East End

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Cockney funerals have always been unique and lavish affairs, what with the plume-topped horses and all. As more and more immigrants have settled in the area and it has grown more diverse, an ongoing exchange of customs has reshaped the proceedings both in London's East End and in the immigrants' hometowns. One funeral parlor has managed to stay alive by changing with the times (video): http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2013/12/cockney-funerals#
   Mary Poppins's friend Bert aside, just what is a cockney, anyway? And with the huge influx of immigrants and the changing face and dialects of the city, where have all the cockneys gone? Is it all just mockney now?: http://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/death-of-the-cockney-1
   A quick lesson in the dying art of cockney rhyming slang (story, audio): http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/shows/2013/03/31/ss-lockney/