Origin of the phrase:
“You’d lose your head if it wasn’t attached.”
Origin of the phrase: “You’d lose your head if it wasn’t attached.”
It's possible that P.O.E. is onto something. :^)
In Britain before the Romans, separate burial of the severed head of the deceased was practiced for higher status people. The practice may or may not have been commonplace (there aren't all that many human remains that old in Britain) but it is referenced in the Welsh Mabinogeon. The head of Bran the Blessed (not Brian the Blessed, I'm onto ya) was cut off and buried in the east, facing Europe, to protect the island from invasion. It didn't work though. ;^)