E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Conclama’tio,
amongst the ancient Romans, was similar to the Irish howl over the dead; and, as in Ireland, women led the funeral cortège, weeping ostentatiously and gesticulating. “One not howled over” (c&ocedil;rpus nondum conclama’tum) meant one at the point of death; and “one howled for” was one given up for dead or really deceased. Virgil tells us that the ululation was a Phœnician custom; and therefore he makes the palace ring with howls when Dido burnt herself to death.
