Peter Jupp, Douglas Davies, Hilary Grainger, Gordon Raeburn and Stephen White, Cremation in Modern Scotland: History, Architecture and the Law
| Published date | 01 January 2018 |
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2018.0477 |
| Author | |
| Date | 01 January 2018 |
| Pages | 178-179 |
Cremation in Modern Scotland takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine cremation in Scotland and how and why it took over from burial as the predominant method of dealing with the dead. In its introduction it states this subject of cremation clearly, asking how it came about, what scandals arose when dealing with the dead, and posing an open question about the link between cremation and architecture. This introduction sets up the broad scope of the book, which draws together primary and secondary sources in history, theology, anthropology, architecture and law. This reflects the fact that it has five authors each with their own specialism in these fields: Professor Davies is the theologian; Grainger is Professor of Architectural History; Jupp is an Honorary Fellow in Divinity; Raeburn has a doctorate in historical burial practices; and White has a multi-disciplinary teaching and research history in law and social sciences.
This book will be primarily of interest to lawyers and jurists who have a broad academic interest in such subjects or legal historians; those who practice in property and succession and those with an interest in attaching legal ethical considerations. It will also interest those who wish to know more on how and why the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 (“2016 Act”) has affected legal change including its overhauling of the law of burial and cremation. The inclusion of this Act within the scope of the book helps justify the restriction of its jurisdictional coverage to Scotland, as it contextualises it in Scotland's legal, historical and religious history, as distinguished from England.
The chapters take a chronological approach with regard to cremation and how religion and law dictated how the dead were dealt with. The book examines the differing positions of the catholic and protestant churches on burial and cremations. It looks at attitudes towards cremation and burial during the reformation and the 19th century papal ban on cremations which lasted until its revocation in 1964. The chapters go on to discuss how Scots and English laws differed on burial and cremations due to their different legal systems, a problem it says was compounded by the unified parliament. It briefly charts the problem of resurrectionists, the challenges facing the legality of cremation and the establishment of Scotland's first crematorium in 1896 in Maryhill spearheaded by the Scottish Burial Reform and Cremation Society (a Scottish cremation...
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