Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—C

Corbeaux

Bearers, i.e. persons who carry the dead to the grave; mutes, etc. So called from the corbillards, or coches d'eau, which went from Paris to Corbeil with the dead bodies of those who died in the 16th century of a fatal epidemic.

“Jai lu quelque part que ce coche [the Gorbillard] servit, sous Henri IV., a transporter des morts, victimes d'une epidémie de Paris à Corbeil. Le nom de Corbillard resta depuis aux voitures funebres.” —Alf. Bonnardot.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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