This afternoon, I had to wait at the roundabout by Engebretsen for traffic to clear. One vehicle attracted my attention. A hearse, with a coffin. As it rounded the roundabout, I took off my hat and briefly bowed my head at the hearse. The driver acknowledged my mark of respect in likewise fashion before proceeding to the final resting place of the deceased.
In these days of Covid, people are only allowed to attend the interment in a graveyard by invitation. The general public are permitted to line the road near the person's last residence as the cortège moves off, but no such time or place was mentioned in this instance. Judging by the information in the funeral notice, I suspect that the gentleman in question had returned home (that is local parlance for coming back to the island) after his death, to be laid to rest in his native soil. I would be profoundly sad if it was the case that only a chance passer-by at a traffic roundabout and the undertakers were able to pay their final respects on the way. I did not know Mr Kenneth M. Macleod, who had lived in Carishader, Stornoway and Leith. May he rest in peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment