The pharaohs were buried with slaves and treasures to ease their passage into the afterlife and according to this article the vicar of Thursley seems to be keeping with that tradition, much scaled down of course, with his own humble funeral plans.
The Register News-Pictorial 9 Apr 1930 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53492286
The vicar has requested that he be laid to rest in a lidless coffin with his Bible, prayer-book, bedside books and trusty hot water bottle by his side.
He does seem to have forgotten one thing though. A lamp. No point waiting for the next stage in his existence with a few good books if he can’t see them in the dark…
I expect that the lidless part might be overlooked by the parishioners though.
I understand his intentions, but I think it would be a little too unnerving to be at the burial of a person who had no lid on his coffin.
Maybe the vicar didn’t have complete faith in the local quack and was just making sure that if the diagnosis of death was a little premature he would have an easier escape once he woke up….
‘easier escape once he woke up’ – lmao! I’ll admit that would be a worry for me too.
Maybe he should have put ‘shovel’ on his list too….
lmao – and snorkel?
Lidless coffin? So the gravediggers would just shovel dirt on him and his books? Not a very well thought out plan, on a number of levels.
I agree, I couldn’t bear to bury my books like that!
Good plan for the vicar but yes, the execution would be tricky. All those lavish funeral expenses are ridiculous. While we were flooded in at TA, keeping an eye on morning TV broadcasts about the Qld and local floods we were inundated with funeral plan advts… just a dollar a day and your family can have… after the 5th advt the G.O. lost the plot and ran outside…
And yes, a lamp… and a cup of tea
I agree, no point having a good book without a cuppa to go with it
A lavish funeral is like a lavish wedding, a big expense for nothing! A big funeral is only for your ego which is dead as soon as you are!!
I notice that the vicar wanted the saved money to help some of his parishioners on their life’s difficult journey, but he might have been better off willing his books, and especially his hot water bottle, to a needy person instead of taking them with him
I’ve always said that after I die I want to be left wherever I am for 48 hours- just to be 100% sure I’m not waking up in a coffin
I don’t blame you… I think we are really lucky we live (and die!) in a time when they bother to check that you are really dead.
I have seen enough historic articles which lead me to believe that not that long ago just lying quietly for a few hours had you stuffed into a coffin! I wonder how many people have woken up a little too late? Yikes….
I went straight to the “lazy vampire” concept! I figured he had plans to escape and wanted to make it as easy as possible. LOL…
Oooh, lazy vampire. I hadn’t thought of that one! Why bother straining yourself clambering out of the grave if you can make life a bit easier beforehand