Did you know?
Welsh “sin-eaters” ate salt from a coffin
Salt was once placed on corpses across Britain. In a Welsh version described by Ernest Jones in 1912, a plate of bread and salt was set on the coffin, and the local “sin-eater” ate it, taking on the dead person's sins.
Read the full story: Salt After a Funeral
More salt facts
Cite this page
For school projects and reports. Teachers often prefer the original sources too: see the list below.
The Salt Almanac. (2026, November 8). Welsh sin-eaters ate salt from a coffin. https://saltalmanac.com/did-you-know/welsh-sin-eater-salt
“Welsh sin-eaters ate salt from a coffin.” The Salt Almanac, 8 Nov. 2026, saltalmanac.com/did-you-know/welsh-sin-eater-salt. Accessed [today's date].
“Welsh sin-eaters ate salt from a coffin.” The Salt Almanac. Last modified November 8, 2026. https://saltalmanac.com/did-you-know/welsh-sin-eater-salt.
Original sources
- Jones, E. “The Symbolic Significance of Salt,” in Essays in Applied Psycho-Analysis. 1923. https://archive.org/details/essaysinappliedp032427mbp
- Wikipedia. Sin-eater. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-eater