Bleeding Corpses

Painting titled 'Bier Right' (1879) by Jeno Gyarfa

Today's blog post is a quick little fright bite on some interesting folklore I read about awhile back!

Cruentation (or bier-right) was a ritual in which a suspected murderer was made to touch the corpse of his alleged victim. If the corpse began to bleed, froth at the mouth, or otherwise show unusual signs, it was determined that the accused was guilty. The idea was that the corpse retained the ability to hear and see for some time after death and could identify their murderer.

 
This practice was most widespread in England and surrounding countries from the 1100s up until the 1800s and was brought to Appalachia by early settlers. And although in most places, cruentation couldn't be used to legally convict a murderer after the early 1700s, there were still cases reported of its use in the United States up through 1869. Here, in the isolated mountain communities of Appalachia, the practice was used as least through the Civil War, and is discussed further in such publications as Laura Wright's Appalachian Curiosities.

With Appalachia being such an isolated area, as well as one of great superstition, it just made sense that justice was sometimes meted out without the aid of formal law enforcement, who may take days (if not longer) to actually come investigate. And in the place of any living witnesses, who better to identify an assailant than the victim, living OR dead?

There is actually some science behind cruentation. It is believed that the 'bleeding' was actually the release of purge fluid, which looks like blood. This is the by-product of the putrefaction process and drains from the body's orifices, including nose and mouth

I can't think of a more disturbing image than a bleeding corpse somehow having the sentience to identify his or her killer, but the trope of a ghost (or otherwise deceased person) playing an integral role in bringing their murderer to justice is a common one in folklore. Whether or not this practice was actually effective or as widespread as we'd been led to believe is a moot point. What's important is that it makes for one heck of a scary ghost story and a warning to would-be murderers that what is done in darkness will eventually come to light, one way or another.