When a person dies with unforgiven sins they may be refused entry into Heaven. In Scotland and Wales, as recently as C19th, the Sin-eater would be sent for. Food laid on the body would be ritually consumed by the Sin-eater. Sins transferred for a fee of sixpence.
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“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 in the 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 beer. 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.” [1]
Richard Munslow was buried in Ratlinghope village, Shropshire, England in 1902. Munslow was a well respected farmer in the area, but he was also a sin-eater. Possibly the very last sin-eater in England. In 2010 locals raised £1000 to restore Munslow’s grave which had fallen into disrepair.
“The Reverend Norman Morris, the vicar of Ratlinghope, a village of about 100 residents on the Long Mynd near Church Stretton, led the “God’s Acre” service at St Margaret’s Church.
Mr Morris said: “It was a very odd practice and would not have been approved of by the church but I suspect the vicar often turned a blind eye to the practice.”
Locals began the collection to restore the grave, which had fallen into disrepair in recent years, believing it would be good to highlight the custom and Mr Munslow’s place in religious history.
It took a few months to raise the £1,000 needed to pay for the work, carried out by local stonemason Charles Shaw.
Mr Morris said: “This grave at Ratlinghope is now in an excellent state of repair but I have no desire to reinstate the ritual that went with it.”[2]
[1] Funeral Customs by Bertram S. Puckle, 1926 https://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/fcod/fcod07.htm
[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-11360659
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