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