Lucky Dip Number 36
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Rising to the Occasion
A funeral director my father once knew Told him this story and swore it was true 'And I fully believed him', he afterwards said, 'For strange things happen in our family trade'. I'll give you a moment to picture the scene Where some days before a death there had been In a small country town and with funeral now near Acquaintance all gathered for the requisite tear In the house where the corpse in the parlour was laid And the widow was fulsome in the grief she displayed. On the day before the deceased was interned A couple of jokers in the Irish town learned They could ask in private the body to view For respects to pay the acquaintance they knew And alone with the corpse a plan there was laid To bring to fruition the story foresaid. The wake that evening was alive in full swing For to sorrow or joy the Irish can bring A sense of fulfilment distinctly their own And a chance of free liquor will seldom disown Although Rabbie Burns might discredit the claim And say that the Scots put the Irish to shame. As midnight approached the noise faded away And they started a hymn to bring in the day When finally the deceased would be laid to his rest And this was the time that the jokers judged best As from outside the window they with caution surveyed The solemnity now that the mourners displayed. A string to each of his wrists they had tied That led out the window to where they did hide And as hymn neared its climax and final amen The corpse seemed determined to join the refrain And the air he exhaled made a most mournful sound As he rose in the coffin and they swore looked around. The pair in the darkness in merriment viewed The panic and chaos inside that ensued And for years thereafter those present all swore That the dear dead departed had joined them once more And some even insisted the funeral next day Had been for some stranger who had just passed away. As for our merry friends hugging in glee And wishing the uproar forever to see If video recording invented had been Thousands on utube would have witnessed the scene. |