Horse-drawn hearses make a comeback
The next time you spot a somewhat eerie carriage, being drawn by black horses, clad in black feathers and a cloak, driven by a man in a black suit and top hat, don't be fooled into thinking it's a scene out of Dracula.
The chances are you will spot one on the roads some time soon. Horse-drawn carriage hearses were last seen on our streets some 40 years ago but an undertaker has dug up his collection and is breathing new life into them, following public demand. Louis Borg's resurrection of the horse-drawn hearses comes in the wake of the liberalisation of the motorised market, which led him to diversify, giving him the edge over double the competitors he had before.
But he does not want to create another monopoly and is willing to extend the service of his restored carriages to other undertakers everywhere if their clients ask for it.
In fact, he does not mind if he fails to make money "as long as I revive the tradition," he said, touring his Sliema garages, piled with carriage paraphernalia including papier-mâché angels and equestrian equipment.
All he wants is to unearth that sense of respect for the dead that comes with the carriages. On their first appearance after four decades last week, they commanded much reverence from the man in the street, Mr Borg pointed out.
"Everyone bowed their heads, made the sign of the cross, looked in awe and moved aside. Normally, when we use the cars, it could be any other vehicle on the road. Nobody gives way," he continued.
Mr Borg has been driving the dead for 30 years and had never experienced such a scenario, which he deems fit for a funeral.
Some of his carriages are up to 120 years old and, unlike other undertakers, who sold them overseas and stripped them when they stopped using them in 1970, the Borg family had the foresight to keep theirs in storage.
Now he is bringing back from the dead his first-class carriage (tal-kewba), which was used by "rich Sliema residents"; the prima and sekonda, which are for lower levels of society respectively, but equally elaborate to the fresh eye; and the white version for babies and single women.
The set comprises the priest's carriage, which would also transport the altar boy dressed as he would have back then and carrying the large cross, sticking out of the window as tradition would have it.
In a €60,000 investment, Mr Borg is restoring them to their original state, using nothing but antique items, even down to the bolts and buttons.
In two weeks, a set of four carriages should be rearing to go and the whole project should be complete in nine months, when the undertaker would be able to carry out three funerals of the sort simultaneously. It cost Mr Borg around €5,000 to restore the prima and €3,500 for the priest's carriage, which comes complete with an old bell to function as a horn in case a driver gets distracted.
"This did not exist in the original but at least it is old too," he said, determined to remain in the past. It still has the original number plate - 260 from 1901.
He is even buying rubber tyres from overseas to put round the wheels to reduce the noise and be able to drive into Mdina and Valletta.
In fact, he plans to drive the carriages everywhere, according to requests. "We can go from any church in the area to the cemetery but would probably drive by car from Mater Dei Hospital to avoid the hills," he said.
His first carriage funeral from Msida to the Naxxar cemetery took 25 minutes - only 10 minutes more than it would have by car - and ran smoothly, he said.
"I am using traffic police each time," he said. "But anyway, everyone just moves out of the way."
Between 1959 and 1970, the public had the option of the motorised and horse hearses but then the latter were buried because it was more comfortable for undertakers to turn the key in the ignition and drive off.
"I have been receiving requests for these carriages for the last 15 years, particularly from the elderly in the villages. Mercedes and Rolls Royce are nothing next to them in their view," Mr Borg said.
Despite the added hassles, the carriage funerals are expected to cost "only a bit more" than the common cars.
Mr Borg already has six horses in his extensive fleet and is buying more from overseas. Now, all he needs is the government to provide him with a hangar in the Marsa area, where he can display all the options for clients to make their death wish.
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Sarah Gatt
Mar 17th 2010, 09:20
Ms Galea, of course i want a video of my funeral, and send to all the people that made me watch there wedding and Holy Communion Videos, I love the idea, can i book mine now,
Mariella Galea
Sep 23rd 2009, 15:05
Money... Money... Money...
Very good, first Horse drawn carriages in Weddings, then Holy Communions now even Funerals... What comes next... Video and Photo Album of your Funeral.
It's time the government puts a license fee on all Horses and carriages that use the road.
Joe Galea
Sep 23rd 2009, 13:40
Oh NO!! Please no more horses on the roads.
carmel debono
Sep 23rd 2009, 11:47
Mr Borg, let us have one reason why the state should subsidise your inventment? u mux ekk!!
Joe Xuereb
Sep 23rd 2009, 10:19
Ah! childhood memories of Victorian funerals. I mentioned the wailing widows, the hysterics. Because from now on she would only have the Government 'relief' for subsistence. Plus paying the deceased's gambling debts. Surely it could not happen again. The women are more emancipated now. The marital attachment less visceral. They're third millenium women. And it WAS a show. The hearse trotted away, the neighbourly crowd dispersed. Some tears iwelled up in eyes, some was collective emoting, for effect. Some didn't give a damn. Some came for the screams, to see how they were done for when their time came to publicly showe they cared. They all came, in various guises, for the free show, depending on neighbourly relationtions. And when the carriage disappeard round the corner, life returned to normal, until the next macabre fest. The kids running, screaming, where the hearse had stood a minute before. Almost jubilant - they're only kids - they'd had their penny-show for today. Cynical? Probably. But then a little cynicism never hurt anybody.
The horse-drawn carriages could be cleanedspruced up and relegated to an ethnographic museum, remnants of a bygone age. With other remants. We don't do nostalgia thank you very much.
K Mallia
Sep 23rd 2009, 08:49
Finally someone with a great idea - to keep traditions of our country alive!! wake up Malta!! Welldone Mr Borg!
C.Deguara
Sep 23rd 2009, 04:57
What a great idea to have a horse drawn hearse.I attended a funeral in Malta 10 years ago,and it was like a rat race, not knowing where the cemetery was, we could not keep up with the hearse.
Paul Vella
Sep 23rd 2009, 00:25
Igifieri milli nista' nifhem, dawn ix-xeni kollha minhabba li hawn hafna li ma jazlux ix-xelta tal-kremazzjoni! L-izjed process nadif u semplici li jista' wiehed irid b'ferm anqas 'business' involut. Ara veru m'ghandniex biex nedew go dan il-pajjiz! Nidhru li qtajna qalbna.
Sahhiet ja huti!
Joe Xuereb
Sep 22nd 2009, 23:54
Now all he needs is.........for a minute I thought he was going to say 'corpses'.
It's telling that it's the elderly villagers, the nostalgics, who are clamouring for a return to the horse-drawn hearse. They're a dying breed, pun intended. I imagine the young, if they think of dying at all, will, in the fullness of time, not give a hoot how they go. So in the long-term at least, this venture is a non-starter. On the plus side, and not to put a total downer on the enterprise, I think that death has become too sanitised (most people now die in hospital anyway I imagine). As a boy I remember funerals starting from homes, the appearance of the carriage round the corner, the countdown to the street drama, the wailing of the wife now widowed (and all that that entailed), the daughters. Quite dramatic. It was all like a Federico Fellini show. I was saying.....death's been sanitised. Maybe it's a good reminder to the young that this eventually is their fate too. And it could curb certain destructive behaviour, arrogance, etc. To Mr. Borg I say, good luck. I'm sure his heart's in the right place. But white coffins?
S Vella
Sep 22nd 2009, 22:18
A funeral cortege should always command respect from the public, can you not wait in traffic for another few extra minutes? After all it would definately be the last time you'd be waiting after this deceased person...
James A. Tyrrell
Sep 22nd 2009, 21:45
Obviously if there was no demand from people then this service would not be available. I for one have been to funerals using cars and just the one funeral, which used a horse drawn hearse, and I have to say it was a very moving and dignified experience. Much more so than a normal hearse. When I die obviously I won't have much say in how I'm transported to my final resting place but I would like to think it was in a nice dignified horse drawn hearse that I made my final journey.
Good luck with your venture Louis and I think that once people experience this form of funeral the demand will grow.
Nigel Lawrence
Sep 22nd 2009, 18:51
Now, all he needs is the government to provide him with a hangar--------
Yet ANOTHER entity looking for the taxpayer to subsidise his business. VAT reduction too?
CSaliba
Sep 22nd 2009, 18:17
I thought that their use had no longer been allowed because of the traffic jams they were creating and that car hearses were giving a better service. So I was surprised to see them being used again in the morning in Naxxar Road, B'Kara about two weeks ago. Since the last time I saw them was some 40 years I thought that they were shooting a film or putting up something for tourists. A long queue of cars was moving at a snail's pace behind them which included a bus happily belching black exhaust smoke. With nothing to catch their litter the horses liberally to the pollution. I did not see any tourists shooting pictures Definitely no tourist attraction. Come on, let's be sensible. We have progressed a bit since forty years ago. With the number of cars driving in our narrow streets equal to the island's population can we really allow this archiac custom to return.
A. Borg
Sep 22nd 2009, 16:55
Oh NO! Another traffic jam created!
darren cassar
Sep 22nd 2009, 16:42
Don`t we have enough horses slowing down traffic.
Marianna Galea Xuereb
Sep 22nd 2009, 16:00
Culture, art, business and retro apart, what about provisions to ensure that the horses do not litter the streets and roads with their smelly droppings? Is it not already bad enough that karozzini owners and horse riding enthusiasts are freely allowed to let their horses litter roads and streets at whim? Is it not bad enough that Maltese streets and pavements are still littered with dog shit despite laws stipulating that dog owners are to clean up after their pets? Is it not bad enough that cats are allowed to wander into peoples’ roofs and gardens and litter to their heart’s content because it seems that under Maltese Law one cannot sue the owner of a cat about such offences “ghax qattus regina”?
David Meilak
Sep 22nd 2009, 15:25
While I really applaud this man's energy to bring life back (excuse the pun) to funerals, I am never amused by statements such as the last where he states that he is waiting for the government to provide a hanger in the Marsa area..............is he expecting State aid or is he expecting to pay for this hanger? Business is business and as stated he intends to charge more for horse drawn funerals (this should make sense) than modern hearse funerals. I can never agree with any more state aid.