Wake, the act of keeping watch, a vigil. Wakes appear to have been of two kinds, Teutonic and Celtic. In Anglo-Saxon countries communities were wont to gather for an all night solemn service in commemoration of some saint or some event. The only remnant of this practice is possibly the custom of watching the old year out. The olden English churches were dedicated by an all night watch of the parish. The floor was strewn with rushes, the pulpit decorated with flowers, and the walls hung with green boughs. Booths were erected in the churchyard to supply refreshments on the following day and evening which was kept as a general holiday. The crowds became so large at these church wakes that they lost their reverential character and became mere fairs for merrymaking, degenerating into buffoonery and license. Oftentimes they were occasions of drunken riots. These parish wakes were suppressed finally by public opinion and self respect. The custom of keeping watch by the dead appears among most primitive peoples. It was practiced formerly by the Gaelic inhabitants of Scotland and by the Welsh as well, but, among civilized nations, it is now confined to Ireland and to Irish settlements in the newer parts of the world. The genuine Irish wake is considered a mark of respect to the deceased and to the relatives. The greater the crowd, the greater the occasion. The older people are presumed to conduct themselves with decorum. The younger people are at liberty to indulge in gaiety and dancing, into which the entire party may be drawn. It was customary in former times, indeed, for the nearest of kin to lead off a melancholy dance with weeping and wailing. No wake is properly observed without refreshments served on a scale corresponding to the means of the deceased. A few jugs of poteen are considered an excellent beginning. The custom is waning.