The Coffin Roads: Journeys to the West by Ian Bradley

REVIEWER: Ali Hull

BOOK: The Coffin Roads: Journeys to the West

(Birlinn, 2022) 192pp, paperback, RRP £8.99

This is a companion volume, though from a different publisher, to Ian Bradley’s book, Bigger and wilder, published by Sacristy press and reviewed in Preach 39. Once again, the subject is death, and the book looks at two things: the traditional practices around death in the west of Scotland, and what we can learn from them. In fact, I would make that more urgent: what we need to learn from them, soon.  

‘Coffin roads’ were designated paths, used by mourners to carry coffins to the proper places of burial. They are not exclusive to Scotland. Many date from the time when there were few areas of consecrated ground suitable for Christian burial, necessitating long walks to reach them. But the west of Scotland was also believed to be a good place for burial. Drawing on records from the time, some of these processions were solemn – and some, under the influence of alcohol, really weren’t! The chapters on the coffin roads are part travel writing, part history, and would make a good guide. 

The book also looks closely at the ways in which deaths were marked: the customs of keening, how the body was treated, how people came together and supported each other, as a community – how, above all, death was not tidied away and ignored as it is so often today. The author suggests that this was helpful to the bereaved, and to those around them, who knew they would have the same support when they faced bereavement. It is this second focus that makes the book an important part of current discussions around death and preparing for it. Ian Bradley suggests there should be more effort to talk about death, and mentions the growth in ‘death cafes’ – places where people specifically get together to discuss the subject. Perhaps this is something that churches should be facilitating. 

So why consider it for your library? Most pastors and leaders constantly have to be there for those who have bereaved. Even people who never come to church, from one year’s end to the next, still want a church funeral – or feel that the person who has died would want one. So books on this subject can be helpful.   

Reviewer: Ali Hull 

Ali Hull is the Book Editor for Preach magazine, and has spent nearly thirty years working with words, as a writer, editor and writing coach.