pocketed. The ceremony over, he rose, and assured the mourners of the eternal peace of the soul of the departed, since he had, in eating and drinkirig, taken all sin upon himself. His soul was in pawn for that of the deceased, who was accordingly released from all penalties of what he had done in life, including the neressity of walking. It is to be assumed that the sin-eater found at his death another sin-eater willing to take the accumulated burden upon him, and he another, and so on —a highly convenient mode of shifting one’s responsiblity on no one in particular. Many as are the superstitions associated with death, they are few compared with those that cluster round
MARRIAGE.

But as the new century began, it seems as if the flames of debate that could be triggered by mentions of the old sin-eater tradition would not erupt as they once had, even though though references might still be challenged by return of post.

“Sin-Eaters”, Echo (London), September, 1900

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0004596/19000908/021/0002 Echo (London) Saturday 08 September 1900 p2

“SIN-EATERS.”

At funerals in some parts of Wales there is a curious custom. A poor person is hired to perform the duties of sin-eater. Bread and beer are passed to the man over the corpse, or laid on it; these he consumes, and by the process he is supposed to take on him all the sins of the deceased and free the person from walking after death. When a sin-eater is not employed, glasses of wine and funeral biscuits are given to each bearer across the coffin. The people believe that every drop of wine drunk at a funeral is a sin committed by the deceased, but that by drinking the wine the soul of the dead is released from the burden of the sin.

“A gross libel”, September, 1900

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004596/19000911/011/0001 Echo (London) Tuesday 11 September 1900 p1

TO THE EDITOR OF “THE ECHO.” The Sin-Eater in Wales,

Sir,—You print in Saturday’s “Echo” a paragraph, entitled “Sin Eaters.” I believe this to be a gross libel against the intelligence of the Welsh people. If the Welsh are living in Paganism such a practice might possibly exist but knowing by experience the high standard of life and religious practice of the Welsh in all parts of Wales, both in towns and in the remoter districts, I challenge in toto the assertion that at Welsh funerals any person ever acts the part if a sin eater as described in your paragraph. JOHN SAMUEL. Ealing.

That said, the “fakelore” around the story did continue to evolve, as the previous example shows with its mention that “[t]he people believe that every drop of wine drunk at a funeral is a sin committed by the deceased, but that by drinking the wine the soul of the dead is released from the burden of the sin”.

A few short years later, in 1904, we also see a report claiming that Professor Silvan Evans had actually seen a sin-eater whan he was a child:

An encounter with the sin-eater as a child?

Welsh Gazette and West Wales Advertiser — 3rd March 1904, p8:

The Sin eater is the title of the book just finished by Allen Raine, and now ready for publication in the autumn. It deals with an old Welsh custom, long since extinct The office or function of the Sin eater was a real one, and so late as the year 1825, there was living near Llanybyther, an aged man, known as the Sin eater. The late Professor Evans who died a few months ago, had seen him when a lad, and could remember hearing people talk of the custom, which had been one of ordinary occurrence in their parents’ days whenever a death took place.

The sin-eater story was also touched upon in a series of lectures given in the 1907 MacCullum Lectures presented by the Rev. Dr Henderson on Celtic funeral and death rites:

Celtic Funeral Ritual and Death Rites, March, 1907

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000462/19070323/041/0003 Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser - Saturday 23 March 1907 THE MACCALLUM LECTURES. CELTIC FUNERAL RITUAL AND DEATH RITES. The fourth leture of the public course on “Survivals in Belief and Rituals among the Celts” was delivered on Saturday by Rev. Dr. George Henderson in the Greek Class-room of Glasgow University. It dealt with the funeral ritual and rites pertaining to death and the dead. It was necessary at this stage, said Dr. Henderson, to bear in mind the noble words of Goethe that only a part of what is important is useful; in order to possess a thing completely, to have full mastery over it, one must study it for its own sake. The lecturer pointed out that the explanation in the previous lecture of a cortain moment in folk belief whereby birth was due, not to sex, but to the passing of a “spirit part” from the parent was confirmed by the Punjab practice as to the first born. If a son, his father is born again in him, so that the father is supposed to die at his birth; while certain sections the father’s funeral rites were performed four months ere the child was born. An old rite of milk baptism and the simulating of the dead as living was touched upon. Discussing the
RITUAL OF THE DEAD
among the Celts, Dr. Henderson asked whether several theories of the soul might not be inferred from the various practices and old customs known to have existed. Reserving customs pointing to the Elysian theory of the soul, as well as such as might point to a possible sidereal theory for another occasion, he specified rites which were explicable on the earthly theory. Some of these might not be Celtic in origin. Yet the inconsistencies of folk belief were notorious, in no province more so than that in which the folk-mind attained to the finding of the soul. The earthly theory was connected, chiefly but not exclusively perhaps, with interment. Old death dances and curious practices at lyke wakes were discussed; the “tathaich” or “coming back” of the spirit was instanced; also Faire Chlaidh or churchyard sentry incumbent on the spirit of the last buried. The liturgy of lustration, the setting aside of water for the dead, was compared with similar customs in Greece and elsewhere. Beliefs connected with the shroud were spoken of. The coronach, the “druidsi,” the “Coscais,” the Highland “Aog,” the Breton “Ankou,” the “Sin-Eater” of Wales, the Highland custom of putting salt on the corpse, a rite widely diffused elsewhere—all these were practices which pointed to the lively belief that
LIFE WAS NOT EXTINGUISHED
with the mysterious corporeal change of death. A thought connection of the activity of folk-spirit was here discernible; the dust of antique time lay thick round these rites. If some of these were explicable on the earthly theory of the soul, they included the continuance of life as a protracted duration; on one view of the water left apart for the dead such continuance was at one time felt to be dependent on earthly support. There was likewiso an inner content which in symbol pointed to the idea of continuous and active spirit. The virtues of the dead were transmissible to the survivors through sacrament.

Henderson’s Celtic Lectures, March, 1907

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000462/19070330/079/0003 Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser - Saturday 30 March 1907 REV. DR. HENDERSON’S CELTIC LECTURES. Rev. Dr. Henderson, in the fifth of his present course of Celtic lectures, delivered in the Greek Class-room at Glasgow University, on Saturday afternoon, continued the discussion of the death and funeral rites among the Celts. He pointed out in regard to the custom of sineating, that those practices were not confined to the Highlands. They existed in ancient Greece, and at the present day in Macedonia, of old in the south of Scotland, and especially in Wales and parts of England and Ireland. At the present day the custom did not exist in the Highlands, but the survivals still existed there. He read a series of extracts from a work on “Remains of Gentilisme and Judaisme,” published by Aubrey, an English writer, who lived in the seventeenth century. In that work the curious custom of the sin-eater, formerly observed in Wales, was referred to in speaking of offertories at funerals. At a meeting of the Cambrian Archaological Association at Ludlow in 1852, Llandebie, near Swansea, was specified as a place where
THE CUSTOM HAD SURVIVED
to within a recent period. It was stated that when a person died the friends sent for the sin-eater of the district, who, on his arrival, placed a plate of salt on the breast of the defunct, and upon thesalt a picce of bread. He then muttered an incantation over the bread, which he finally ate, thereby eating up all the sins of the deceased. This done, he received a feo of half a crown, and vanished as quickly as possible from the public gaze; for, as it was believed that he had really appropriated to his own use and behoof the sins of all those over whom ho performed the ceremony, he was utterly detested in the neighbourhood, regarded as a mere Pariah—as one irredeemably lost. The custom as practised among the Lowland Scots was known as dishaloof. Dr. Henderson cited instances of the custom as once practised in Yorkshire, in Bavaria, and in Turkestan. One might think, he said, that such a rite as of sin-eating would soon pass away. But a case had been observed in England as recently as 1893.

Dr. Henderson concluded his lecture by briefly referring to the ritual of sacrifice, and stated that in the next lecture he would give some instances of propitiation.

The Sin-Eater at Celtic Funerals, March, 1907

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000452/19070325/118/0003 Edinburgh Evening News - Monday 25 March 1907 p5 THE “SIN EATER” AT CELTIC FUNERALS. In his fifth Celtic lecture at Glasgow University on Saturday, the Rev. Dr Henderson continued the discussion of the death and funeral rites of the Celts. He mentioned the curious custom of the “sin-eater,” traces of which, though not the rite itself, lingered in the Highlands. At a meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Association at Ludlow in 1852, Llandebie, near Swansea, was specified as a place where the custom had survived to within a recent period. When a person died the friends sent for the sin-eater of the district, who, on his arrival, placed a plate of salt on the breast of the defunct, and upon the salt a piece of bread. He then muttered an incantation over the bread which he finally ate, thereby eating up all the sins of the deceased. This done, he received a fee of half a crown, and vanished as quickly as possible from the general gaze; for as it was believed that he had really appropriated to his own use and behoof the sins of all those over whom he performed the ceremony, he was utterly detested in the neighbourhood, regarded as a mere Pariah—as one irredeemably lost. The custom as practised among the Lowland Scots was known as dishaloof. Dr Henderson cited instances of the custom as once practised in Yorkshire, in Bavaria, and in Turkestan. One might think, he said, that such a rite as that of sin-eating would soon pass away. But a case had been observed in England as recently as 1893.

Several years later, the sin-eater then made a re-appearance in the pages of “Precious Bane”, a novel by Mary Webb that appeared in 1924.

Most notable for the purposes of our tale is one chapter in particular (Chapter 4: Torches and Rosemary), where a funeral scene recounting the activities of a sin-eater is described. The phrase used by the sin-eater in taking on the souls of deceased in this purely fictional account is given as: ‘I give easement and rest now to the, dear man. Come not down the lanes nor in our meadows. And for thy peace I pawn my own soul. Amen.’ Echoes of “the ease and rest of the soul departed for which he would pawn his own soul” and of being “freed from walking after they were dead” are both clear to see.

See precious-bane-webb for the text of the relevant chapter.

An Old Mention Rediscovered#

TO DO - reference to witnessing sin eater FUNEC_funeral_customs_puckle.md MEMOH_memorials_herefordshire_reade_leather.md CURCH_curious_church_andrews.md FLWWA_folklore_west_midwales_davies.md

http://themutineer.org/the-sin-eaters/ TH: lots of colour in this, also:

Rather surprisingly, the practice of sin-eating seems to have persisted into relatively modern times, only dying out in the nineteenth century. In 1825, a Professor Evans of the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, Wales, described a sin-eater he had met as follows: “Abhorred by the superstitious villagers as a thing unclean, the sin-eater cut himself off from all social intercourse with his fellow creatures by reason of the life he had chosen; he lived as a rule in a remote place by himself, and those who chanced to meet him avoided him as they would a leper. This unfortunate was held to be the associate of evil spirits, and given to witchcraft, incantations and unholy practices; only when a death took place did they seek him out, and when his purpose was accomplished they burned the wooden bowl and platter from which he had eaten the food handed across, or placed on the corpse for his consumption.”

Cites https://www.weirdhistorian.com/the-funeral-rite-few-could-stomach/

Funeral Customs, Bertam S. Puckle, 1926

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.238346/page/n11/mode/2up Funeral Customs by Puckle Bertram S. Publication date 1926 p68-71

A less known but even more remarkable functionary, whose professional services were once considered necessary to the dead, is the sin-eater. Savage tribes have been known to slaughter an animal on the grave, in the belief that it would take upon itself the sins of the dead. In the same manner, it was the province of the human scapegoat to take upon himself the moral trespasses of his client — and whatever the consequences might be ift die after life — in return for a miserable fee and a scanty meal. That such a creature should be unearthed from a remote period of pagan history would be surprising enough, but to find reliable evidence of his existence in the British Isles a hundred years ago is surely very much more remarkable.

Professor Evans of the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, actually saw a sin-eater about the year 1825, who was then living near Llanwenog, Cardiganshire. Abhorred by the superstitious villagers as a thing unclean, the sin-eater cut himself off from all social intercourse with his fellow creatures by reason of the life he had chosen; he lived as a rule in a remote place by himself, and those who chanced to meet him avoided him as they would a leper. This unfortunate was held to be the associate of evil spirits, and given to witchcraft, incantations and unholy practices; only when a death took place did they seek him out, and when his purpose was accomplished they burned the wooden bowl and platter from which he had eaten the food handed across, or placed on the corpse for his consumption.

Howlett mentions sin-eating as an old custom in Hereford, and thus describes the practice: “The corpse being taken out of the house, and laid on a bier, a loaf of bread was given to the sin-eater over the corpse, also a maga-bowl of maple, full of beef. These consumed, a fee of sixpence was given him for the consideration of his taking upon himself the sins of the deceased, who, thus freed, would not walk after death.” He suggests the connection between the sin-eater and the Jewish scapegoat of the old Testament. [England Howlett. F.S.A., "Burial Customs" (Curious Church Customs and Cognate Subjects). Edited by Wm. Andrews]

We shall consider in its proper order the relations between death and the funeral feast, but there is an aspect of the matter which is closely allied to the idea of the transfer of a personality for good or for evil, by means of the consumption of certain food, as in the case of sin-eaters, or by actually partaking of such parts of the human body as are associated with vitality. Traces of this revolting cult are still to be found, but its roots are deeply buried in antiquity. It is not exactly what we mean by cannibalism, in the sense in which we commonly use the word, to imply the eating of the human flesh as food. We shall remember having read in accounts of travel that these savage orgies were accompanied by demoniacal dances, which were supposed to be manifestations of joy or “war dances” in token of victory over a fallen enemy.

These dances are probably a survival of religious rites, performed the world over, in honour of a human sacrifice offered to the great god Bel. “Cannibalism,” says Gamier, “appears to have been initiated by Cronus (i.e., Saturn or Cush), Cronus being the originator of human sacrifices”; he quotes R. G. Hislop, who states that the word cannibal — our term for the eater of human flesh — is probably derived from Cahna Bal, i.e., the Priest of Bel. The eating of human flesh is still part of the religious rites of many of the Hamitic races of Africa. [Col. T. Gamier, "Worship of the Dead." ]

Mentions in the 1930s#

In the mid-1930s, we also find a mention of a sin-eater character in the Shields Daily News.

Shields Daily News “Wendy Hut” Column

The Wendy Hut column seems to have appeared in the Shields Daily News on Monday, February 13th, 1933, p5:

THE WENDY HUT INTRODUCING THE HUT FOLK

HELLO MY DEARS! Want to know a little about the Wendy Hut and its inhabitants—the folk who are going to amuse you in your own special corner of the paper?

So, you shall! I’ll introduce us.

The Wendy Hut is in the “Land-of-I-Dunno-Where.” It Is a jolly little hut, with a big garden all around, woods in the background, and a gentle tinkling stream running through it.

Inside the Hut is a big room called “Happy Hall,” where we all meet together, and where our friends are always welcome. Each one the Hut folk has a little separate room opening out of “Happy Hall,” and at the back is our Cookle’s own domain— the kitchen.

I’m telling you about the Hut because I want you to picture it when you write to us, and send in entries for all the Competitions we’re going to organise for you.

Turning to the children’s section of the paper, on page 4 of the edition of Tuesday, September 11th, 1934, we find the following rather saccharine tale:

Simon the Sin Eater

THE WENDY HUT LONG AGO STORIES

SIMON THE SIN EATER.

Simon lived about a hundred years ago and he longed to travel to the far corners of the earth. His home was in the heart of the country where all the old customs were still kept up. and when old Farmer Brook died the whole village went to his funeral. When the ceremony was over, Farmer Brook’s son asked if anybody would eat his father’s sins, and he looked towards the beggars who were waiting for the dole of bread which was to he distributed in memory of the old farmer.

Now Simon knew that the farmer had been a good man, and before any of the beggars could come forward he ran up to the grave side and said he would be sin-eater. His father was horrified, but Simon ate the slice bread which was supposed to contain all the farmer’s sins, and was given a shilling.

“His sins cannot harm me,” said Simon when his father thrashed him. “I’m not sure that they could really get into the bread.”

When Simon attended another funeral and ate the sins afterwards, his parents decided that nothing could be done with such a boy who became known as Simon the Sin-eater.

“I am no worse for eating them,” thought Simon, “and I am collecting money to go to London.”

By the time he was eighteen he had eaten so many sins that people would not have him in their homes. The girls, and even the young men, were afraid of him, and the old folk said he was very wicked.

“Perhaps I am,” though Simon. “I will eat no more, but I will try to make atonement for the sins of all those whose bread I ate.”

So he travelled to London, saw all the sights of the great city, and wondered what he should do to make atonement. He was gentle and kind, and people liked his serious face. One day when he was down at the docks he saw a transportation ship, sailing to Australia with gangs of convicts chained together, and he was horrified.

“Is there anybody to look after the souls of those poor men?” he asked the captain.

“No,” was the reply. “They are all wicked and richly deserve their punishment.”

“Perhaps they could be improved,” said Simon. “I have eaten sins since I was fourteen, and now I will atone for them if you will take me on board and let me help these wretched men.”

“If you can prevent them from fighting and breaking up the ship, you will be well worth your keep,” smiled the captain. “Come and try. At least you have a good and beautiful face!”

So Simon went, and by the time he had made three voyages everybody travelling to Australia had heard of Simon the Missionary, the man who did good. All his life he worked among the convict settlers of Australia and was loved and honoured in his new land.

Thus far, I haven’t been able to find any other reference to “Simon the Missionary”, and the tale does rather take the form of a parable that might be used as the basis for a children’s sermon. For example, Simon as a child seems unconcerned that the sins could actually be transferred to him, although the rest of society does start treat him as a pariah. On reaching adulthood, he stops the practice that so offended his peers, accepting, perhaps, that he had been transgressing in some way, and seeing fit to then redeem himself by the proxy of atone for the sins of others that he had taken on himself. Do we read this as Simon falling in with a bad lot, being led by others, believing “but *I’m” not doing anything wrong”, then perhaps realising his bad ways and deciding to help others less fortunate than himself — “there but for the grace of God go I?” — redeeming not what he perceived as his own indiscretions, necessarily, presumably believing himself to be essentially good at heart, but those who had led him astray?

In recent years, the sin-eater tradition has appeared in several literary works, including and “The Sin Eater” by Megan Campisi, 2022 [interview]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Sin_Eater_(film)

Alice Thomas Ellis, The Sin Eater, 1977.

Atwood, Margaret (1982). Weaver, Robert (ed.). Small Wonders: New stories by twelve distinguished Canadian authors. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. pp. 11–23. ISBN 0887941044.

Margaret Atwood - sin eater short story in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard’s_Egg The Sin Eater Atwood, Margaret Bluebeard’s Egg is a collection of short stories by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, first published in 1983. The book’s first American edition was released in 1986 under the name Bluebeard’s Egg and other stories. The 1986 American edition didn’t include the tale, but it was reprinted that year in The Irish Times (1921-); Aug 15, 1986; also appeared in 1992 edition of Dancing Girls & Other Stories (first published without the Sin Eater tale, in 1977) ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Irish

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