I received this in a forwarded email and thought you all might like to see it because of our recent discussion of this custom. This is supposed to have originated in the 1500s. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky, and the combination of alcohol and lead could knock people out for a couple of days. Sometimes they were mistaken for dead and were then prepared for burial. Their families would place the person in question on the kitchen table for a couple of days and would gather around, eat, drink, and wait to see if he would eventually wake up or not - the custom of the "wake."