The Sin Eater

Sin Eating is an ancient custom.

The first sin eaters are believed to have lived in the 1500s.

Legend says Richard Munslow, who died in 1906 in Shropshire, England, was the last known sin eater. He is buried at St. Margaret's Church, Ratlinghope. He was not poor but a wealthy farmer.

Some sin eaters received a meagre sum. Perhaps Richard Munslow gained wealth partly by sin eating.

Tradition has it that when a person dies, a cake is made. While the cake is still hot, it is laid on the chest of the deceased, and as it cools, it is supposed to absorb the sins of the dead person. The sin eater then comes along and eats the cake, and thus eats the sins of the dead person, who then goes to the afterlife with a clean soul, and does not wander aimlessly as a ghost and haunt the village or its inhabitants.

Bread is often used instead of cake.

Sin eaters lived alone, like hermits. No one wanted to come into contact with them as they were thought to be 'full of sins' and 'mad'.

This tradition may have originated in Wales and the Shires, such as Gloucestershire, and some believe Scotland.

Welsh, Scottish, and other folk then journeyed to the Americas, where they carried on their family traditions.

Could it be that, as we feast after a funeral, we are continuing the tradition of the sin eater?