General Chat

Yesterday, whilst my OH was driving through Derby, he saw a funeral cortege. The hearse and the three limo's following were all white/cream, and the hearse itself was drawn by two horses. The horses too, were of the same colour, and had white/cream, and purple plumes. Their backs and rumps were covered in blanket of the same purple, with some sore of gold insignia on it.
In the hearse, the coffin was also purple.
My question is, was this a gypsy funeral, or some local dignitary.
Would have loved to have seen it for myself.
Julia in Derbyshire

I don't know the answer but I would think that it would probably reported in the local paper. I do know that after a death of a true Romany that their caravan and all their belongings are set fire to.

Wendy x

My Sis's FiL was a general dealer and had black plumed horses followed by a flatbed cart with his name on, driven by one of his sons, an pulled by a coloured Welsh cob with all the flowers on the back of it......then the hearses.......it was a huge funeral of a man well loved and well respected.....

OH's Nan and most forebears had the black plumed horses and glass hearse with a man in the front in top hat and silver stick, walking through the East End, and latterly Deptford........his Gt. Grandparents died within days of each other so they had a double funeral like this........ordinary people but quite showy funerals...... actually the story MiL tells is of one of the daughters who was a bit of a 'fly by night' (her words).....did not attend her parents' funeral but stood outside their shop in a big red hat.......seemingly this is the height of disrespect.......oooooerrrrr.....

Horse drawn carriages seem to be quite popular for funerals these days, but I would think they are expensive. Have noticed several around here lately and there is an empty parking lot where they arrive and unload the horses from a van and hitch them up to the carriage. Maybe purple was the chosen colour...it is a funereal colour anyway. Cx.

Thanks all for your answers, all of which I find very interesting. We too have horse drawn corteges in our small town, but it is usually for a 'dignatery', of sorts, and we do have a few gypsies in our local cemetary. Yes Cynthia, I have seen them off loading the horses. In this case both horses and cortege come from Derby, for the occassion.
I was just curious, as it was rather unusual.
Many Thanks All
Julia in Derbyshire

I Attended one recently.Black Horsedrawn Hearse with plumes etc. flowers on an open truck. From the Church it was a Walking Funeral to the Cemetery and at least 200 people were in attendance Previous to that there was a 24hr Wake.with all the Children,GrandChildren and Great Grandchildren paying their respects.**M**.Ps. She was my Late Brothers Wife.RIP.Elvira.

when there are gypsy funerals where i live there are literally hudreds of people come from all over the country, the parade from the Gypsy settlement right trhrough the town at times, so many that they block the roads..

When I was young my mum told me the only real Gypsy death tradition is to burn their belongings and the caravan they lived in ......

Last week in our local large town a horse drawn carriage was passing through as a funeral prossesion

Sounds like it may have been. We have one expected nearby. 10 Limos, horse drawn herse and a flower cart. They certainly leave in style.

Kempinawooliehat - yes I've heard that too but I expect Enviromental Protection laws have put a stop to it. I understand that familes don't live on the same site once a death has taken place. Traditionally they are only buried in chalk. A song thrush is a sign of a death in the family soon.

Yes Island, I know anyone can have a horse drawn carriage, but it was the colours of the carriage,cars,horses and coffin, that made me wonder if it was a grypsy funeral, or some civic dignitry.
Julia in Derbyshire

Island, thanks for the ideas. Unfortunately, this was taking place in the centre of Derby, when OH was fetching me home from hospital. It is about 15 miles from where we live, so little possibility of finding out. Just made me curious, and wished I had seen it for myself, as it struck me as being abit unusual.
Julia in Derbyshire

Purple used to be the colour for Royalty I think