Popular illustration from life (4) : "il-quccija"

Abstract

Nowadays one can have a party on the slightest provocation, for every imaginable move or occasion; formerly parties as such had no part in the family activities, and the only occasions when relatives got together were usually marriages, funerals, and to a very small extent births. The latter were so common, that it hardly qualified as a special occasion, except for parents and immediate household. Not only so, but infant mortality was very high up to the recent past, and child funerals were common, and involved participation of close relatives and friends. Most parents were persuaded to look on the death of a baby as an advantage, by increasing the number of angels in heaven, the more to pray for them; so much so, that the church bells rang no sad notes, but sounded the chimes of the Glorja or Frejha.