Our remote forebears went all out at a burial, and this is just one of the reminders.
The lich (rhymes with rich) was the corpse, borne from house to churchyard.
It was carried over a lich way or path to the solemn sound of a lich bell, and at the lich gate, or roofed entrance to the churchyard, the coffin was placed upon a lich stone to await the arrival of the clergyman, and was then finally carried to the lich rest or grave.
Previous to death, perhaps, a lich owl may have shrieked its ominous prophecy.
