Outlander fans left confused by the sin-eater – what is it and is it a Scottish funeral custom?

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Episode two of Outlander's sixth season has left fans delighted, with many enjoying the drama and excitement but one scene seemed to raise more than a few talking points online.

Granny Wilson's funeral introduced us not only to the new church (or should that be, as Jamie says, meeting place?) at Fraser's Ridge but also the ominous-sounding sin eater.The ghastly looking character left fans confused as to who he was and why he was involved in the (up until then) humourous funeral scene.So, just what is the sin eater and is the role a traditional Scottish funeral custom?Traditionally, a sin eater was a person (usually a man) who was paid to eat bread that sat upon the corpse at a funeral.Thought to have soaked up their sins, when eaten by the sin eater, it absolves the dead of their sins leaving them free to enter heaven unburdened.Seen as an important duty at certain points of Christian history, the sin eater was often a poor person or social outcast who was seen as being able to afford to pay the spiritual price that others believed they could ill afford.According to Atlas Obscura, a book known as Brand’s Popular Antiquities of Great Britain which was first published in 1813, said that this person would be given a "groat" as well as the bread and a draught of ale, which they ate before pronouncing that ‘the ease and rest of the soul departed' meaning they had pawned their own soul in return.Not officially sanctioned by the Protestant or Catholic churches, it was unlikely that the practice would have been seen in many bigger towns and cities and was often kept to more rural settings (such as the fishing village where Tom Christie's followers came from).The practice is said to have died out just after the start of the 20th