Casting A Pall

During the Bruins' last game, of all things, the commentator said the Blackhawks' goal cast a pall over the enthusiasm in The Garden.

Being a word guy, I began to wonder how that expression links up with the role of pallbearer.

No quick and easy answer.

The general definition of casting a pall appears to be derived from the idea of something, smoke or dust or fog, that makes the sky dark. Similar to sucking the excitement out of a room.

Pallbearer. A pall is a blanket sized cloth that has religious significance in many churches. In ye olden days, a funeral procession consisted of those carrying the casket and those carrying the edges of a pall, which would eventually be placed over the casket at the church or the graveyard. In some religions the significance of the pall was to illustrate the fact that death is the great equalizer, regardless of the simple or ornate casket housing the dead.

Eventually the pall was eliminated or draped over the coffin, and the entire process was encompassed in the term pallbearer.

Death is linked by a thin thread to both terms.