Last time we looked at the strange and sometimes spooky superstition that has developed over the years around the clock and how a stopped clock is often associated with death in many folk beliefs. Now this widespread superstition comes in two main varieties, firstly there is the general tradition that a clock is stopped when someone dies. Nowadays it is known to most people from a popular movie scene.Fried Green Tomatoes(1991), and the origin of this burial custom has caused much speculation over the years.
A commonly acclaimed explanation is that the clock was stopped when a loved one died, so that the time of death would be accurately recorded when the doctor or similar vassals of the civil service arrived. While this theory sounds pretty good, there's a problem with it - as it assumes that in times past our ancestors recorded deaths on charters, as we do today. However, death certificates, which require a doctor's signature and notarized information such as the time and cause of death, are relatively modern phenomena, with the centralized death certificate only coming into force in the late 19th century and US death certificates not being introduced until 1910. Before that, deaths were recorded in church records and required much less detail. But there are many sources that record this superstition, which goes back well before the modern death certificate came into force.
So what was the origin of the custom? Another theory that has been put forward is that in ancient times clocks were big and noisy and so were stopped to silence the loud ticking they were making so the mourners could suffer in silence. A variation on this theory holds that the clocks in the room where the deceased was laid were stopped so the mourners would not worry about the time they spent paying their respects! Here, too, both theories sound superficially plausible, but actually do not quite match the findings that we have recorded. For many beliefs, the clock must stop until the body is removed from the home for burial. Then and only then can the clock be reset. It was therefore a kind of symbolic gesture to acknowledge that time itself has stood still for the dearly departed. Indeed, this emerges from one of the earliest references to the faith. 1825, theNewcastle-Magazinreports -
In a northern late watch... the clock is dead and stopped to indicate that time has become a void (to the deceased)
It has also been speculated that stopping the clocks is also a sign to the spirit of the deceased that their life is over and they must now leave this life; literally a way of saying to the dead, "Your time is up." However, it's also very possible that it's related to our second famous superstition about stopped clocks - that a clock mysteriously stops when a loved one dies.
Well, in the world of folklore, cause and effect are often not a linear process. Many superstitions derive from the same magical philosophies that create sympathetic magic. Everyone knows the famous example of this – the voodoo doll, but as we saw about it in a previous articlewitch bottles, sympathetic magic was a two-way street - hence an evil curse, for example, could be returned to the sender by the magical "sympathies" that fueled the original spell. So stopping a clock when someone dies could be a similar exploitation of magical sympathy, in this case to prevent the Reaper from making a second call to family too soon.
Clocks that mysteriously stop when a death occurs are often seen as just an ancient conspiracy that many are writing a hit about.my grandfather's watchfor the origin of this superstition. Certainly this perennial favorite, written by Henry Clay Work, is a very old work, first published in 1876 (and in case you are unfamiliar, the text is reproduced at the end of this article). And it's also true that the music had a massive influence - because thanks to Work's music that's what we call pendulum clocks - before this song they were known as grandfather clocks, grandfather clocks or tall clocks!
However, what few people realize is that the song was inspired by a real case. In the north of England there is a small town called Piercebridge which has an old pub, The George Inn. About 160 years ago, The George was an inn run by two brothers named Jenkins. His pride and joy was a long clock made by the famous Thompson of Darlington, as Thompson clocks were renowned for their accuracy and precision at the time and many famous clockmakers learned their craft in James Thompson's workshop on High Row, Darlington. And by all appearances the clock at the George Inn was exceptionally accurate, a very useful thing for anyone traveling to an inn.
However, when one of the Jenkins brothers died, the clock began periodically to slow down. And when the surviving sibling died at the age of 90, the watch stopped even though it was fully wound. The George's new manager attempted to get the clock working again and although it was examined and rebuilt by Thompsons, the clock did not work. And in fact it never worked again and can still be seen in the foyer at 11:30 a.m. today. Now Henry Clay Work stayed at The George in 1874 and heard the story of the stopped clock and was inspired to write his famous song.
So ifmy grandfather's watchwas not the origin of this superstition, where did it come from? Well, according to documents left by the king's watchmaker, a Mr. Vullamy, a clock in the royal household, mysteriously stopped when George III. died in 1820. And this historical oddity is said to have been the inspiration for the belief. But even a small amount of research will uncover a number of similar stories, and it seems that the clocks stop when someone dies, rather than being a common belief. Now, of course, skeptics will claim that this is just a probability trick - and that obviously some people will die at the precise moment a clock for loved ones to see stops.
However, while it seems very rational and scientific to invoke that old favorite agent of debunking, coincidence, it's hard not to grow a little cold when reading account after account of people reporting that clocks and clocks stop at the moment of death . 🇧🇷 Especially when you have reports of modern digital and electric clocks stopping suddenly and even stopping multiple clocks when death occurs. Obviously it's a fairly common phenomenon that many doctors and nurses note this as something that often happens when someone dies.
Some have even theorized that an electromagnetic effect biologically produced when someone dies could be to blame, since it is a scientific fact that some people's bodies carry a certain electromagnetic charge that makes any watch they wear will stop. Perhaps science will provide an answer as we begin to see ourselves as complex electromagnetic events more than just bags of meat, as biology gains a deeper understanding of the electrical energies so important to us living, thinking creatures close. Until then, though, we can't rule out the Grim Reaper's bony fingers stopping the clocks to say, "Time's up..."
MY GRANDFATHER'S WATCH
von Henry Clay Work
My grandfather's clock was too big for the shelf
So he stayed on the ground for ninety years;
He was half the size of the old man himself,
Even though it didn't weigh a cent anymore.
It was bought on the morning of the day of his birth,
And it was always his treasure and his pride;
But stopped - never to return -
When the old man died
Ninety years without sleep
(tick-tock, tick-tock),
Count the seconds of your life
(tick-tock, tick-tock),
Stopped - never return -
When the old man died
As you watch your pendulum swing back and forth
He spent many hours as a boy;
And in childhood and in manhood the clock seemed to know
And to share your pain and your joy.
'Cause it was eleven o'clock when he came in the door
With a flowery and beautiful bride;
But stopped - never to return -
When the old man died
Ninety years without sleep
(tick-tock, tick-tock),
Count the seconds of your life
(tick-tock, tick-tock),
Stopped - never return -
When the old man died
My grandfather said that from those he could hire,
Found no servant so faithful;
Because he wasted no time and had only one wish -
Getting hurt at the end of every week.
And stayed in his place - without a frown,
And his hands never dangled at his side.
But stopped - never to return -
When the old man died
Ninety years without sleep
(tick-tock, tick-tock),
Count the seconds of your life
(tick-tock, tick-tock),
Stopped - never return -
When the old man died
In the middle of the night an alarm clock rang -
An alarm that has been silent for years;
And we knew her spirit was ready to fly -
That his time to say goodbye had come.
Still the clock kept time, with a soft, muted chime,
As we stood silently beside you;
But stopped - never to return -
When the old man died
Ninety years without sleep
(tick-tock, tick-tock),
Count the seconds of your life
(tick-tock, tick-tock),
Stopped - never return -
When the old man died