Mysteries of vernacular Hearse Jessica Oreck

mysteries of vernacular hearse the

vehicle used to convey a coffin at a

funeral the roots of the word hearse can

be traced back thousands of years to

hurt us

which meant wolf in the ancient moscone

language of southern Italy purpose when

transmuted into Latin became her pecks

alluding to the physicality of a wolf’s

sharp teeth her pecks was the name for a

large rake a heavy triangular frame with

iron teeth used to Hera the earth when

her pecks became hearse in Old French

the focus shifted from the teeth of the

rake to its construction and the meaning

of the word was simplified to frame in

the 13th century hearse shifted to

hearse in English and referred

specifically to a framework used for

holding candles the triangular

candelabra eventually found its place

over coffins during funerals as funeral

rites developed so did the definition in

the 16th century hearse refer to the

support for the funeral pour the cloth

over a coffee

and in the 17th century to the beer the

stand on which the coffin stood it

eventually came to describe the

horse-drawn carriage that conveyed a

casket to its place of burial and today

of course it refers to that looming

black shiny shape we all know so well