E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
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 conclamatum) 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 Phnician custom; and therefore he makes the palace ring with howls when Dido burnt herself to death.