Did you know that, in 18th and 19th century Cymru, there existed a religious practice known as “sin-eating”? And it was pretty much as the name suggests.
While not necessarily a practice restricted to Cymru (as parts of Ireland, Scotland and England also made use of sin-eating), it was perhaps most common in gogledd Cymru (North Wales) and the Welsh/English border.
If someone passed away during this time period, it was commonplace for bread (and occasionally beer) to be placed upon the chest of the corpse. The belief at the time was that this would soak up the sins of the deceased just in time for a sin-eater, typically a poor man from the village looking to make a few coin doing work that no other person would want to, to consume the snack and beverage.
Of course, this would mean that the sins would be absorbed by the sin-eater, meaning that sin-eaters were viewed negatively within communities and were often shunned. For a sin-eater, however, sacrificing one’s own salvation to make some money might have been the only way to survive and feed the family.
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Niklas is the founder, owner, manager, editor, writer, video creator, voice over artist, and so forth, of Welsh Histories. He is passionate about the preservation of Welsh culture; the rejuvenation of the Welsh language and the promotion of Welsh history. Niklas currently resides in Pune, Maharashtra, with his beloved wife.