It should be noted that the content of this page dates from our early days when we were called The Graveside Serenaders and mainly sang about death. Following the Covid years, due to the feeling that most people “had had enough of being confronted with their own mortality”, we came up with our more benign moniker, though we still sing quite a lot of songs about death and are still jolly interested in the subject.

Death is a “zeitgeist subject” apparently

This according to an interesting recent article in the Observer newspaper about a project in South London called The Departure Lounge. The piece finishes with some “tips for a good death”. Strangely, pre-booking the Graveside Serenaders for your funeral isn’t one of them… a chance missed there, we think. Read all about it!

The Lachrymatory Phial

Ever heard of a Tear Bottle – or to get all posh, a Lachrymatory Bottle? Apparently they go back all the way to the Old Testament and were also there in the American Civil War and are still made today. Thanks to Pete Joyless for passing on this fascinating info and the link to their history on lachrymatory.com which looks like a most valuable resource. It will become required reading for all the Serenaders.

Holding back the years

Here’s a nice little quote from Peter Wilby’s New Statesman column in the 9-15 November 2018 magazine. Musing on attending his cousin Ron’s funeral (he died five months short of his 100th birthday) and his own age, he writes:

“Given my not very abstinent habits, I expected to die well before 80. Now, the Office of National Statistics website tells me that, at 74, without taking account of lifestyle and my share of Ron’s genes, I have a 5.9 per cent chance of reaching 100, which is far better than my chances of winning the premium bond jackpot.

“The state and the medical profession assiduously advise us how to avoid the risks of early death but offer little guidance on the risks of late death: loneliness, boredom and running out of money, for example. I shall follow the example of a friend who, calling for a second bottle of wine, habitually says: “It should take the last two years off our lives – and by all accounts, they are the worst.”

The Graveside Serenaders recommend the following books:

1. Richard Holloway: Waiting For The Last Bus – Reflections On Life  And Death (Cannongate 2018) Here is a sensible review.
2. Muriel Spark: Memento Mori (Virago) Here is what David Lodge thinks of it.