The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

It was a custom that during the wakes for the departed that
were always held at a house the women would sit in the living
room with the body and cry and pray while the men sat in the
kitchen. They (the men) would eat, drink and make merry.

Submitter comment: The informants' uncle learned to jig on the kitchen table at a
very young age at the wakes.
This is considered an Irish custom of that era.

Where learned: CAMBRIDGE ; Massachusetts

Keyword(s): Dancing: Irish Jig

Date learned: 00-00-1935