he said, "sa compte d'enfants" was not yet complete.[1168] In other
stories a corpse becomes animated and speaks or acts in presence of the
living, or from the tomb itself when it is disturbed.[1169] The earliest
literary example of such a tale is the tenth century "Adventures of
Nera," based on older sources. In this Nera goes to tie a withy to the
foot of a man who has been hung. The corpse begs a drink, and then
forces Nera to carry him to a house, where he kills two sleepers.[1170]
All such stories, showing as they do that a corpse is really living,
must in essence be of great antiquity. Another common belief, found over
the Celtic area, is that the dead rise from the grave, not as ghosts,
when they will, and that they appear _en masse_ on the night of All
Saints, and join the living.[1171]

As a result of such beliefs, various customs are found in use,
apparently to permit of the corpse having freedom of movement, contrary
to the older custom of preventing its egress from the grave. In the west
of Ireland the feet of the corpse are left free, and the nails are drawn
from the coffin at the grave. In the Hebrides the threads of the shroud
are cut or the bindings of feet, hands, and face are raised when the
body is placed in the coffin, and in Brittany the arms and feet are left
free when the corpse is dressed.[1172] The reason is said to be that the
spirit may have less trouble in getting to the spirit world, but it is
obvious that a more material view preceded and still underlies this
later gloss. Many stories are told illustrating these customs, and the
earlier belief, Christianised, appears in the tale of a woman who
haunted her friends because they had made her grave-clothes so short
that the fires of Purgatory burnt her knees.[1173]

Earlier customs recorded among the Celts also point to the existence of
this primitive belief influencing actual custom. Nicander says that the
Celts went by night to the tombs of great men to obtain oracles, so much
did they believe that they were still living there.[1174] In Ireland,
oracles were also sought by sleeping on funeral cairns, and it was to
the grave of Fergus that two bards resorted in order to obtain from him
the lost story of the _Tain_. We have also seen how, in Ireland, armed
heroes exerted a sinister influence upon enemies from their graves,
which may thus have been regarded as their homes--a belief also
underlying the Welsh story of Bran's head.

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