Post on 06-Mar-2023
Gurious
Ep itapbs .
Col lecteb anb Bbiteb w ith n otes
3139 W i lliamEge WB.
LONDON
W ILLIAM ANDREWS co . , 5 , FARRINGDON AVENUE,E C .
THIS BOOK IS
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A .,
A u t/zor of Ver dun ! Gr een ,
”eta ,
AS A TOKEN OF GRAT ITUDE FOR
L ITERARY ASS ISTANCE AND SYMPATHY
G IVEN IN YEARS AGONE,
BUT NOT FORGOTTEN .
W . A .
25 25 68
[pr efa ce
l“
H IS w o rk fi rs t appeared in‘ 1 883 and
qu ickly pa ssed out of prin t . Some im
portant addi t ions are made in the present
vo lume . I t i s hoped that in i ts n e w form the
book may find favour with the publ i c and the
press .
W ILLIAM ANDREWS .
THE HULL PRESS,May D ay, 1 899 .
C o n ten ts .
PAGEE P ITAPHS ON TRADESMEN
TYPOG RA PH ICA L EP ITA PHS
GOOD AND FA ITHFU L SERVANTS
EPITA PHS ON SOLD I ERS AND SA I LORS
EPITA PHS ON MU S IC IANS AND ACTORS
EPITA PHS ON S PORTSMEN
BACCHANAL IAN E P ITAPHS
EPITA PHS ON PAR ISH C LERKS AND SEXTONS
PUNN I NG E P ITA PHS
MANXLAND EP ITAPHS
EP ITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSON S
M ISCELLANEOUS E PITAPHS
CURIOUS EP ITA PHS .
Ep itaphs on Erab‘
esmen .
ANY interest ing epi taphs have been p laced
to the memory of tradesmen . O ften they
are not of an e levat ing character , n o r h igh ly
poetical , bu t they display the wh ims and Oddit ies
of men . We wi l l fi rst present a few relat ing
to the watch and c lock -mak i ng t rade . The fi rst
spec imen is from Lydford chu rchyard . on the
borders of Dartmoor
He re l ies, in ho r iz on tal po sitio n ,
the outside c ase o f
GEORGE ROUTLEIGH,Watchmake r ;
Who se ab i l ities in that l in e we re an ho n ou rto his pro fession .
In tegr ity was the Ma in spr in g, and prude n c e the
Regu lato r ,o f all the ac tio n s o f his l i fe .
Human e , gen e rous, and l i bera l,his Han d n eve r stoppedti ll he had re l ieved distress.
So n ice ly regu lated were all h is mo t io n s,
CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
that he n eve r wen t wro ng,exc ept when se t a-go ing
by people ,
who did n o t kn ow h is Keyeven then he was easi ly
se t r ight aga in .
He had the art o f dispo sin g his time so we ll,that h is hours gl ided awayin o n e c o n tin ua l roun dof pleasure and de l ight,
un t i l an un lucky min u te put a per iod tohis existen c e .
He departed this l i feNOV. I 4, 1 802 ,
aged 5 7 °
woun d up,in hopes o f be in g taken in han d
by h is Makerand o f be in g tho rough ly c lean ed, repa ired,
and set a-go in gin th e wo r ld to c ome .
I n the churchyard of U ttoxeter,a monument is
placed to the memory of J oseph S later,who died
November 2 1 st , 1 82 2, aged 49 years
He re l ie s on e who strove to equa l time ,A task to o hard, each power too sub limeT ime sto pt h is mo t io n ,
o’
e rth rew h is ba lan ce -whee l ,Wo re o ff h is pivots, tho ’ made o f harden ed stee lBroke all h is spr in gs, the ve rge o f l i fe decayed ,And n ow he is as though he ’d n e
’e r been made .
Such fra i l mach in e ti l l t ime ’s n o mo re shall rust,And the archange l wakes our sleeping dust 5
EPITAPHS ON TRADESMEN . 3
Then in assemb led wo r lds in g lo ry jo in ,
And sin g The han d that made us is divin e .
Our next i s from Berkeley , G loucestersh i re
Here lyeth THOMAS PE IRCE, whom n o man taught,
Ye t he in iron ,brass, and si lver wrought
He jacks, and c lo cks, and wa tches (with art) madeAnd me nded , to o , when o the rs’ wo rk did fade .
Of Be rke ley, five t imes Mayo r this artist was,And ye t this Mayo r, this artist, was but grass.
When his own wa tch was down o n the last day,He that made wa tche s had n o t made a key
To wind it up bu t use less it must lie ,Un ti l he r ise aga in n o mo re to die .
D ied February 2 5 th , 1 665 , aged 7 7 .
The following 1 s from Bolsover churchyard,
Derbysh i reHere
l ies, in a ho r iz on tal po sitio n , the outsidecase of
THOMAS H INDE,C lo ck and Watch -maker ,
W ho departed this l i fe , woun d up in hope of
be in g taken in han d by h is Make r , and be ingtho roughly c lean ed, repa ired, and set a—go in g
in the wo rld to c ome ,On the 1 5 th o f August, 1 83 6,
I n the 1 9th year o f h is age .
Respect ing the next examp le , Mr . Edward
Wal ford,M .A . , wrote to the Times as fol lows :
Close to the sou th -western corner of the parish
4 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
churchyard of H ampstead there has long s tood a
square tomb , with a scarce ly decipherab le in sc r ipt ion , to the memory of a man of science of the
last century, whose name is connected with"
the
h istory of pract ical nav igat ion . The tomb , hav ing
s tood there for more than a century,had become
somewhat di lapidated , and has late ly undergone a
carefu l restorat ion at the cost and under the
superv is ion of the Company of C lock-makers,and
the fact is recorded in large characters on the
upper face . The tops of the upright i ron rai l i ngs
wh ich surround the tomb have been gi l t , and the
restored inscript ion runs a s fo l lows
I n memo ry of MR . JOHN HARR ISON, late o f Red Lio nsquare
,Lo ndo n , in ven to r o f the t ime -ke epe r fo r asc e rta in in g
the lo n gitude a t sea . He was bo rn a t Fou lby, in the
coun ty o f Yo rk, and was the so n of a bu i lde r o f that plac e ,who brought him up to the same pro fession . Be fo re heatta in ed the age o f 2 1
,h e , without any in struc tio n , em
p loyed himse lf in c lean in g and repa ir in g c lo cks a nd
wa tc he s, and made a few o f the fo rme r , chiefly of wood .
At the age o f 2 5 he employed h is who le time in chron o ~
me tr ica l improvemen ts. H e was the inven to r o f the
gr idiro n pe n du lum,and the me thod o f preve n tin g the
effe c ts o f heat and c o ld upo n t ime—keepe rs by two ba rsfixed toge the r ; he in troduc ed the seco n dary spr in g, to
keep them go in g whi le win din g up, and was the in ven to ro f mo st (o r a ll) the improveme n ts in c lo cks and watche s .
dur ing h is time . In the year 1 73 5 h is first time -keepe r
EPITAPHS ON TRADESMEN . 5
was sen t to Lisbon , and in 1 764 his then much improvedfourth t ime -keepe r havin g been sen t to Barbadoe s, the
Commissio n e rs Of Lo n gitude c e r tified tha t he had de te rmin ed the lo n gitude within o n e -third o f half a degree o f
a great c irc le , having n o t e rred mo re than fo rty sec o n ds int ime . Afte r sixty years
’c lo se appl icat io n to the above
pursu i ts, he depar ted this l i fe o n the 24th day o f March,
1 7 76, aged 83 .
I n an epi taph in H igh Wyc'
ombe churchyard,
l i fe i s compared to the work i ng Of a c lock . I t
runs thus
Of n o distempe r,O f n o blast h e died ,
But fe l l,Like Autumn ’
s fru it,That m e llows long,
Even wo n de red a tBecause he dropt n o t so o n e r .
Providen c e seemed to wind him up
Fo r foursco re years,Ye t ran he n in e win te rs mo re
T i ll , l ike a c lo ck,Wo rn out with repeating t ime ,The whe e ls o f weary l i fe
At last stoo d sti ll .In Memo ry o f JOHN ABD IDGE, Alde rman .
Died 1 785 .
We have some curious specimens of engineers ’
epitaphs . A good examp le is copied from the
churchyard of B ridgeford-o u - the - H i l l , NOtts
Sac red to the memo ry o f JOHN WALKER, the on ly so n of
6 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Ben jamin and An n Wa lke r , En gin ee r and P allisade Make r,died Septembe r 2 2 nd, 1 83 2 , aged 3 6 years.
Farewe l l, my wife and father dearMy glass is run ,
my wo rk is do n e ,And n ow my head l ies qu ie t here .
Tha t many an en gin e I ’ve se t up,
And go t grea t pra ise from men ,I made them wo rk o n Br itish groun d,And o n the roar in g seasMy e n gin e ’
s stopp’
d, my va lve s are bad,And lie so deep withinNo en gin e e r cou ld the re be foundTo put me n ew o n es in .
But Jesus Chr ist c onverted me
And took me up above ,I hope o n c e mo re to mee t o n c e mo re ,And sin g redeemin g love .
Our next is on a rai lway engine-driver,wh o
died in 1 840 ,and was buried in B romsgrove
churchyard
My e n gin e n ow is c o ld and st i ll,NO wate r does my bo i le r fi llMy coke a ffo rds its flame n o mo reMy days o f use fu ln e ss are o
’
e r
My whee ls deny the ir n o ted spe ed,No mo re my gu id in g han d they n eedMy whistle , too , has lo st its ton e ,I ts shr i l l and thr i l lin g soun ds are go n eMy va lve s are n ow thrown open W ideMy flan ges a ll re fuse to gu ide ,My c lacks a lso , though o n ce so stro ng,Re fuse to a id the busy throng
8 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
Where trave lle rs, l ike you rse lf, o f eve ry age ,
An d eve ry c l ime, have taken the ir last stage ,The G od o f mercy, and the G od o f love ,Show you the road to Paradise above
Lord Byron wrote on J ohn Adams , carrier,
of Southwe l l,Nott inghamsh ire , an epitaph as
fol lows
JOHN ADAMS l ie s he re , o f the par ish o f Southwe ll,A carr ie r who carr ied h is can to h is mou th we l lH e carr ied so much , and he carr ied so fast,He cou ld c arry n o mo re —so was c arr ied at lastFo r the l iquo r he dran k, be in g to o much fo r o n e ,He c ou ld n o t carry o ff— so he
’
s n ow c arr i-o n .
On H obson,the famous U n ivers i ty carrier, the
fo l lowing l ines were wri tten
He re l ie s o ld HOBSON death has bro ke h is girt,
And he re a las,has la id him in the dir t
Or e lse the ways be in g fou l, twen ty to o n e
He’
s he re stuck in a S lough and ove rthrown’Twas such a shifter, that, i f truth we re kn own ,Death was half glad when he had go t him downFo r he had any t ime the se ten years fu l l,Dodged with him be twixt Cambr idge and the Bul lAnd sure ly Death co u ld n eve r have preva i led,Had n o t h is week ly c ou rse o f carr iage fa i led .
Bu t la te ly fin din g him so lo n g at home ,And thin kin g n ow h is journ ey
’s end was come ,
And that he had ta ’e n up h is latest in n ,In the kin d Offic e o f a Chambe rla inShowed him the ro om where he must lodge that n ight,Pu lled o ff his bo ots and took away the l ight .
EPITAPHS ON TRADESMEN . 9
I f any ask fo r h im it shal l be sa id ,Ho bson has supt an d ’s n ew ly go n e to bed.
I n T rin i ty chu rchyard , Sheffie ld , formerly might
be seen an epitaph on a booksel ler , a s fo l lows
In M emo ry o f
R ICHARD SM ITH , who diedApr i l 6th , 1 7 5 7 , aged 5 2 .
A t thirte en years I wen t to sea
To trymy fo rtun e the re ,But lo st my fr iend, which put an e nd
To a ll my in tere st the re .
To lan d I came as’twe re by c han c e ,
At twe n ty then I taught to dan c e ,And ye t u n se ttled in my min d .To somethin g e lse I was in c l in edAt twen ty-five la id dan c ing down ,
To be a bookse l ler in this town ,Whe re I c o n tin ued withou t str ife ,T i l l death depr ived me o f my l i fe .
Va in wo r ld, to thee I bid farewe l l,To rest within this si len t c e ll ,Ti l l the great G od sha l l summo n all
To an swe r H is maj e stic ca l l,Then
,Lo rd , have me rcy o n us all .
The fol lowing epitaph was wri tten on J ames
La ck ingto n , a ce lebrated bookse l ler, and eccentric
character
Good passen ge r, o n e momen t stay,An d c o n template this heap o f Clay 5’T is LACK INGTON that c la ims a pause ,
I o CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
W ho strove with death , bu t lo st h is causeA stran ge r ge n ius n e
’
e r n eed beThan many a me rry year was he .
Some fau lts he had, some vir tue s too
(the devi l himse lf shou ld have h is due )And as dame fo rtun e ’s whee l turn ’
d round,Whe the r at top o r bottom foun d,He n eve r o n c e fo rgo t h is stat io n ,
No r e’
e r disown’
d a poo r re latio nIn pove r ty he foun d c on ten t,R iche s n e ’
e r made him in so len t .
Whe n po o r , he ’
d rather read than eat,
Whe n r ic h bo oks fo rm ’
d h is highest trea t,H is first grea t wish to ac t
,with care
,
The sev’
ral parts assign ed him he reAnd, as h is heart to truth in c lin
’
d,
He studied hard th e truth to find.
Much pride he had,— ’
twas love o f fame ,And sl ighted go ld , to ge t a n ameBut fame he rse l f prov
’
d grea test ga in ,
Fo r r iche s fo llow ’
d in he r tra in .
Much had he read , and much had thought,And ye t, you see , he
’
s c ome to n oughtOr out o f pr in t, as he wou ld say,To be revised some fu ture dayFree from e rra ta
,with additio n ,
A n ew and a c omple te editio n .
A t Rugby, on J oseph Cave , Dr . H awksworth
wroteNear this place l ie s the body o f
JOSEPH CAVE,Late o f this par ish
Who departed this l i fe Nov. 1 8, 1 747 ,
EPITAPHS ON TRADESMEN . 1 1
Aged 79 years.
He was plac ed by Provide n c e in a humb le statio n 5 bu t in du stry abun dan tly suppl ied the wan ts o f n ature , and tempe ran ceb le st him wi th c o n te n t and wea lth . AS he was an affe c tio n a tefathe r, he was made happy in the de c l in e o f l i fe by the de se rvedemin en ce o f h is e ldest son ,
EDWARD CAVE,
who , withou t in te rest, fo rtun e , o r c o n n e c t io n,by the n a t ive
fo rc e o f h is own ge n ius, assisted o n ly by a c lassica l educa tio n ,
which he re c e ived at the Grammar Scho o l o f this town,p lan n ed
,
executed, and e stabl ished a l ite ra ry wo rk c a lledTlze Gen tlema n
’
s M aga z in e,
whe re by he acqu ired an ample fo rtun e , the who le o f whichdevo lved to h is fami ly.
He re a lso l ie sThe body o f W ILL IAM CAVE
,
seco n d so n o f the sa id JOSEPH CAVE, who died May 2
,1 7 5 7 ,
aged 62 years, and who , havin g survived h is e lde r bro ther ,EDWARD CAVE
,
in he r ited from him a c ompe te n t e state and,in grat itude to h is
ben e fac to r , o rde red this mo n ume n t to pe rpe tua te h is memo ry.
He l ived a patr iarch in h is n ume ro us rac e ,
And shew’
d in char ity a Chr istian ’
s grac eWhate ’
e r a fr ien d o r pare n t fe e ls he kn ewHis han d was ope n , and h is heart was true 5In what he ga in
’
d and gave,he taught man kin d
A grate fu l a lways is a gen e ro us min d .
He re re sts h is c lay h is sou l must eve r re st,W ho ble ss
’
d when l ivin g, dyin g must be b le st .
The wel l -known b lacksmith’
s epitaph ,said to be
wri tten by the poet H ay ley,may be found in
many churchyards in th is country . I t formed the
1 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
subject of a sermon de l ivered on Sunday,the 2 7 th
day of August,1 83 7 , by the then V i car of Crich ,
Derbyshi re,to a large assemb ly . We are to ld
that the v i car appeared much exc ited , and read
the prayers in a hurried manner. W i thout leav ing
the desk , he proceeded to address h is flock for the
last t ime ; and the fo l lowing is the substance
thereof To -morrow,my friends
,th is l iv ing wi l l
be vacant,and if any one of you is desi rous of
becoming my successor he has now an opportun i ty .
Let h im u se h is influence,and who can te l l but he
may be honoured wi th the t i tle of V i car of Crich .
A S th is is my last address , I shal l on ly say, had I
been a b lacksmith , or a son of Vu lcan , the fo l low
ing l i nes m ight not have been inappropriate
My sledge and hamme r lie re c l in ed,My be l lows, to o , have lo st the ir win dMy fire ’
s extin c t, my fo rge de cayed,And in the dust my vice is la id .
My c oa l is spen t, my iro n’s go n e
,
My n a ils a re drove , my wo rk is do n eMyfire
-dr ied co rpse l ies he re a t re st,
And, smoke - l ike , soars up to be ble ss’
d.
I f you expect anyth ing more, you are deceived ;for I shal l on ly say, Friends , farewel l , farewe l l !
The effect of th is address w a s too v is ib le to pass
unnot iced . Some appeared as i f awakened from a
EPITAPHS ON TRADESMEN . 1 3
fearfu l dream , and gazed at each other in S i len t
aston ishment ; others for Whom it was too power
fu l for thei r ris i ble nerves to res i st , burst in to
boisterous laughter,whi le one and a ll s lowly
reti red from the scene , to exerc ise their future
cogitat ions on the farewe l l discou rse of the ir late
pastor.
From S i lkstone churchyard we have the fo l low
ing on a potter and h is wife
In memo ry o f JOHN TAYLOR , o f Si lksto n e , po tte r , who departed this l i fe , Ju ly 1 4th , An n o Domin i 1 8 1 5 , aged 7 2 yea rs .
Also Han n ah,h is wife , who departed this l i fe , August 1 3 th .
1 8 1 5 , aged 68 years.
Out o f the c lay they go t the ir da i ly b read ,O f c lay we re a lso made .
Return ed to c lay they n ow lie dead ,Whe re all that’s le ft must sho rtly go .
To l ive without him his wife she tr ied,Foun d the task hard , fe l l sick, and died .
And n ow in peac e the ir bodies lay,Un ti l the dead be ca lled away,And mou lded in to spir itua l Clay.
On a poor woman who kept an earthenware
shop at Chester, the fo l lowing epitaph w a s
composed
Ben eath this sto n e l ies CATHER INE GRAY,Chan ged to a l i fe le ss lump of c layBy earth and c lay she go t he r pe lf,And n ow she ’s turn ed to earth herse lf.
1 4 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
Ye weepin g fr ien ds, le t me advise ,Abate yo ur tears and dry you r eyesFo r wha t ava i ls a flood o f tears ?W ho kn ows but in a c ourse o f years,
In some ta l l pitcher o r brown pan ,
She in he r shOp may be aga in .
Ou r next is from the churchyard of A lisc ombe ,
Devonsh ire
He re l ie s th e rema in s o f JAMES PADY, br ickmake r , late o f
this par ish , in hope that h is c lay wi ll be re -mou lded in a
wo rkman l ike man n e r , far supe r io r to his fo rme r per ishab lemate r ia ls.
Ke ep .death and judgmen t a lways in your eye ,
Or e lse the devi l off with you wi l l fly,And in h is ki ln with br imsto n e eve r fry
I f you n eglec t th e n arrow road to seek,Chri st wi ll reje c t you , l ike a half-burn t br ick
I n the o ld chu rchyard of Bu l l i ngham,on the
gravestone of a bu i lder,the fo l lowing l ines
appear :
This humble sto n e is o’
e r a bu i lde r ’s bed,Tho
’
ra ised o n high by fame , low l ies h is head .
H is ru le and c ompass are n ow lo cked up in sto re .
Others may bu i ld , bu t he wil l bu i ld n o mo re .
H is house o f c lay so fra i l, c ou ld ho ld n o lo n ge rMayhe in heaven be te n an t o f a stro n ger !
In Co l ton churchyard , Staffordsh ire, is a mason’s
tombstone decorated with carv ing of square and
1 6 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
named J ohn Spong,who died 1 7 3 9 , and is buried
in Ockham churchyard :
W ho many a sturdy oak has la id a lo ng,Fe ll
’
d by Death’s surer hatche t, he re l ie s JOHN SPONG .
Po st o ft he made , ye t n e’
e r a plac e c ou ld ge tAnd l ived by ra i l in g, tho ’
he was n o w it .
Old saws he had, a l though n o an tiquar ianAnd sti les c o r rec ted, ye t was n o grammar ian .
Lon g l ived he Ockham ’
s favour i te archite c t,And lastin g as h is fame a tomb t’ e re c t,I n va in we seek an artist such as he ,Who se pa le s and pi les we re fo r e te rn ity.
Ou r next is from H essle , near H u l l , and is said
to have been inscribed on a tombstone p laced over
the remains of George P r issick , plumber and
glaz ier
Adieu, my fr iend , my thread of l i fe is spunThe diamo n d wi l l n o t cu t, the so lde r wil l n o t runMy body
’
s turn ed to ashes,mygr ie f and trouble s past,
I’
ve le ft n o on e to wo r ld ly care — and I shal l r ise a t last.
On a dyer, from the church of St . N i cho las,
Yarmouth , we have as fo l lows
He re l ies a man who first did dye ,When he was twen ty-four,
And ye t he l ived to reach the age ,
O f hoary ha irs, foursco re .
Bu t n ow he ’s go n e , and certa in ’tis
He’ll n o t dye anymo re .
EPITAPHS ON TRADESMEN . 1 7
I n S leaford churchyard , on H enry Fox , a
weaver, the fo l lowing l ines are inscribed
O f ten de r thread this mo rta l web is made ,The woo f and warp and c o lours ear ly fadeWhen powe r divin e awakes the sleeping dust,He gives immo rta l garmen ts to the just.
Our next epitaph , from Weston , i s p laced over
the remains of a usefu l member of society in h is
t ime °
He re l ies en tomb ’
d within this vau l t so dark ,A ta ilo r
, c lo th-drawe r , so ldie r, and par ish c lerkDeath sn atch ’
d him he n c e , and a lso from him to o kHis n e ed le , thimble , swo rd, and praye r-bo ok .
He co u ld n o t wo rk, n o r figh t,— what thenHe le ft the wo r ld , and fa in tly c r ied , Amen
On an Oxford be llows -maker,the fol lowing
l i nes were wri tten
Here lye th JOHN CRUKER , a maker o f be llowes,
His c rafte s-master and Kin g o f good fe llowesYet when he c ame to the hour o f h isdea th,He that made be llowes, cou ld n o t make breath .
The next epi taph,on J oseph Blake t t , poet and
shoemaker of Seaham,i s said to be from Byron ’s
penStran ge r ! beho ld in te rr ’d togethe rThe sou ls o f learn in g and of leather .
Po o r Jo e is go n e , bu t le ft his awlYou
’ll find h is re l ics in a stall .
1 8 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
His wo rk was n eat, and o ften foun dWe l l-stitched and with moro c co boun d .
Tread lightly— whe re the bard is la idW e can n o t men d the sho e he madeYe t he is happy in h is ho le ,W ith verse immo rta l as h is so le .
But sti l l to busin e ss he he ld fast,And stuck to Phoebus to the last.Then wh o sha l l say so good a fe llowW as o n ly leather and prun e l la ?Fo r charac te r— he did n o t lack itAnd i f he did— ’
twe re shame to B lack it !
The following l ines are on a cobb ler
Death at a cobbler ’s doo r o ft made a stan d,But a lways foun d him o n the men din g han dAt length Death came , in ve ry dirty weathe r,And ripp
’
d the sou l from Off the upper leathe rThe c o bb le r lo st his awl, -Death gave h is last,And bur ied in Ob l ivion all the past.
Respect ing Robert Gray , a correspondent
writes : H e was a native of Taunton,and at an
early age he lost h is parents,and went to London
to seek h is fortune . H ere , as an errand boy , he
behaved so wel l,that h is master took him
apprent ice , and afterwards se t him up in bus iness ,
by which he made a large fortune . I n h is o ld age
he reti red from trade and returned to Taunton,
Where he founded a hospi tal . On h is monument
is the fol lowing inscript ion
EPITAPHS ON TRADESMEN . 1 9
Taun to n bo re him Lon don bred himP iety tra in ’
d him Vir tue led himEarth en rich ’
d him Heaven po sse ss’
d himTaun ton ble ss’d him Lo ndon ble ss’d himThis thankfu l town , that min dfu l c ity,Share his piety and pity,What he gave , and how he gave it,Ask the poo r, and you sha l l have it .Gen tle reade r , may Heaven str ikeThy ten de r heart to do the l ikeAnd n ow thy eyes have read h is story,G ive him the pra ise , and God the glo ry.
H e d ied at the age of 65 years , i n 1 63 5 .
I n Rotherham churchyard the fo llowing is
inscribed on a mi l ler
In memo ry of
EDWARD SW A IR,
who departed this l i fe , Jun e 1 6, 1 781 .
He re l ies a man which Farme rs lov’d
Who a lways to them c on stan t provedDea lt with fre edom , Just and Fa i rAn hon est mi l le r all dec lare .
On a Bristo l baker we have the fo llowing
He re lie THO. TURAR, and MARY, h is wi fe . He was twic eMaster o f the Company of Bake rs, and twic e Churchwarden o f
this par ish . He died March 6,
1 654 . She died May 8th,1 643 .
Like to the baker ’s oven is the grave ,W here in the bodyes o f the fa ithfu l haveA settin g in , and whe re they do rema inIn hopes to r ise
,and to be drawn aga in
2 0 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
B le ssed are they who in the Lo rd are dead ,Though set l ike dough , they sha l l be drawn l ike bread .
On the tomb of an auct ioneer in the churchyard
at Corby , i n the county of L i nco ln , i s the
fo llowing
Ben eath this sto n e , fac et io us wightLie s a ll that ’s le ft o f poo r JOE WR IGHT ;Few heads wi th kn owledge mo re in fo rmed ,Few hearts wi th fr iendship be tte r warmedW ith ready wit and humou r broad ,He pleased the peasan t , squ ire , and lo rdUn ti l gr im dea th , with visage quee r ,Assumed Jo e ’s trade o f Auc tio n ee r ,Made him the Lo t to p r a rz
‘z’
se o n ,
W ith “ go in g,go in g,” and an o n
He kn o cked him down to “ Po o r Jo e ’s go n e ! ”
I n W imb ledon churchyard is the grave of
J ohn Mart in , a natu ral so n of Don J ohn Emanuel ,
King of Portugal . H e was sent to th is country
about the year 1 7 1 2 , to be out of the way of h is
friends,and after several changes of circumstances ,
u l t imately became a gardener. I t wi l l be seen
from the fo l lowing epitaph that he won the
esteem of h is emp loyers
To the memo ry o f JOHN MART IN,garden e r, a n ative o f
Po r tuga l, who c u ltivated here,with industry and suc cess, the
same gro un d un de r three masters, fo r ty years .
Though ski lfu l and expe r ien c ed ,He was modest and unassuming
EPITAPHS ON TRADESMEN . 2 1
And tho’ fa ithfu l to h is maste rs,
And with reaso n e steemed,
He was kin d to h is fe l low-servan ts,
And was the re fo re be loved .
His fami ly and n e ighbours lam e n ted h is death ,As he was a ca re fu l husban d, a te n der father ,
and an ho n est man .
This charac te r Of him is give n to po ste r ity by h is last maste r,wi ll ing ly because de se rved ly, as a last in g te stimo ny of h is
great regard fo r so go od a se rvan t .
He died Ma rch 3 o th , 1 760 . Aged 66 years.
Fo r pub l ic se rvic e grate fu l n ation s ra iseProud structures, which exc ite to deeds o f pra iseWhi le pr ivate servic e s, in c o rn e rs thrown
,
Howe ’e r de se rvin g, n eve r ga in a sto n e .
But are n o t l i l ies, whic h the va lleys h ide ,Pe r fe c t as c edars, tho
’
the va l ley’
s pr ide ?Le t, the n , the vio lets the ir fragran ce breathe ,And pin es the ir eve r-verdan t bran ches wreathe
Aroun d h is grave , who from the ir ten de r bir thUpre ared bo th dwar f and gian t so n s o f earth ,And tho
’ himse l f exo tic , l ived to see
Trees of h is ra isin g dro op as we l l as he .
Tho se we re h is care,whi le h is own ben din g age ,
His master propp’
d and sc re e n ed from win te r ’s rage ,T i ll down he gen tly fe ll, then with a tearHe bade h is so rrowin g son s tran spo rt him he re .
But tho In weakn e ss plan ted, as h is fru itAlways bespoke the goodn ess Of h is ro o t ,
The spir it qu icken in g, he in powe r shal l r iseW ith lea f u n fadin g u n de r happie r skie s.
The next is on the T radescants , famous gar
2 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
de n e rs and botan ists at Lambeth . I n 1 65 7
Mr. T radescant , j unr . , presented to the Ash
mo le an Museum,Oxford , a remarkab le cabinet
of cu r IOS It Ie s
Kn ow, stranger , e re thou pass, ben eath this ston eLye JOHN TRADESCANT, gran dsire , fathe r, sonThe last died in h is spr in g the o ther twoLiv
’d t i l l they had trave ll
’d art and n ature through
As by the ir Cho ice co llec tion s may appear ,Of what is rare , in land, in sea
,in air
Whi lst they (as Homer’s I l iad in a n ut)
A wo r ld o f wo nders in o n e c lo set shutThese famous an tiquar ian s, that had be enBo th gard ’n e rs to the ROSE AND L ILY QUEEN ,Tran splan ted n ow themse lve s, sleep here and whenAn ge ls sha l l with trumpe ts waken men ,
And fire shal l purge the wo r ld, the n hen ce sha l l r ise ,And change this garden fo r a paradise .
We have here an epitaph on a grocer,cu l led
from the Rev . C . W . Ba rdsley’
s“ Memorial s of
S t . Anne ’s Church ,” Manchester. I n a note
abou t the name of H oward , the author says °
“ Poor J ohn H oward ’s friends gave h im an
unfortunate epitaph — one , too , that reflected
unkind ly upon h is wife . I t may st i l l be seen
in the churchyard — H ere lye th the body of
J ohn H oward , who died J an . 2 , 1 800 ,aged
84 years ; fifty years a respectable grocer,and
(typographica l fi pitapbs.
H E trade of printer is rich in techn ical terms
avai lab le fo r the writer of epitaphs,as wi l l
be seen from the fol lowing examp les .
Our fi rst inscript ion is from St . Margaret ’s
Church,Westm inster
,p laced in remembrance of
England ’s benefactor,the fi rs t E ngl ish prin ter
To the memo ry Of
W I L L I A M C A X T O N,
who first in troduc ed in to Great B r ita inthe Art o f Pr in ting
And who , A .D . 1 47 7 o r ear l ie r , exerc ised that ar t in the
Abbey o fWestmin ste r .
This Tab let,In remembran c e o f on e to whom the l ite rature o f this
c oun try is so large ly indebted , was ra ised,a ri
'
fi o Domin i MDCCCXX . ,
by the Roxburghe C lub ,Ear l Spen c er, K .G . , Presiden t.
I n St . Gi les ’ Cathedral Church , Edinburgh ,i s
the Chepma n ais le,founded by the man who
in troduced print ing into N orth B ri tain . Dr.
W i l l iam Chambers,by Whose mu n ific e n ce th is
s tate ly church was restored , had p laced in the
TYPOGRAPHICAL EPITAPHS . 2 5
ais le,bearing Chepma n
's name, a brass tab let
hav ing the fo l low i ng Inscr ip tion
To the Memo ry ofWALTER CHEPMAN ,
de sign ated the Sco ttish Caxto n ,
who un de r the auspic e s o f James IV.
and h is Queen , Margaret, in tro ducedthe art o f pr in tin g in to Sc o tlan d1 5 0 7 76 foun ded this a isle inho n our o f the K in g, Queen , andthe ir fami ly, 1 5 1 3 . Died 1 5 3 2 .
This tab le t is gra te fu l ly In sc r ibed byW ILL IAM CHAMBERS, LL. D .
The next i s i n memory of one Edward J ones,
06. 1 705 , a t . 5 3 . H e was the “ Gazette P rinter
of the Savoy,and the fo l lowing ep itaph was
appended to an e legy , en t i t led ,“ The Mercury
H awkers i n Mourn ing, and publ i shed on the
occas ion of his death
He re l ies a Pr in te r, famo us in h is t ime ,Who se l i fe by l in ge r in g sickn e ss did dec l in e .
He l ived in c redit, a nd in peac e he died ,And Often had the c han c e o f Fo rtun e tr ied .
Whose smi les by va r ious m e thods did promo teH im to the favour o f the Sen ate ’
s voteAnd so became
,by Na tion a l c o n se n t,
The o n ly Pr in te r o f the Par l iamen t.Thus, by degrees, so pro sp
’
rous was his fa te ,He le ft h is he irs a very go od e state .
2 6 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
I t has been tru thfu l ly said that the l i fe of
Benjamin Frank l i n is stranger than fict ion . H e
was a self-made man,gain ing dist inct ion as a
printer, journal ist,author
,e lect ri cian , natural
phi losopher, s tatesman,and diplomatist . The
Autobiography and Letters of Benjamin Frank
l i n ” has been extens ive ly ci rcu lated,and must
ever remain a popu lar book ; young men and
women cannot fai l to peruse its pages without
p leasure and profi t .
I n co l lect ions of epitaphs and books devoted to
li terary cur ios it ies,a quain t epitaph said to have
been written by Frankl i n frequent ly finds a place .
H e was not,how ever, the original composer of
the epitaph , bu t im itated i t for h imsel f. J acob
Tonson,a famous bookse l ler, d ied in 1 7 3 5 , and a
Lat in epitaph was wri t ten on h im by an E ton
scho lar . I t is prin ted in the Gem‘lema n
’
sM aga zin e ,
February,
1 7 3 6 ,with a d iffuse paraphrase in
E ngl ish verse . The fo l lowing is at a l l events a
conciser vers ion
The vo lumeo f
h is l ife be in g fin ishedhere is the e nd o f
J A C O B T O N S O N .
autho rs and break your pen s
TYPOGRAPHICAL EPITAPHS . 2 7
Yo u r To n so n effac ed from the bo ok ,is n o mo re ,
but pr in t the last in sc r iptio n o n the t itlepage o f death ,
fo r fear that de l ive red to the presso f the grave
the Edito r shou ld wan t a titleHe re l ie s a bo okse lle r,
The lea f o f h is l i fe be in g fin ished ,Awa iting a n ew ed ition ,
Augmen ted and co rrected .
The fo llowing is Frank l in ’s epi taph for h imse l f
The bodyo f
BENJAM IN FRANKL IN,Pr in te r
(Like the c ove r of an o ld bo ok,its co n ten ts to rn out,
And str ipt o f its le tte r ing and gi lding),Lies he re , fo od fo r wo rms.
But the wo rk itse l f sha l l n o t be lo st,Fo r it wi l l, as he be l ieved , appear o n ce mo re ,
In a n ew and mo re e legan t edition ,
Revised and co rrectedBy
The Au tho r .
But i t is not at a ll certain that Frank l i n was
not the earl ier wri ter, for the epi taph was certain ly
a product ion of the fi rst years of manhood
probably 1 7 2 7 . There are other ep itaphs from
28 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
which he may have taken the idea ; that , on the
famous J ohn Cotton at Boston,for instance , i n
wh ich he is l ikened to a B ib le
A l ivin g, breath in g B ible ; table s whe reBo th c oven an ts a t large engrave n we reGospe l and law in h is heart had each its c o lumn ,
H is head an in dex to the sac red vo lume !H is ve ry n ame a title -page and, n ext,His l ife a c ommen tary on the text .Oh
,what a momen t o f glo r ious wo rth ,
Whe n in a n ew editio n he c ome s fo r thW ithout e rrata , we may thin k
’twi ll be ,
In leaves and cove rs o f Ete rn ity.
There is a sim i lar concei t in the epi taph on
J ohn Foster,the Boston printer . F rank l i n wou ld
probab ly have seen both of these .
On the 1 7 th Apri l , 1 790 ,at the age of e ighty
four years , passed away the sturdy patriot and saga
c io us writer. H i s mortal remains rest wi th those of
his wife in the burial -ground of Chr lst Church,
Ph i lade lphia . A p lain flat stone covers the grave ,bearing the fo l lowing s imp le inscript ion
BENJAM INAND FRANKL IN .
DEBORAH
This is the inscript ion wh ich he d i rected , i n h is
wi l l,to be p laced on h is tomb . We give a
TYPOGRAPHICAL EPITAPHS . 29
pictu re of the qu iet corner where the good man
and h is worthy wife are buried . E ngl i sh as we l l
a s American v is i tors to the ci ty usual ly wend
thei r way to the last rest ing-p lace of the famous
man we del igh t to honou r.
F RANK LIN'S GRAVE .
A printer’s sent iment inscribed to the memory
of Frankl in i s worth reproducing °
BENJAM IN FRANKL IN, the o f h is pro fe ssion ; the type o f
ho n e sty ; the o f a ll ; and a lthough the Q o f death puta to h is e xisten ce , eac h o f h is l i fe is without a H.
Dr . Frankli n’s parents Were buried in one grave
3 0 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
In the o ld Grancey Cemetery,bes ide Park S treet
Church , Boston , Mass . H e placed a marb le
monument to thei r memory,bearing the fol lowing
inscript ionJOS IAH FRANKL IN
and
AB IAH,h is wife ,
Lie he re in terred .
They l ived lovin gly togethe r , in wed lo ck,Fifty-five years
And without an e state,o r any ga in fu l employmen t,
By c o n stant labour and hon e st in dustry(With Go d
’
s b lessin g),Ma in ta in ed a large fami ly comfo rtab ly
And brought up thirteen c hi ldren and seven
gran d-Chi ldrenReputably.
From this in stan ce , reade r ,Be en couraged to di l igen ce in thy ca l l in g,
And distrust n o t Providen ce .
He was a pious and pruden t man ,She a disc ree t and virtuous woman .
The ir youn gest son ,
In fil ia l regard to the ir memo ry,Places this ston e .
J F .,Bo rn 1 65 5 ; Died 1 744 !ET 89 .
A. F. , Bo rn 1 667 ; Died 1 7 5 2 [ ET 85 .
I t is sat i s factory to learn that , when the stone
became dilapidated , the ci t izens of Boston replaced
i t w i th a gran ite Obel i sk .
A notable epi taph was that of G eorge Fau lk
3 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
owing to the disuse of the old wooden press .
i s the epitaph of a Scotch printer
Sac red to the memo ry o fADAM W ILL IAMSON,
Pre ssman -pr in ter,in Edin burgh ,
W ho died Oc t . 3 , 1 83 2 ,
Aged 7 2 years .
All my stays are lo o sedMy cap is thrown o ff my head is wo rn o u t
My box is brokenMy spind le and bar have lo st the ir powe r
My t il l is la id asideBo th legs o f my c ran e a re turn ed ou t o f the ir path
My plate n can make n o impressio nMy win te r hath n o spr in g
My ro un c e will n e ithe r ro l l o u t n or inSto n e , c oflin , and carr iage have all fa iled
The hin ge s o f my tympan and fr iske t are immovab leMy lo n g and sho rt r i bs a re rusted
My cheeks are much wo rm-eaten and moulde r in gaway
My pre ss is to ta l ly downThe vo lume o f my l i fe is fin ished,
No t withou t many e rro rs
Mo st o f them have ar isen from bad c omposition,and
are to be attr ibu ted mo re to the c hase than thepress
There are a lso a great n umber o f my ownM isses, scuffs, b lo tches, blurs, and bad registe rBut the true and fa ithfu l Super in ten den t has un de r
taken to c o rrec t the who le .
W hen the machin e is aga in set up
( in capab le o f decay),
TYPOGRAPHICAL EPITAPHS . 3 3
A n ew and pe rfe ct edition o f my l i fe wil l appear ,Elegan tly boun d fo r dura tio n , and every way fi tted
fo r the gran d Library o f the Great Autho r .
The next specimen is less sat isfactory , because
devoid of the hope that shou ld enci rcle the death
of the Christ ian . I t i s the epi taph which Basker
v i l le , the ce lebrated B i rm ingham printer and type
founder , di rected to be p laced . upon a tomb of
masonry i n the Shape of a cone,a nd
'ere c ted over
h is remainsStran ge r
Ben eath this c o n e , in un con se c ra ted gro und,A fr ien d to the l i be rtie s o f man kin dDirec ted h is body to be in urn ed .
May the e xample co n tr ibute to eman c ipate thy mindfrom the idle fears o f superstition , and the
wicked a r ts of pr iestc raft.
I t is recorded that “ The tomb has long s ince
been overtu rned , and even the remains of the man
h imse lf desecrated and dispersed t i l l the final day
of resu rrect ion,when the atheism which in h is later
years he professed wi l l receive assured ly so com
ple te and overwhe lming a refutat ion .
”
I n 1 599 died Christopher Barker, one of the
most celebrated of the s ixteenth century typo
graphe rs , printer to Queen E l i zabeth— to whom,
in fact,the present patent he ld by Eyre and Spo t tis
woode can be traced back in unbroken success ion .
3
3 4 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
He re BARKER lie s, on c e pr in te r to the Crown ,Who se wo rks o f art acqu ired a vast ren own .
T ime saw h is wo r th , and spread a roun d h is fame ,That fu ture pr in te rs might impr in t the same .
But whe n h is stre ngth c ou ld wo rk the pre ss n o mo reAnd h is last shee ts were fo lded in to sto re ,Pu re fa ith
,with hope (the grea te st treasure give n ),
Ope n ed the ir gate s, and bade him pass to heave n .
We wi l l bring to a close our examp les of typo
graphical epitaphs with the fo l lowing, copied from
the graveyard of St . Michae l’
s , Coventry , on a
worthy printer who was engaged over s ixty years
a s a compos i tor on the Coven try M e r cu ry
He rel ies in te r ’d
the mo rta l rema in so f
JOHN HULM,
Pr in te r,who , l ike an o ld, wo rn -out type ,ba tte red by freque n t use ,
repo ses in the grave .
Bu t n o t without a hope that at some fu ture t imehe might be cast in the mou ld Of r igh teousn ess,
And safe ly lo cked-upin the c hase o f immo rta l ity.
He was distr ibu ted from the board o f l i feo n the 9th day Of Sept ,
1 82 7 ,
Aged 7 5 .
Regre tted by h is employe rs,and respec ted by h is fe llow a rtists.
(Boob anb f a ithful fi ervants.
UR graveyards contain many tombstones
inscribed to the memory of o ld servants .
Frequently these memorials have been raised by
thei r employers to show appreciat ion for fai th fu l
discharge of duty and good conduct of l i fe . A
few specimens of th is class of epi taph can hard ly
fai l to interest the reader.
N ear to Chatsworth,Derbysh i re
,the seat Of
the Duke of Devonsh i re, is the mode l v i l lage of
Edensor, with its fine church , from the des ign of
S i r G i lbert Scott , reared on the s i te of an o ld
structu re The church and graveyard contain
numerous touch ing memorials to the memory of
nob lemen and thei r servants . In remembrance
of the latter the fo l lowing are of interes t . The
fi rst is engraved on a brass p late near the Chance l
arch
Here l ie s ye Bodyo fMR . IOHN PHILL I PS somet ime Hou sekeeper o f Chatswo rth , who de
par te d this l i fe o n ye 2 8th o f May 1 7 3 5 , in ye
7 3 rd year o f h is age , and 6o th o f his se rvic e in
ye Mo st Nob le fami ly o f H is Grace the DukeofDevon shire .
3 6 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Pray le t my Bon es togethe r lieUn ti l that sad and joyfu l Day,W he n from above a Vo ic e shal l say,Rise , a ll ye dead , l ift up yo ur Eye s,You r great Creato r bids yo u r iseThen do I hope with a ll ye JustTo shake o ff my po l lu ted dust ,And in n ew Ro be s o f Glo ry Dre stTo have ac c e ss amo n gst ye Ble ss
’
d.
Which G od in his in fin ite Me rcy Gran tFo r the sake thro ugh ye me r its o f myRedeeme r Jesus Chr ist ye Righteous.
Amen .
A tombstone in the churchyard to the memory
of James Brousard,who d ied in 1 762 , aged
seventy- s ix years,s tates
Ful fo rty years as Garden e r to ye D . o f Devon shire ,
to propigate ye earth with plan ts it was his ful desirebut then thy bon es, a las, brave man , earth did n o re st afoard,but n ow wee hope ye are a t rest with
’
Jesus Chr ist ou r Lo rd .
On a gravestone over the remains of W i l l iam
Mather , 1 8 1 8, are the fol lowing l i nes
Whe n he tha t day with th’ Waggo n wen t,
He l ittle thought his Glass was spen tBut had he kept h is Plo ugh in Han d ,He might have lo n ge r till’d the Lan d .
We obtain from a memorial stone at D is ley
Church a record of longev i ty
He re Lye th I n te rred theBody o f JOSEPH WATSON, Bur
GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS . 3 7
ied Ju n e the thirdAged 1 04 years. He was
Pa rk Ke epe r at Lyme mo rethan 64 years, and was ye Firstthat Pe rfec ted the art o f Dr i
ving ye Stags. He re a lso Lye ththe Body o f El iz abe th h iswife
,Aged 94 years, to whom
He had been marr ied 7 3 years .
Reade r take No tic e , . the Lo ngest Li fe is Sho rt.
On the authori ty of M r. J . P . Ea rw a ke r , the
h istorian of East Chesh i re , i t i s recorded of the
above that “ i n the l o 3 rd year of h is age he was
at the hunt ing and ki l led a buck with the honour
able George Warren ,in h is Park at Poynton
,
whose act iv i ty gave p leasure to al l the spectators
there presen t . S i r George w a s the fifth gener
at ion of the Warren fam i ly he had performed that
d ivers ion with in Poynton Park .
We have from Petersham,Surrey
,the nex t
exampleNear th e tomb o fa Wo r thy Familyl ie s th e Body o f
SARAH ABERY,
wh o depar ted this l i feThe 3 rd day o f August 1 7 95
Aged 83 Years.
Having l ived in the Se rvic e
3 8 CUR 1OUS EPITAPHS.
o f that Fami lyS ixty Years .
She was a good Chr ist ianan Hon est W oman
and
a fa ithfu l Se rvan t.
A t Great Marlow a stone states that Mary
Wh itty passed s ixty- three years a s a fai thfu l
servant in one fami ly . She died in 1 79 5 at the
age of eighty- two years .
Our next examp le is from Burton—o n -T rent
Sac redto the m emo ry o f
SAMPSON ADDERLYAn Ho n est, So be r, Mode st Man
(A Charac te r how rare ly foun dWho se peace fu l Life a c irc le ran
Mo re ha llow’d makes this ha llow ’d grou n dIn Service thirtyyears he spen tAnd Dyin g le ft h is we ll go t ga in sTo feed and c lo th
,a Mo ther ben t
By Age’
s slow c on suming pa in sA ten de r Maste r , M istre ss kind ,
And Fr ien ds, (fo r many a fr iend had he )Lamen t the lo ss, but time wi l l findH is ga in through blest Ete rn i tyHe was n ear thirty Years
a Se rvan t in the Co tto n Fami lyand died in its atten dan c e a t Bux tonthe 3 o th o f September 1 760 Aged 48.
Also adjo in ing to him
40 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
of whom l ived over s ixty years each in the Seb ~
right fami ly .
A t Kempsey,Worcestersh i re
,i s a tombstone on
which appears the remarkab le record of seventy
seven years i n the serv i ce of one fami ly
To the Memo ry of
MRS . SARAH ARM ISON ,
who died o n the 2 7 th o f Apr i l1 8 1 7
Aged 88 years.
7 7 o f which she passed in theSe rvice o f the Fami ly
Of M rs . Be llJustly and dese rved ly lamen ted
by them ,
fo r in tegr ity, rectitudeof Con duct, and Amiab le
Disposition .
We have not noted a more extended period than
the foregoing passed in domest ic serv i ce .
A t T idmington , Worcestersh i re , is a grave
stone to the memory of Sarah Lanchbury,who
died at the age of seventy- seven years ; she was
the servant of one gentleman fifty- s ix years .
A stone in the Old abbey church at Pershore,
i n the same county, bears an inscript ion as
fo l lows
GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS. 4 1
o f
SARAH ANDREWS a fa ithfu l Domestico f
Mr . He rbe rt Wo odwa rdo f this Plac e
In Who se Service she diedo n the 1 0th Feby, 1 8 1 4
Aged 80havin g fi lled the Duties o f he r humb leStation with un b lemished s In tegr ity
fo r the lo n g Per iodo f
5 2 Yea rs .
From Petworth , Sussex , we have the follow
ingI n Memo ry
o f SARAH BETTS , widow,who passed n ear ly 5 0 Years in o n e Se rvic e
and d ied Jan uary 2,1 79 2
Aged 7 5 .
Farewe l l dear Se rvan t ! sin c e thy heaven ly Lo rdSummo n s thy wo r th to its supreme reward .
Thin e was a spir it that n o to i l c o u ld tire ,When Se rvic e sweat fo r du ty, n o t fo r hire .
From him who se Chi ldho od c he r ished by thy c are ,
We athe red lon g yea rs o f sickn ess a nd de spa ir,Take What may hap ly touc h th e best above ,Truth ’s ten de r pra ise I and tears of gra te fu l love .
I n the year 1 807 , died , at the age of e ighty-five
years , Mary Bai ly . She was buried at Epsom,
and her gravestone says :“ She passed s ixty
4 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
years of her l i fe in the fai thfu l discharge Of her
dut ies i n the serv i ce of one fami ly, by whom she
w a s honoured,respected , and be loved .
”
A gravestone at Beckenham,Kent , bears
test imony to long and fai thfu l serv i ce
In memo ryo f
JOHN KINGwho departed this Life 2 9th o f
Dec embe r 1 7 74 aged 7 5 years.
He was 6 1 years Se rvan t
to
Mr . Fran c is Va len tin e ,Jo seph
Va le n t in e , and Pau lVa len tin e ,
from Fathe r to So n ,
without eve rQu ittin g the ir Se rvice ,
Negle c t in gh is Duty, o r be in gDisgu isedin Liquo r .
From the same graveyard the next inscript ion
is copiedSac red to the Memo ry o f
W ILL IAM CHAPMANo f this Pa r ish
,
who died De c ember the2 5 th I 79S
Aged 7 7 years.
GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS . 43
S ixty years o f h is l i fe we re passed un de r the Burre l lFami ly, th ree succ e ssive Gen e rat io n s o f which he se rvedwi th such In te ll igen c e and fide l ity, as to o bta in from ea chthe sin c ere st re spect an d Fr iendship, leavi n g beh in dhim at h is Death the Charac ter o f a tru ly Ho n e st a ndgo od Man .
The poet Pope caused to be p laced on the
outs ide of Twickenham Church a tab let bearing
the fo l lowing inscription
To the Memo ry o f
MARY BEACHWho died Nov. sth 1 7 2 5 ,
Aged 78.
Alexan der Popewhom she n ursed in h is. in fan cyand co n stan tly atte n ded fo r
3 8 yea rs, in grat itudeto a fa ithfu l o ld
se rvan t
e rec ted this Sto n e .
When George I I I . was king , J enny Gas
koin taught a Dames ’ Schoo l at Great L imber,
a rural L i nco lnsh i re v i l lage . From the stories
respect ing her wh ich have come down to us i t
wou ld appear that her qual ificat ions for the pos i
t ion of teacher were somewhat l im ited . I t i s
re lated that in the ch i ldren ’
s read ing lessons words
often occurred wh ich the good lady was un able to
pronounce or exp lain . She w a s too pol i t i c,how
44 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
ever , to confess her ignorance on such occas ions,
and had resource to the artfu l evas ion of say ing,
N ever mind i t,bai rns i t is a bad wo rd skip i t . ”
Dame G asko in had a son who obtained the
s i tuat ion of a “ he lper in the royal stables . For
a s l ight Offence the you th was Whipped by the
Pr ince of Wales,when in a momentary fi t of
anger . I t wou ld appear that the Prince regretted
h is conduct , for he promoted the boy to give h im
redress fo r the dress ing he had bestowed . Young
G asko in had the good fortune to be ab le to
in troduce h is s ister Mary into the serv i ce of the
princesses . By exemp lary conduct she Obtained
the es teem of the royal fami ly . The maiden on
one occasion ventured to observe that the rye
bread of L inco lnshire,such as her mother made ,
was far superior to that wh ich w a s used at court.
This caused the request to be made , or rather a
command given,that some of the aforesaid
bread shou ld be forwarded as a specimen . The
order w a s comp l ied with,and gave comp lete
sat isfact ion . The good schoo lmistress w a s after
wards des ired to send periodical ly up to town
bread for the royal tab le .
During a v i s i t to the metropo l is to see her
daughter the o ld lady had the honour Of an
GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS . 4 5
in terv iew with the princesses . She wore a mob
cap of S Imple form , which took the fancy of the
royal lad ies to such a degree that i t was introduced
at court under the name o f G a sko in Mob-Cap .
”
We have l i t tle to add , save that the daughter
remained in the royal serv i ce , attending especial ly
upon the person of the P rincess Ame l ia,and the
labour and anxiety she underwent i n min istering
to the prin cess in her last i l lness , combin ed W i th
sorrow for her death , caused her to fol low her
royal mistress to the grave after a short in terval .
I n the c loisters of S t . George ’
s Chape l , W indso r,
i s a memorial cred i table to the monarch who
erected i t , and the humble handmaid Whom
i t commemorates
KING GEORGE 3 d
caused to b e in te rredn ear this plac e the body o f
MARY GASKOIN ,
Se rvan t to the late P SS Ame l iaAnd this table t to be e rec ted
In testimo ny o f
H is gra te fu l sen se of
th e fa ithfu l se rvicesAnd a ttac hmen t o f
An amiable youn g womanto his be loved Daughte rWhom she survivedOn ly three Mon ths
46 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
She d ied the 1 9th o f February 1 8 1 1
Aged 3 1 years.
O ver the remains of freed s laves we have read
severa l i n teres t ing inscript ions . A runn ing
footman w a s buried i n the churchyard of H en
bury ,near B ris tol . The poor fe l low
,a negro
,as
the t radi t ion says , died of consumption incurred as
a consequence of runn ing from London
He re
Lie th the Bodyo fSCIPIO AFR ICANUS
Negro Se rvan t to ye R ightHo n ourable Char le s Wi l liamEar l o f Suffo lk and B ran do nwho d ied ye 2 1 De c embe r
1 7 20, aged 1 8 yea rs.
On the footstone are these l i nes“ I , who was bo rn a Pagan and a Slave ,Now swe e tly sle ep, a Chr istian in my grave .
What though my hue was dark, my Saviour ’s SightSha l l c hange this darkn e ss in to radian t l ight.Such grace to me my Lo rd o n ear th has givenTo recommen d me to my Lo rd in Heave n ,
Who se g lo r ious sec o n d c omin g he re I wa itW ith sa in ts and an ge ls him to c e lebrate .
”
Our n ext is from H i l l ingdon , near Uxbridge
He re lyethTOBY PLESANTAn Afr ican Bo rn .
He was early in l i fe rescued from West Indian Slavery
48 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
there being no churchyard near , he was laid in
mother earth in an adjoin ing field . The house
is st i l l pointed out in wh ich the negro d ied,and
some s ixty years afterwards i t occurred to M r .
J ames Watson that the fact of th is dark- skin ned
brother dying so far from home among s t rangers
was su ffic ient ly pathet ic to warran t a memorial .
Accordingly b e caused the fo l lowing to be in
scribed o u a large stone laid flat on the grave ,
which indicates that he was a s lave of probab ly an
E ngl i sh master about a century before the days
of negro emancipat ion in the co lon ies
Here l iesPOOR SAMBO,
A fa ithfu l n egro , who
(Atte n din g his maste r from the We st In d ie s),D ied o n h is arr iva l at Sunder lan d .
Fo r sixty years the an gry win te r’s wave
Has,thun der in g, dashed this b leak and barren sho re ,
Sin c e Sambo ’
s head la id in this lon e ly grave ,Lie s sti l l, a nd n e
’
e r wi ll hea r the ir turmo i l mo re .
Fu l l many a san d-bird Chirps upon the sod,
And many a moon l ight e lfin roun d h im tr ips,
Fu l l many a summer sun beam warms the Clod,And many a teeming c loud upo n him dr ips.
But sti ll h e sleeps, t i ll the awaken in g soun dsO f the archange l ’s trump n ew l ife impart
Then the Great Judge , His appro bation foun dsNo t o n man ’
s co lo ur,but h is wo rth o f heart .
H. Be l l, de l. ( 1 796 )
IEp itapbs on fi olbiers anb S a i lors .
E give a few of the many curious epi taphs
p laced to the memory of soldiers and
sea- faring men . Our i n i t ial epi taph is taken from
Longnor churchyard,Staffordsh ire ,
a nd i t te l ls the
story of an extended and eventfu l l i fe
In memo ry o f W ILL IAM B ILL INGE, who was Bo rn in a
Co rn Fie ld at Fawfie ld head, in this Par ish , in the year
1 679 . At the age Of 2 3 yea rs he e n l isted in to H is Maj e sty’
s
se rvice un de r Sir Geo rge Ro oke , and was at the takingo f the Fo rtre ss o f Gi bra lte r in 1 704 . He a fte rwards se rvedun de r the Duke o f Ma r lbo rough at Rami ll ies, fo ught o nthe 2 3 rd o f May, 1 706, whe re he was wounded by a
musket-Sho t in h is thigh . Afte rwards re tu rn ed to his
n ative c oun try, and with man ly c ourage de fe n ded his
sovere ign ’
s r ights in the Rebe ll ion in 1 7 1 5 and 1 745 .
H e died wi thin the spac e o f 1 5 0 yards o f whe re he wasbo rn
,and was in te rred he re the 3 o th Jan uary, 1 7 9 1 , aged
1 1 2 years .
Bil le ted by death , I quar te red he re rema in,
And when the trumpe t soun ds I ’l l r ise and ma rc h aga in .
On a Che lsea H ospital veteran we have the
fol lowing interest ing ep itaph
Here l ie s W ILL IAM H ISELAND,
A Ve te ran , i f eve r So ldier was,Who mer ited we l l a Pen sio n ,
50 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
I f lon g service be a mer it,Havin g se rved upwards of the days o f Man .
An c ien t, but n o t superan nuatedEngaged in a Ser ie s o f Wars
,
Civi l as we ll as Fo re ign ,Ye t ma imed o r wo rn ou t by n e ithe r .
H is complexio n was Fresh and Flo r idHis Hea lth Ha le and Hearty ;H is memo ry Exact and Ready.
In Stature
He exc eeded the M i l itary S iz e ;In Strength
He surpassed the Pr ime o f YouthAnd
What ren de red h is age sti ll mo re Patr iarchal ,When above a Hun dred Years o ld
He took un to him a W ifeRead ! fe llow So ldiers, and reflectThat there is a Spir itua l War fare ,As we l l as a Warfa re Tempor a l .Bo rn the I st August
,1 620
,
Died the 1 7 th o f Fe bruary, 1 7 3 2 ,
Aged On e Hun dred and Twe lve .
A t B remhi l l , W i l tsh ire , the fo l lowing l ines
placed to the memory of a so ldier who reached
advanced age of 9 2 years
A poo r o ld so ldie r sha l l n o t lie un kn own ,W ithout a verse and this reco rdin g ston e .
’Twas h is, in youth , o’e r distan t lan ds to stray,
Dan ge r and death compan ion s o f h is way.
He re , in h is n a tive Vil lage , stea l in g ageC losed the lon e even ing o f h is pi lgr image .
EP ITAPHS ON SOLDIERS AND SAILORS . 5 1
Speak of the past— of n ames o f high ren own ,
Or brave comman ders lon g to dust go n e down ,H is look with in stan t an imation glow ’d,Tho
’n in e ty win te rs o n h is head had sn ow
’
d.
H is c oun try, whi le he l ived, a bo on suppl ied ,And Fa i th h e r Shie ld he ld o ’
e r him when he died .
The fo l lowin g inscript ion i s engraved on a
piece of copper affixed to one of the pi l lars
W inchester Cathedral :
A MEMORIALL.
Fo r the ren own ed Martia l ist R I CHARD BOLES o f ye
R ight W o rshypful fami ly Of the Bo les, inLin ckho rn e She ire : Co lon ell o f a R idgmen t of Fo o tOf 1 3 00, who fo r h is G ratious K in g Charles ye Firstdid wounde rs at the Battell o f Edge H i l l ; h is lastAction , to omit a ll othe rs was att Al to n in theCoun ty o f Sou thampto n ,
was surpr ised by five o r
Six Thousan d o f the Rebe lls, who caught him the reQuartered to fly to the church , with n ear fou rsco reo f h is men who the re fought them six o r seven
Hon ers, and then the Rebe lls breakin g in upon themhe slew with h is swo rd six o r seven o f them ,
and
then was slayn e himse lf, with sixty o f h is men aboutehim
1 64 1 .
His G ratious Sove re ign hear in g o f h is death , gavehim h is high comendation in yS pation ate expre ssion ,
Br ing me a moo rn ing scarfl'e , i have lo st
On e o f the best Comman de rs in this K ingdome .
Alton wil l te l l you of h is famous fightWhich ys man made and bade the wo r ld good nightHis verteous l i fe feared n ot Mo rta l ity
5 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
H is body must his vertues can n ot D ie .
Because h is B lon d was the re so n ob ly spen t,
This is h is Tomb,that church h is mo n umen t .
Ricardus Bo les in Art . Mag.
Composu it, P o su itque , Do le n s,An . Dm . 1 689 .
On one of the buttresses on the south s ide of
S t . Mary ’s Church,at Beverley , i s an oval tablet ,
to commemorate the fate of two Danish soldiers ,
who , during thei r voyage to H u l l,to j oin the
serv i ce of the Prince of O range , in 1 689 ,
quarre l led,and hav ing been marched with the
troops to Beverley , during thei r short stay there
sought a private meet ing to sett le thei r d ifferences
by the sword . Thei r me lancho ly end is recorded
in a doggerel epitaph , of which we give an
i l lustrat ion .
I n the parish registers the fol lowing entries
occur °
1 689 , De c ember 1 6 .
— Dan ie l Strake r , a Dan ish tro ope r bur ied .
De cembe r 2 3 .-Johan n es Frede r ick Be llow
, a Dan ishtrooper , beheaded fo r ki ll in g the o ther ,bur ied .
The mode of execut ion was wri tes the
Re v . Jn o . P i ckford, M . A. ,
“ i t may be presumed,
by a broad two -handed sword , such a one as
S i r Wal ter Scott ha s part icu larly described in
EPITAPHS ON SOLD IERS AND SAILORS . 5 3
‘Anne Of G e ie rste in ,
’ as used at the decapitat ion
of S i r A rch ibald de Hagenbach,and which the
execut ioner is described a s W ielding with such
address and ski l l . The Dan ish cu lpri t w a s,l ike
the oppress ive kn ight,probably bound and seated
in a chair ; but such swords as those dep icted on
TA BLET I N ST . MARY'S CH U RCH , BEVERLEY.
the tab let cou ld not we l l have been used for the
purpose,for they are long
,narrow in the blade
,
and perfect ly s traight .
We have in the diary of Abraham de la P ryme ,
the Yorksh ire ant iquary , some very interest ing
54 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
particu lars respecting the Danes . VVr it Ing in
1 689 , the diarist te l ls us :“ Towards the latter
end of the aforegoing year,there landed at H u ll
about s ix or seven thousand Danes,al l stout fine
men , the bes t equ ip’
d and disc iplin’
d of any that was
ever seen . Th ey were m ighty god ly and re l igious .
You wou ld se ldom or never hear an oath or ugly
word come o ut of thei r mouths . They had a
great many min isters amongst them,whome they
ca ll’
d pastours , and every Sunday almost , i th’
afternoon,they prayed and pre a ch
’
d as soon as our
prayers w as done . They sung almost al l thei r
d iv i ne serv i ce,and every min istre had those that
made up a quire whom the rest fo llow ’
d. Then
there was a sermon of about half-an -ho ure’
s length ,
al l memor a tim ,and then the congregat ion broke
up . When they admin istered the sacrament , the
min ist re goes into the church and caused not ice
to be given thereof, then al l come before , and he
examined them one by one Whether they were
worthy to rece ive or no . I f they were he admitted
them,i f they were not he wri t thei r names down
in a book,and bid them prepare against the next
Sunday . I nstead of bread in the sacrament, I
observed that they used wafers about the bigness
and th ickness of a S ixpence . They he ld it no s in
5 6 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
And c rush’
d to dea th the mo n ster o f a beast .Thr ic e twen ty moun ted Mo ors he overthrew,Sin gly, o n fo o t, some woun ded, some he slew,Dispersed the re st,
— what mo re cou ld Samson do ?True to his fr ien ds, a te rro r to h is foes,Here n ow in peac e his hon our ’d bon es repo se .
Be low,i n bas - re l ief
,he is represented struggl ing
with the t iger,both the combatants appearing in
the att i tude of wrest lers . H e is also dep icted in
the performance of the yet more wonderfu l
ach ievement , the disc omfitu re of the “ thrice
twenty mounted Moors,who are al l flying before
h im .
I n Yarmouth churchyard,a monumental ih
script ion te l ls a painfu l story as fo l lows
To the memo ry o f GEORGE GR I FFITHS, o f the ShropshireM i l itia , who died Feb . 2 6th , 1 80 7 , in co n seque n ce o f a blowre ce ived in a quarre l with h is c omrade .
T ime fl ies away as n ature on its win g,I in a battle died (n o t fo r my Kin g) .Wo rds with my bro the r so ldie r did take place ,Which shame fu l is, and a lways br in gs disgrac e .
Thin k n o t the wo rse o f him who do th rema in ,Fo r he as we ll as I might have been sla in .
We have also from Yarmouth the next
examp le :
To the memo ry of ISAAC SM ITH, who died Marc h 24th ,
1 808, and SAMUEL BODGER, who died Apr i l z ud, 1 808, bo tho f the Cambr idgeshire M i l itia .
EPITAPHS ON SOLD IERS AND SAILORS . 5 7
The tyra n t Death did ear ly u s a rre st,
And a ll the maga z in es o f li fe possestNo mo re the blo od its c irc l in g c ou rse did run ,
But in the ve in s l ike ic ic le s it hun gN0 mo re the hearts, n ow vo id o f qu icke n in g hea t,The tun e fu l march o f V ita l mo tio n bea tStiffn ess did in to eve ry sin ew c l imb ,And a sho r t death c rep t c o ld through eve ry l imb .
The next examp le is from BurySt . Edmunds
W ILL IAM M IDDLEDITCH,
Late Se rj ean t-Majo r o f the Gre n adie r Guards,Died No v . 1 3 , 1 83 4 , aged 5 3 years.
A husban d,fa the r, c omrade , fr ie n d s in c e re ,
A B r itish so ldier brave l ie s bu r ied he re .
In Spa in and Flushing, and a t Wate r loo ,He fo ught to guard o ur c o un try from the foe
His c omrades, Br iton s, who survive him,say
He a c ted n obly o n that glo r ious day.
Edward Parr d ied in 1 8 1 1 , at the age of 3 8
years , and was buried in North Scarle chu rchyard .
H i s epi taph states
A so ldie r o n c e I was, as yo u may se e ,
My Kin g and Cou n try c la im n o mo re from me .
In ba tt le I re c e iv’
d a dreadfu l ba l lSeve re the b low, and ye t I did n o t fa ll .When God comman ds, we all must die it’s trueFarewe l l, dear W ife , Re la tio n s all, adieu .
A tab let in Chester Cathedral reads as fo l lows
To the Memo ry o f
JOHN MOORE NAPIER
58 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Capta in in Her Maje sty’
s 62 nd Regimen tW ho died o f Asiatic Cho lera
in Sc in deo n the 7 th o f Ju ly, 1 846
Aged 2 9 years.
The tomb is n o re co rd o f high l in eageH is may be traced by h is n ameH is race was o n e o f so ldiers .
Amo n g so ldie rs he l ived among them he died ;A so ldie r fa l l ing, where n umbers fe l l with him
,
In a barbaro us lan d .
Ye t there was n o n e died mo re gen e rous,Mo re dar in g, mo re gifted, o r mo re re ligious.
On h is ea r ly graveFe l l the tears o f stem and hardymen ,
AS his had fa l len o n the grave s o f o the rs.
A Bri t ish so ldier l ies buried under the shadow
of the fine o ld Minster of Beverley . H e died in
1 85 5 , and his epitaph states
A so ldie r l ieth ben eath the sod,
W ho many a fie ld o f battle trodWhen glo ry call
’
d, h is breast he bar ’d,And to i l and wan t, and dan ger shar ’d .
Like him thro ugh all thy duties goWaste n o t thy strength in use le ss wo e ,Heave thou n o sigh and shed n o tear,A Br it ish so ldie r slumbers here .
The S t i rring l ives of many female so ldiers have
furn ished facts for several important historical
works,and rich materials for the wri ters of
romance . We give an i l lustrat ion of the stone
EPITAPHS ON SOLD I ERS AND SAILORS . 6 1
erected by publ i c subscript ion in B righton church
yard over the remains of a notab le female warrior,
named Phoebe H esse l . The inscript ion te l ls the
story Of her long and eventfu l career. The
clos ing years of her l i fe were cheered by the
l iberal i ty of George IV . During a v is i t to
B righton , when he was P rince Regent , he met
o ld Phoebe,and was great ly i n terested in her
history . H e ascertained that she Was supported
by a few benevo lent townsmen ,and the kind
hearted P rince questioned her respect ing the
amount that wou ld be requ i red to enable her to
pass the remainder of her days i n comfort .
Ha lf- a - guinea a week,said Phoebe H esse l ,
wi l l make me as happy as a princess . That
amount by order of her royal benefactor was paid
to her unt i l the day of her death . She to ld
capital stories , had an excel lent memory , and was
in every respect most agreeab le company . H er
facu l t ies remained un impaired to with in a few
hours of her death . On September 2 2 nd,1 82 1
,
she was v is i ted by a person of some l i tera ry
taste, and the fol lowing part icu lars were obtained
respect ing her l i fe . The wri ter states I have
seen to -day an extraordinary character in the
person of Phoebe H esse l , a poor woman stated to
62 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
be 1 08 years of age . I t appears that she was
born in March , 1 7 1 5 , and at fi fteen formed a
strong attachment to Samue l Go lding , a private
in the regiment cal led K i rk ’s Lambs,wh ich w a s
ordered to the West I ndies . She determined
to fol low her lover,en l isted into the 5 th regiment
of foot , commanded by G eneral Pearce , and
embarked after h im . She served there five years
without d iscovering hersel f to anyone . A t length
they were ordered to Gibral tar. She was l ikewise
at Montserrat , and wou ld have been in act ion , but
her regiment did not reach the place t i ll the batt le
was decided . H er lover was wounded at Gib
ralta r and sent to Plymouth she then waited on
the General’s lady at Gibral tar , disc losed her sex ,
to ld her story , and was immediately sent home .
On her arrival , Phoebe went to Samue l Golding
in the hospi tal,nursed him there
,and when he
came out,married and lived with him for twenty
years ; he had a pens ion from Che lsea . After
Go lding’s death , she married H essel , has had
many ch i ldren,and has been many years a widow .
H er e ldest so n was a sai lor with Admiral No r r IS
he afterwards went to the East I ndies,and , i f he
is now al ive , must be nearly seventy years Of age .
The rest of the fami ly are dead . A t an advanced
64 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
not in danger of being detected by her voice , she
repl ied that she always had a st ro ng'a nd man ly
voice . She appeared to take a pride in hav ing
kept her secret , dec laring that she told it to no
man,woman , or chi ld , during the t ime she was in
the army ; ‘for you know , S ir, a drunken man
and a ch i ld always tel l the truth . But,
’
said she ,
‘ I to ld my secret to the ground . I dug a ho le
that wou ld hold a gal lon,and whispered i t there .
’
Wh i le I w a s with her,the fl ies annoyed her
extremely ; she drove them away with a fa n , and
said they seemed to sme l l her out a s one that w a s
going to the grave . She showed me a wound she
had received in her e lbow by a bayonet .(She
lamented the error of her former ways , but excused
i t by saying ,
‘When you are at Rome , you must
When she cou ld not dist inctlyIdo a s Rome does .
hear what w a s said , She raised herself in the bed
and thrust her head forward with impat ient energy .
She said when the king saw her , he cal led her a
jo l ly Old fe l low .
’ Though bl ind , She cou ld discern
a gl immering l ight , and I was to ld wou ld fre
quent ly s tate the time of day by the effect of
l ight .
The next is copied from a time-worn stone in
Weem churchyard,near Aberfe ldy
,Perthsh i re
EPITAPHS ON SOLD IERS AND SAILORS . 65
In memo ry o f Capta in JAMES CARM ICHAEL,o f Bo ckland
’
s
Regimen t — Died 2 5 th NOV. 1 7 58
Whe re n ow, 0 So n o f Mars
,is Ho n our ’s a im ?
What o n c e thou wast o r w ished,n o mo re ’
s thy c la im .
Thy tomb, Carmichae l, te l ls thy Ho n o ur’
s Ro l l,And man is bo rn , as the e , to be fo rgo t .Bu t virtu e l ive s to glaz e thy ho n o urs o
’
e r,
And Heaven wi ll smile when br ittle ston e’
s n o mo re .
The fo l lowing is inscribed on a gravestone in
Fort W i l l iam Cemetery
Sac redTo th e Memo ry o f
Capta in PATR ICK CAMPBELL,
Late o f the 4 2 n d Regime n t,W ho died o n the xii i o f Dec embe r
,
MDCCCXV I .,
Aged e ighty-thre e years,A True H igh lan de r
,
A S in c e re Fr ie nd,
And the be st deersta lke rOf h is day.
A gravestone in Barwick - in - E lmet,Yorksh i re
,
states
Here l ie s,re tired from busy sc en e s,
A first l ieu te n an t o f Ma r in es,W ho late ly l ived in gay c o n ten t
On board the brave ship “ Di l igen t.Now str ipp
’
d o f a ll his war l ike Show,
And la id in box o f e lm be low,Co n fin ed in ear th in n arrow bo rde rs,He r ises n o t t il l furthe r o rde rs.
66 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
The next is from Dartmouth churchyard
THOMAS GOLDSM ITH ,who died 1 7 1 4 .
H e c ommanded the “Sn ap Dragon ,
”as P r ivatee r be lo ngin g
to this po rt, in the re ign o f Queen An n e , in which vesse l heturn ed pirate , a nd amass
’
d muc h r iches .
Men that are virtuous se rve the Lo rdAnd the Devi l ’s by h is fr ien ds ado r
’
d
And as they mer it ge t a plac eAmidst the b less’d o r he l l ish racePray then , ye learn ed c le rgy ShowWhe re c an this brute , Tom Go ldsmith , go PWho se l i fe was o n e c o n tin ued evi l ,Str ivin g to c heat God, Man
,and Devi l .
We find the fo l lowing at Woodbridge on J oseph
Spalding, master mariner, who departed th is l i fe
Sept . 2 nd,1 7 96, aged 5 5 :
Embark’
d in l i fe ’s tempestuous sea , we ste e r
’M idst threa te n in g bi l lows, ro cks and sho a lsBut Ch r ist by fa ith , dispe ls each wave r in g fear ,And sa fe se cu re s th e an cho r o f ou r sou ls.
I n Selby churchyard,the fol lowing is on J ohn
Edmonds , master mariner , who died 5 th Aug . ,
I 767
Tho’ Bo reas, w ith h is bluste r ing blastsHas to st me to and fro ,
Ye t by the han diwo rk o f God,
I ’m he re en c lo sed be low .
And in this S ile n t bay I lieWith many o f o ur fle e t
,
EPITAPHS ON SOLD IERS AND SAILORS. 67
Un ti l the day that I se t sa i lMy Saviour Chr ist to mee t .
Another,on the south s ide of Se lby church
yardThe bo isterous ma in I ’ve trave rs’d o
’e r,
New seas an d lan ds explo red ,But n ow at last
,I ’m an cho r
’
d fast,
I n peac e and S i len c e mo o r ’d .
I n the churchyard , Se lby. near the north porch ,
in memory of W i l l iam W h i ttaker,mariner
,who
died 2 2 nd Oct . , 1 7 9 7 , we read
Oft time in dan ge r have I bee nUpo n the ragin g ma in
,
Bu t he re in harbour sa fe at rest
Free from a ll human pa in .
South i l l Church,Bedfordshi re , contains a p lain
monument to the memory of Admiral Byng,who
w a s shot at Portsmouth
To the pe rpe tua l disgrac e o f publ ic justic e,
T he Ho n o urable JOHN BYNG , Vic e -Admira l o f the B lue,
fe l l a ma r tyr to po l itica l pe rse c u t io n ,March 1 4 ,
in the year 1 7 5 7 ;
whe n brave ry an d loya lty we re in suffic ie n t sec ur ities fo rthe l ife and ho n o ur o f a n ava l Offic e r .
The fol lowing e pItaph , i nscribed on a stone
in Putney churchyard , is nearly ob l i terated °
Lieut . ALEx . DAV IDSONRoya l Navy has Caus
’
d this Ston e
68 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
to be Erec ted to the Memo ry o f
HARR IOT h is dearly be loved W i fewho depar ted this Life Jan 24 1 808
Aged 3 8 Years.
I have c ro ssed this Ear th’s Equato r Just sixte en t imesA nd in my Co un try
’
s c ause have b rav’
d far distan t C l ime sI n Howe ’
s Tra fa lgar a nd seve ra l Vic to rie s mo reFirm and u nmov
’
d I hea rd the Fata l Can n o n s roar
Trampl in g in human b lood I fe lt n o t any fearNo r fo r my Slaughte r
’
d ga llan t Me ssmate s shed A tear
But o f A dear Wi fe by Death un happily b egu il’
d
Eve n the B r itish Sa i lo r must be c ome A chi ldYe t when from this Earth God sha l l my sou l un fe tte rI hope we ’l l me e t in An o the r Wo r ld and a be tte r .
Some t ime ago a correspondent of the
Specta tor s tated As you are not one to despise‘uncons idered tr ifle s
’ when they have meri t,
perhaps you wi l l find room for the fo l lowing
epitaph,on a Deal boatman
,which I copied the
other day from a tombstone in a churchyard in
that town
I n memo ry o f GEORGE PH ILLP OT,died March 2 2 nd
,1 850 , aged 74 years.
Fu l l many a l i fe he savedW ith h is un daun ted c rew
He pu t lzz’
s tr ust in P r oviden ce,
AND CARED NOT HOW IT BLEW .
A hero ; h is heroi c l i fe and deeds , and the phi lo
sophy of rel igion , perfect both in theory and
pract ice,which inspired them
,al l described in
EPITAPHS ON SOLD IERS AND SAILORS. 69
four l ines Of graph ic and spiri ted verse'Wou ldnot ‘rare Ben ’ himsel f have acknow ledged th is a
good specimen of ‘what verse can say i n a l i t tle ?
Whoever wrote i t was a poet ‘with the name .
’
There is another in the same churchyard
which,though weak after the above , and indeed
not uncommon,I fancy
,i n seas ide towns , i s at
least Suffic ie n tly quain t
In Memo ry o f JAMES EPPS BUTTRESS, who , in re nde ringassistan c e to the Fre n ch Schoo n e r
,Vesuvien n e ,
”was drown ed,
De c ember 2 7 th , 1 85 2 , aged 3 9 .
Tho ugh Bo reas’ blast a nd Neptun e ’
s waveDid to ss me to and fro ,
In spite o f both,by God
’
s dec ree ,I harbour here be low
And here I do a t an cho r r ideW i th many o f o u r fleet,
Ye t o n c e aga in I must se t sa i l,Our Admira l, Chr ist, to mee t .
Also two so n s, who died in in fan cy, &c .
The human race ’ typ ified by ou r fleet,’ exc i tes
vague remin iscences of Goethe and Carlyle , and‘Ou r Admiral Christ ’
seems not remote ly associ
ated in sent iment wi th the ‘We fight that fight
for ou r fai r father Christ,
’ and ‘The K ing wi l l
fol low Christ and we the K ing ,
’ of our grand poet .
SO do the h ighest and the lowest meet . But the
heart iness , the V i tal i ty , nay , almost v ivaci ty,of
70 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
some of these underground tenantry is surpris ing .
There is more l i fe in some of our dead fo lk than
in many a l iv ing crowd .
”
The fol lowing fiv e epitaphs are from H ess le
Road Cemetery,H u l l
W ILL IAM EASTON,W ho was lo st a t sea,
I n the fishin g smack Mar tha ,In the ga le Of Jan uary, 1 865 .
Aged 3 0 yea rs.
When through th e to rn sa i l the wild tempe st is streamin gWhen o
’
e r the da rk wave the red l ightn in g is gleamin g,No hope le n ds a ray th e po o r fishe r to che r ish .
Oh hear , kin d J e sus save , Lo rd, o r we pe r ish
In affec tio n ate remembran ce o f
THOMAS CRACKLES,Humbe r P ilo t
,who was d rown ed o ff
The Lin c o ln shire Co ast,Dur in g the ga le
,Oc to be r 1 9 th , 1 869 .
Aged 2 4 years.
How swift th e to rren t ro llsThat hasten s to the sea ;
How stro n g the t ide that bears our sou lsOn to Ete rn ity.
In affe c tion ate remembran c e o f
DAV I D COLL ISON,
W ho was drown ed in the “ Spir it o f the Age ,Off Scarbo rough , Jan . 6th
,1 864 .
Aged 3 6 years.
7 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
decaying that al ready some parts of the inscript ion
are obl i teratedSa c red
to the memo ryo f
W ILL IAM WALKER ,r o f the Slo op Jan att,. who was un fo r tun ate ly
d rown edo ff Flambo rough Head,1 7 th Apr i l, 1 82 3 .
Aged 4 1 years.
This sto n e was Erec ted byh is Co un trymen in
remembran c e o f h is Death .
I have le ft the troub led o c ean ,And n ow la id down to sleep,In hopes I sha l l se t sa i lOur Saviour Chr ist to me et .
A gravestone in H orncast le churchyard , L inco ln
shi re,has th is epi taph
My he lm was gon e,
My sa i ls we re ren t,
My mast wen t by the board ,My hu ll it struck upo n a rock,Re c e ive my sou l
,O Lo rd I
On a sai lor ’s gravestone in the burial -ground at
H ami l ton,we are to ld
The seas he ploughed fo r twen ty years,Without the smalle st dread o r fea rsAnd all tha t t ime was n ever kn ownTo str ike upo n a ban k o r ston e .
Ep itaphs on mus icians anb actors .
FEW epi taphs relat ing to mus i c and the
drama now Claim our attent ion . Our fi rs t
example is to be found in the cathedra l at N or
wich
He re W ILL IAM INGLOTT, o rgan ist, do’
th re st,Who se ar t in musick this Ca thedra l ble stFo r desc an t mo st, fo r vo lun tary all,
He past o n o rgan,so n g, and Virgin all.
He le ft this l i fe a t age o f sixty-seven ,
And n ow’mo n gst an ge ls all sings St. in Heaven ;
H is fame fl ies far , his n ame sha l l n eve r die ,Se e , ar t and age he re c rown h is memo r ie .
Non a’ig
’
tis,
la ir ter r estr ia la ngis,
Ta ngis m m: a’
zlgi tis orga n a ( elm /501i .
An n o Dom . 1 62 1 .
Bur ied the last day This e rected the 1 sth
o f De c ember, 1 62 1 . day o f Jun e , 1 62 2 .
I n Wakefield Parish Church a tablet bears an
inscript ion a s fo l lows
In memo ry o f
HENRY CLEMETSHAW ,
upwards o f fi fty years o rgan isto f this c hurch
,who died
May 7 , 1 82 1 , aged 68 years.
Now , l ike an o rgan,robb
’
d o f pipes and breath,
I ts keys and stops are use less made by death ,
74 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
Tho’ mu te and motio n less in ru in s laid
Ye t whe n re -bu i lt, by mo re than mo rta l a id,
This in strumen t,n ew vo ic ed , and tun ed , sha l l ra ise ,
T o G od, its bu ilder , hymn s o f en d le ss pra ise .
We copy the fo l lowing from a monument
H o ly T rin i ty Church,H u l l
I n memo ry o f
GEORGE LAMBERT,la te Organ ist o f this Church ,
which Offic e he he ld upwards o f 40 yea rs,pe rfo rmin g its du t ie s with abi lityand assidu ity rare ly exceeded,affo rdin g de light to the love rs
o f Sacred Harmony,This Tab le t is e re c ted
by h is Musica l and pr ivate Fr ien ds,a ided by the bro the rs o f the Humber
and M in e rva Lodge s o f Fre e Maso n s o f this Town
(be in g a membe r o f the latte r Lodge ),That they might p lac e o n rec o rdthe high sen se they en te r ta in ed
o f his pe rso n a l and pro fe ssion a l me r it.He died Feb . 1 9 th , 1 83 8, aged 7 0 years,And h is Rema in s we re in te rred a t thePar ish Chu rch o f St. John in Bever ley.
Tho’ l ike an Organ n ow in ru in s la id,
I ts stops diso rder ’d, and its frame decay’
d,
This in strume n t e re lo n g n ew tun’d Sha l l ra ise
To God, its Bu i lder , n o te s o f e ndle ss pra ise .
From a churchyard in Wales we Obtain the
fol lowing curious epi taph on an organ b lower
EPITAPHS ON MUSIC IANS AND ACTORS . 7 5
Un de r this sto n e l ie s MEREDITH MORGAN ,W ho blew th e be llows o f o u r c hu rch o rgan .
Toba cc o he ha ted, to smoke mo st u nwi l l in g,Ye t n eve r so plea sed as when pipes he was fi l l in g .No reflec t io n o n him fo r rude spe e ch c ou ld be cast,
Tho ugh he gave o ur o ld o rgan many a b lastNo pu ffe r was h e , though a c apita l b lowe rH e c o u ld blow doub le G .
,and n ow l ies a n o te lowe r .
Our next ep i taph records the death of a fidd ler ,
who appears to have been so much "attached to
h is wife that upon the day of her death he , too ,
yie lded to the grim tyrant . O f th is pai r , buried
in F l ixton churchyard,i t may be tru ly said “ I n
l i fe un Ited,and in death not parted .
” The in
script ion is as fo l lows
T o the Memo ry o f JOHN BOOTH, o f Flixto n ,
who died 1 6th
Ma rch,1 7 78, aged 4 3 years ; o n the same day and w ithin a few
ho urs o f the death o f h is wife HANNAH,who was bur ied with
him in the same grave , leaving seve n c hildren behin d them .
Reade r , have patie n c e , fo r a Momen t Stay,No r grudge the Tr ibu te o f a fr ie n d ly tear ,
Fo r John , who o n c e made all ou r Vi l lage gay,Has taken up h is C lay-c o ld Lodgin g he re .
Suspen ded n ow h is fidd le l ie s asleep,That o n c e with Musick u s’d to c harm the Ear .
No t fo r h is Han n ah lo n g re se rv’
d to weep,John yie lds to Fa te with h is compan io n dear .
SO ten der ly he lo ved h is dea re r part,H is Fo n dn ess c ou ld n o t bea r a stay behin d ;
76 CURIOUS EP ITAPHS .
And Death through K indn e ss seem’
d to throw the dartTo ease h is so rrow, as he kn ew h is min d .
In che erfu l Labours a ll the ir T ime they spen t,The ir happy Lives in Le n gth o f Days acqu ir
’
d ;
But Han d in Han d to Nature ’
s G od they we n t,And just lay down to sle ep whe n they we re tir
’
d.
The Re licks o f this fa i thfu l,ho n e st Pa ir
On e l ittle Spac e o f Mo the r Ea rth c o n ta in s.
Le t Ear th pro tec t them with a Mo the r ’s Care ,And Con stan t Ve rdure grac e he r fo r her pa in s.
The Pledge s o f the ir ten de r love rema in ,Fo r seven fin e chi ldren bless’d the ir n upt ia l State .
Beho ld them , n e ighbours ! n o r beho ld in va in ,But hea l the ir So rrows and the ir lo st Estate .
I n the Old Cemetery,N ewport
,Monmouth
sh i re , on a Scotch piper, the fo l lowing appears
To the memo ry o f M r . JOHN MACBETH late pipe r to H isGrace the Duke Of Suthe rland
,and a n ative o f the H ighlands
o f Sc o tlan dDied Apr i l 24th , 1 85 2 , Aged 46 years.
Far from h is n at ive land,ben ea th this sto n e ,
Lies JOHN MACBETH,in pr ime o f man ho od go n e ;
A kinde r husban d n eve r ye t did breathe ,A firme r fr ien d n e
’
e r trod o n Albyn’s heath
H is se lfish a ims we re all in heart an d hand,To be an hon ou r to h is n ative lan d ,As rea l Sco tchme n wish to fa l l o r stan d .
A han dsome G a el he was, o f splen did fo rm,
Fit fo r a siege , o r fo r the No rthe rn Sto rm .
Sir Wa lte r Scott remarked at Invern ess,How we l l be come s Macbe th the H ighlan d dress .
EPITAPHS ON MUSIC IANS AND ACTORS . 7 7
H is min d was sto red w ith an c ien t H ighlan d lo reKn ew Ossian
’
s so n gs, and many ba rds o f yo re ;Bu t music was his chie f, a nd sou l ’s de l ight .
And o ft he played , with Amphion’s ski ll and might,
His H igh lan d pipe , be fo re o ur Grac io us Queen !’Mo n g Ladie s gay, and Pr in c e sses seren e l
H is magic chan ter ’s stra in s po u r’d o
’e r the ir hea rts,
With thr i ll in g rapture so ft as Cupid's dar tsLike Shakespeare ’s witc he s, sca rc e they drew the brea th ,But wished , l ike them , to say, All ha il, Mac be th !”
The Queen , we ll pleased , gave him by h igh c ommand,A sp len did pre sen t from he r Roya l han dBut n o thing aye c ou ld make him va in o r proud,He fe lt a l ike at Co u rt o r in a c rowd ;W ith high and low his n a ture was to please
,
Fran k with the Peasan t, with the P r in c e a t ease .
Be loved by thousan ds t il l h is rac e was run,
Macbeth had n e’
e r a fo e be n ea th th e sun ;
And n ow he plays amon g the Heave n ly ban ds,A diamo n d chan te r n eve r made with bands .
I n the church at Ashover,Derbysh ire
,a tab let
contains th is inscript ion
T o the Memo ry o f
DAV ID WALL,who se supe r io r pe rfo rman c e o n the
bassoo n e ndea red him to an
exte n sive mu sic a l acqua in tan c e .
H is so c ia l l ife c lo sed o n the
4 th De c .,1 796, in his 5 7 th year .
The next is copied from a graves tone in S toney
Midd le ton churchyard
78 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
In memo ry o f GEORGE, the so n o f GEORGE and MARGARET
SW I FT,Of Sto n ey M idd le to n , wh o depa rted this l i fe August
the z r st, 1 7 5 9 , in the 2 0 th year o f h is age .
W e the Quo ir o f S in ge rs o f this Chu rch have e re c ted thissto n e .
He’
s go n e from u s,in mo re se raph ick lays
I n Heave n to chan t th e Gre a t Je hovah ’s pra ise ;Aga in to jo in him in tho se c o urts above ,Le t’s he re exa lt God ’s n ame with mu tual lo ve .
The fo l lowing w a s written in memory of
Madame Ma l ibran,who d ied September 2 3 rd,
1 83 6
The beau t i fu l is va n ished , a nd re tu r n s n o t .
’Twas bu t as ye ste rday, a migh ty thro n g ,Who se hea rts, as o n e man ’
s heart, thy powe r c ou ld bow,
Amid loud sho u tin gs ha i led the e qu e e n o f so n g,And twin ed swe e t summe r flowe rs a ro u n d thy brow ;
And tho se loud sho u ts have sca rc e ly died away,And tho se yo un g flowe rs bu t ha lf fo rgo t thy blo om ,
Whe n thy fa i r Crown is c hanged fo r o n e o f C layThy boun d le ss empire fo r a n a rro w tomb !
Sweet min stre l o f the hea rt, w e l ist in va inFo r mu sic n ow ; THY me lody is o
’
e r ;
Fia’
elio ha th c eased o ’
e r hea rts to re ign,
Somn amou la hath slept to wake n o mo reFa rewe l l thy su n o f l i fe too so o n ha th se t
,
But memo ry sha l l reflec t its br igh tn e ss ye t.
G a r r ick’
s epi taph,in Wes tmins ter Abbey ,
reads
To pain t fa ir Na ture by divin e c ommand,
He r magic pen c i l in his glowing ha nd,
80 CURIOUS ‘EPITAPHS .
When the Stage heard tha t death had struck he r John,
Gay Comedy he r Sable s fi rst pu t o nLaugh te r lamen ted tha t her Fav’
r ite died,
And M irth he rse lf, (’
tis stran ge ) la id down and c ry’
d.
W it dro op’
d h is head , e ’
e n Humo u r seem ’
d to mourn ,
And so lemn ly sat pen sive o’
e r h is u rn .
G a r r ick’
s epitaph to the memory of J ames Quin ,
Bath, is very fine
That to n gue , which se t the tab le in a roar,
And charm’
d th e publ ic ea r, is hea rd n o mo reC lo sed a re tho se eyes, the ha rbin ge rs o f w it,Which spoke , be fo re the to n gue , wha t Shake spea re wr itCo ld are tho se hands, which , l ivin g, we re stre tch
’
d fo rth ,At fr ie ndship ’s c a ll, to suc c o ur modest wo r th .
He re is JAMES QU IN ! De ign , reade r, to be taught,Whate ’
e r thy stre ngth o f body, fo rc e o f thought,I n Nature ’
s happie st mou ld howeve r cast,“To this c omp lexion thou mu st c ome a t last.
Several actors are buried in the churchyard of
S t . Peter of Ma n c ro ft , Norwich . On H enrietta
Maria B ray,who died in 1 7 3 7 , aged s ixty years
,i s
the fol lowing epitaph
He re , Reade r , you may pla in ly see,
That W it n o r Humour he re c ou ld beA Pro o f aga in st Mo rta l i ty.
Anne Roberts died in 1 743 , aged th irty , and on
her gravestone is a couplet a s fo l lows
The Wo rld ’s a Stage , a t B ir th o ur Plays begun ,And all find Exits when the ir Pa rts are don e .
EPITAPHS ON MUSIC IANS AND ACTORS . 8 1
The Norwich actors,says Mr . J ames H ooper ,
were celebrated in thei r day,and thei r serv i ces
were in great request . They used to p lay annual ly
at the great S tourbridge Fai r,at Cambridge
,so
v iv id ly described by De Foe in h is “ Tour through
the who le I s land of Great B ri tain The
U n ivers i ty Dons mustered in force to see the
Norw ich mummers , and part of the pi t , known a s
The Crit ics ’ Row,was reserved for Dr . Farmer
of Emanuel,and h is friends
,George S tevens ,
Malone , and others , who never thought i t i nfr a
a’
ig. to applaud . raptu r0usly— a c i rcumstance which
shows Puritan Emanuel i n a n ew ligh tff
I n S t . Mary ’s Church,Beverley , a tablet is
p laced in remembrance of a n o table Yorksh i re
actor °
I n Memo ry Of
SAMUEL BUTLER ,po o r playe r that struts andh is hou r upo n the stage , andthen is heard n o mo re .
Ob t . Jun e 1 5 th , 1 8 1 2 .
z’Et . 62 .
Butler ’s gi fted son,Samue l W i l l iam
,was buried
in Ardwick Cemetery , Manchester . A gravestone
Ho ope r ’s “ No tes on the Church of S t. Pe te r of Man c roft , No rwich
82 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
p laced to h is memory bears the fo l lowing eloquent
inscript ion by Charles Swain
Here rest the
mo r ta l rema in s o f
SAMUEL W ILL IAM BUTLER ,Tragedian .
the stage lo st a high ly-gifted and ac c ompl ished ac to r ,
on e by who se to n gue the n oble st c re atio n so f the po e t foun d tru thfu l utte ran c e .
Afte r lo n g and seve re su ffe r in g h e depar tedthis l i fe the 1 7th day o f Ju ly, in the year o f
our Lo rd 1 845 . Aged 4 1 yea rs .
Whe n c e this ambitio n , when ce this proud desire ,This love o f fame , this lo n gin g to aspire ?To ga the r laure ls in the ir gre en e st b lo om ,
To ho n ou r l i fe and san c ti fy the tomb ?’T is the Divin i ty that n eve r die s,Which prompts the sou l o f gen ius stil l to r ise .
Though fades the Lau re l , lea f by leaf away,The sou l hath pre sc ien ce o f a fade le ss dayAnd God ’s e te rn a l promise , l ike a star ,From faded hopes sti l l po in ts to hope s a farWhe re weary hearts fo r c o n so latio n trust,
An d bl iss immo r ta l qu icken s from the dust .
On this great hope , the pa in te r , ac to r , bard ,And all who eve r strove fo r Fame ’s rewa rd,Must re st at last and a ll that earth have trodSti l l n eed the grac e o f a fo rgivin g G od
An in terest ing sketch of the l i fe of Butler ,
from the pen of J ohn E vans , is given in the
EPITAPHS ON MUSIC IANS AND ACTORS . 83
Papers of the Manchester L i terary C lub ,vo l.
i i i .,publ ished 1 87 7 .
I n the N ecropo l is,G lasgow,
is a monument
represent ing the stage and proscen ium of a
theatre,p laced to the memory of J ohn H en ry
Alexander,of the Theatre Royal , G lasgow . H e
wa s a nat ive of D un se , Berwicksh ire , and’
wa s
born J u ly 3 I st , 1 7 96. A t an early,age , says
Dr . Rogers,h is parents removed to G lasgow ,
where,i n h is th i rteen th year
,he was apprent iced
to a hos ie r . W i th a remarkab le taste for m im icry
he pract ised private theatri cals ; and hav ing
att racted the not ice of the managers of Queen
S treet Theatre,he obtained an opportun i ty of
publ i cly exhibit ing h is gi fts . I n h is s ixteenth
year b e adopted the h istrion i c profess ion . For
some seasons he w a s employed in a theatre at
N ewcast le ; he subsequently performed at Carl is le ,
and afterwards i n the Theatre Royal,Edinbu rgh .
A t Edinburgh h is successfu l impersonations of
Dandie D inmont and other characters of the
Waverley nove ls gained h im the friendship of
S ir Wal ter Scott . After some changes he
accepted the managership of the Dun lop Street
Theatre , G lasgow , of wh ich he became proprietor
in 1 82 9 . H e rebu i l t the structure in 1 840 ; i t
84 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
wa s part ial ly dest royed by fi re on the 1 7 th
February ,1 849 , when s ix ty -five persons unhappi ly
perished . The shock wh ich he experienced on
th is occasion serious ly affected h is hea l th . and in
1 85 1 he found i t exped ient to ret i re from h is
profess ion . H e died on the 1 5 th December,
1 85 1 , aged fifty-five On h is tombstone are
inscribed these l ines from the pen of M r . J ames
Hedde rw ick , the edi tor of the G lasgow Cit izen
Fa llen is the curta in , the last sc en e is o ’
e r,
The favour i te a c to r treads l ife ’
s stage n o mo re .
Oft lavish plaudits from the c rowd he drew,And laughin g eye s c o n fe ssed h is humou r true ;He re fo n d affe c t io n rears this sculptu red sto n e ,Fo r V irtues n o t en ac ted , bu t his own .
A c o n sta n cy un shaken un to death ,A truth un swe rvin g
,and a Chr istian ’sfa ith
W ho kn ew him best have cause to mourn him mo st .Oh
,we ep the man
,mo re than the ac to r lo st
Un n umbe red parts he play’
d ye t to the end,
His be st we re tho se o f husban d , fathe r , fr ien d .
I n many co l lect ions Of epi taphs the fo l lowing is
stated to be inscribed on a gravestone at G i l l ing
ham,but we are in formed by the V i car that no
such epitaph is to be found , nor is there any t race
of i t hav ing been p laced there at any t ime
Sac redTo the memo ry o f
THOMAS JACKSON, Comedian ,
EPITAPHS ON MUSIC IANS AND ACTORS . 85
W ho was e ngaged 2 1 st o f Dec embe r , 1 74 1 , to play ac omic cast o f chara c te rs
,in this great thea tre — the wo r ld
fo r many o f whic h he was prompted by n atu re to e xc e l .The seaso n be in g en ded, h is be n efit over , the charges
a ll pa id,and h is a c c oun t c lo sed, he made h is exit in th e
tragedy o f Dea th, o n the 1 7 th o f March,
1 798, in fu l lassu ran c e o f be in g c a lled o n c e mo re to rehearsa l whe re hehopes to find his fo r fe its all c leared , h is c ast o f par tsbe ttered, and his situa tio n made agreeable , by H im who
pa id the grea t sto ck-debt, fo r the love He bo re to
pe r fo rme rs in ge n e ra l .
The next epi taph w a s writ ten by Swift on
Dicky Pearce,who d ied 1 7 2 8, aged 63 years . H e
w a s a famous foo l,and h is name carries us back
to the t ime when kings and nob lemen emp loyed
jes ters for the de lectat ion of themse lves and thei r
friends . I t is from Beck ley,
a nd reads a s
fo l lows
He re l ie s the Ear l o f Suffo lk’s Fo o l ,Men c a l l him D ICKY PEARCE ;
H is fo l ly se rv’
d to make me n laugh,
When w it a nd mir th we re scarc e .
Poo r Dick , a las ! is dead and go n e ,Wha t sign ifie s to c ry?
Dicky’
s e n ough a re sti l l behin dTo laugh at by and by.
I n ou r “ H is toric Romance,pub l ished 1 883 ,
by H ami l ton , Adams , and C o . ,London
,wi l l be
found an accoun t of “ Fools and J esters of the
86 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
E ngl ish Sovereigns . and we therein s tate that
the last recorded instance of a foo l being kept by
an Engl ish fami ly is that of J ohn H i l ton ’s fool ,
retained at H i l ton Cast le,Durham
,who died in
1 746 .
The fo l lowing ep itaph is inscribed on a tomb
stone in the churchyard of S t . Mary Friars ,
Shrewsbury, on Cadman , a famous “ flye r” on
the rope,immortal ised by H ogarth
,and who
broke h is neck descending from a steep le in
Shrewsbury,i n 1 740 .
Le t this smal l mo n umen t re co rd the n ameO f CADMAN, and to fu ture t ime s pro c la imHow ,
by an attempt to fly from this high spire ,Ac ross the Saor z'n e stream , he did acqu ireHis fatal e nd.
’Twas n o t fo r wan t o f ski ll,Or courage to pe r fo rm the task , he fe l lNO, n o ,
— a fau l ty c o rd be in g drawn to o tightHu r ried h is sou l o n high to take he r fl ight,Which bid the body here ben eath , go od-n ight.
J oe M i l ler, of facet ious memory ,next c laims
our attent ion . We find i t s tated in Chambe rs ’
s
Book of Days ”
( i ssued 1 869 ) as fo l lows Mi l ler
was interred in the burial -ground Of the parish of
S t . C lement Danes , in Portugal Street , where a
tombstone was erected to h is memory . Abou t
ten years ago that burial -ground,by the removal
88 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
The above in sc r iptio n , whic h T imehad n ear ly o bl ite rated , has been pre se rvedand tran sferred to this Sto n e , by o rde r o fMR. JARVIS BUCK, Churchwarde n ,
A .D . 1 8 1 6.
An interest ing sketch of the l i fe of Joe M i l ler
wi l l be found in the “ Book of Days ,”
vo l. i i . ,
page 2 1 6, and in the same in form ing and
entertain ing work,the fo l lowing notes are given
respect ing the writer of the foregoing epitaph :
The ‘S . Duck ,’ whose name figures as author
of the verses on M i l ler ’s tombstone,and who is
al luded to on the same tablet , by M r. Church
warden Buck,as an instance of ‘poet ic talent in
humb le l i fe ,’ deserves a short notice . H e w a s a
thresher in the serv i ce of a farmer near Kew , i n
Surrey . Imbued with an eager desi re for learn
ing,he , under most adverse circumstances
,
managed to obtain a few books,and educate
h imsel f to a l im i ted degree . Becoming known
a s a rust i c rhymer,b e attracted the atten tion of
Caro l ine , queen of George I I . , who , with her
accustomed l iberal i ty , sett led on him a pension of
£30 per annum she made h im a Yeoman of the
Guard , and instal led h im a s keeper of a kind of
museum she had in R i chmond Park , cal led Mer
l in ’s Cave . Not conten t with these promot ions,
EPITAPHS ON MUSIC IANS AND ACTORS . 89
the generous,but perhaps inconsiderate , queen
caused Duck to be adm itted to ho ly orders , and
preferred to the l iv ing of Byfle e t , in Su rrey ,
Where he became a popu lar preacher among the
JOE M I LLER ’S TOM BSTONE , ST . CLEM ENT DANES CH U RCHYA RD, LONDON .
lower c lasses ,ch iefly through the nove l ty of
being the Thresher Parson Th is gave Swift
occasion to write the fo l lowing qu ibb l ing
epigram
The threshe r Duck c ou ld o ’
e r the que en preva i lThe proverb says, No fe n ce aga in st a fla il .”
90 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
From thre shin g c o rn , he turn s to thre sh h is bra in s,Fo r whic h he r Majesty a l lows him gra in sThough ’
tis c o n fe st, that tho se who eve r saw
His poems, thin k ’em a ll n o t wo rth a straw .
Thr ic e happy Duck emp loyed in thre shin g stubbleThy to i l is lesse n ed, and thy profits double .
One wou ld suppose the poor thresher to have
been beneath Swift ’s not ice,but the provocat ion
was great , and the chast isemen t , such as i t was ,
meri ted . For though few men had ever less
pretens ions to poet ical genius than Duck , yet the
Court party actual ly se t him up as a riva l — nay,
as superior— to Pope . And the saddest part of
the affai r w a s that Duck,i n h is utter s imp l ic i ty
and ignorance of what real ly const i tu ted poetry,
was led to fancy himself the greatest poet of the
age . Consequent ly , cons idering that h is gen ius
was neglected,and that he was not rewarded
according to his poet ical deserts by being made
the clergyman of an obscure v i l lage , he fe l l i n to a
s tate of me lancho ly, which ended in su ic ide ;
affording another to the numerous i nstances of
the very great difficu l ty of doing good . I f the
wel l -mean ing queen had e levated D uck to the
posi t ion of farm -bai l iff, he might have led a long
and happy l i fe,amongst the scenes and the
classes of society in which h is youth had passed ,
Epitaphs on Eportsmcn .
H E st i rring l ives of sportsmen have suggested
spiri ted l ines for the i r tombstones , as wi l l
be seen from the e xamples we bring under the
not ice of our readers .
The fi rst ep i taph is from Morv i l le churchyard,
near B ridgnorth , on J ohn Charl ton , Esq . ,who
w a s for many years Mas ter of the Wheatland
Foxhounds , and died J anuary 2 o th , 1 843 , aged 63y ears ; regretted by al l who knew him
Of this wo r ld’s pleasure I have had my share ,A few o f the so rrows I was doomed to bear .
How oft have I e n joy’d the n o ble chaseO f bounds and foxe s str ivin g fo r the rac e !
Bu t hark ! the kn e ll o f dea th ca l ls m e away,So spo rtsmen , all, farewe l l ! I must Obey.
Our next i s wri t ten on M i l ls,the huntsman
He re l ie s JOHN MILLS, who ove r th e hi l lsPursued the bounds with ha l lo
The leap though high , from earth to sky,
The hun tsman we ‘must fo llow .
A short, rough , but pregnant epitaph is placed
over the remains of Robert H ackett,a keeper of
EPITAPHS ON SPORTSMEN . 9 3
Hardwick Park,who died in 1 70 3 , and was buried
in Au l t H ucknal l churchyard
Lo n g had he chasedThe Red and Fa l low Dee r ,
But Dea th ’s c o ld dartAt last has fix’
d him he re .
George D ixon,a noted fox -hun ter . is bu ried in
Lu ton chu rchyard,and on his gravestone the
fol lowing appears
Stop, passen ge r , and thy a tte n tio n fix o n ,Tha t true -bo rn , ho n e st, fox-hun te r , GEORGE D IXON,
W ho , a fte r e igh ty years’
unwea r ied chase ,Now re sts h is bo n e s within this ha l low’d plac e .
A gen tle tr ibu te o f app lause bestow,
And give him ,as you pass, o n e ta lly-Izo !
Ea r ly to c ove r , br isk he rode ea ch mo rn,
In ho pe s the or a sfz h is temple migh t ado rnThe view is n ow n o mo re , the chase is past,And to an earth , poo r Geo rge is run at last .
On a stone in the graveyard of Mottram the
fo l lowing inscript ion appears
In the memo ry o f GEORGE NEWTON ,o f Sta lybr idge ,
who died August 7 th ,1 87 1 ,
in the 94th yea r o f h is age .
Though he liv’
d lo n g, the o ld man has go n e at last,N0 mo re he ’ l l hear th e hun tsman ’
s st irr ing b lastThough fleet as Reyn ard in h is you thfu l pr ime ,At last he ’
s yie lded to the han d of T ime .
94 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
B l ithe as a la rk, dress
’
d in h is c oat o f gree n ,W ith houn ds and ho rn the Old man was seen .
But ah Death came , wo rn out and fu l l o f years,He died in peac e , mou rn
’
d by his offspr in gs’
tears.
Le t u s run with patien c e the rac e tha t is set be fo re us.
I n the churchyard of Ec c le sfie ld,may be
the fol lowing epitaph
In m emo ry o f THOMAS R IDGE,the Ec c lesfie ld hun tsman ,
who died 1 3 th day o f Jan uary, 1 87 1 ,
Aged 7 7 yea rs.
Though fo nd o f spo rt, devo ted o f the chase ,And with h is fe l low-hun te rs first in plac e ,He a lways kept the Lo rd
’s appo in ted day,
Neve r from c hurc h o r Sunday-schoo l away.
And n ow h is body re sts ben ea th the sod,
H is so u l re lyin g in the love o f G od.
Of the many epitaphs on sportsmen to be seen
in N ott inghamshire,we cu l l a few of the choicest .
Our fi rst is a l i teral copy from a weather-worn
s tone in Eakring churchyard , p laced to the
memory of H enry Cartwright , sen ior keeper to
h is Grace the Duke of K ingston for fifty-five
years,who died February 1 3 th ,
1 7 7 3 , aged eighty
years,ten months
,and three weeks :
My gun discharged, my ba l l is go n eMy powde r
’
s spe n t,my wo rk is do n e ,
tho se pan ting dee r I have le ft behin d,May n ow have time to Ga in the i r win d,
96 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
keeper at a suffic ien t d istance for accompl ish ing
h is purpose , fi red and ki l led the deer, and d ragged
i t through the river Leen u ndiscovered . Booth
w a s a stout man ,and by trade a whitesmith .
The stone marking the p lace of h is in terment is
st i l l i n good preservat ion,and stands in S t .
N i cho las ’ burial -ground,against the southern wal l
of the chu rch . I t bears the fo l lowing inscript ion
He re l ie s a marksman ,who with art and ski ll ,
When youn g and stro n g,fat bucks and do es did ki ll .
Now c o n que red by gr im Death (go , reade r , te ll it !)He
’
s n ow took leave o f powde r , gu n ,and pe lle t .
A fata l dart , which in the da rk did fly,Has la id him down , amo n g the dead to lie .
I f any wan t to kn ow the po o r slave’s n ame ,
’Tis Old TOM BOOTH ,— n e
’e r ask from whe n c e he c ame .
Old Tom was SO h igh ly pleased with the
epi taph,which w a s Wri t ten before h is death , that
he had it engraved on the stone some months
before its serv i ces were requ ired . I n addit ion to
the epi taph itse lf, the head - stone w a s made to
include Booth ’s name,etc . ,
and also that o f his
wife , b lank places being left in each case for the
age and t ime of death . Booth ’
s compartment of
the stone w a s i n due course properly fi l led up ;
but the widow,dis l ik ing the exh ibi t ion of her
name on a tombstone wh i le l iv i ng,reso lved that
EPITAPHS ON SPORTSMEN . 9 7
such stone Shou ld never indicate her res t ing-p lace
when dead ; she accordingly left an . injunct ion
that her body be interred e lsewhere,
a nd the
inscript ion is i ncomp lete to this day .
Some t ime before Amos S treet,a ce lebrated
Yorkshi re hun tsman , died , a s tone was Obtain ed,
and on i t engraved the fo l lowing l ines
This is to the memo ry o f OLD AMOS,W ho was whe n a l ive fo r hun ting famous ;But n ow h is c hase s a re a ll o
’
e r
An d he re he ’
s earth’
d, o f yea rs four sc o re .
Upo n this tomb he ’s o fte n sat
And tr ied to read h is epitaphAnd thou who do st so a t this momen tSha l l e re lo n g l ike him be do rman t .
Poor “ Old Amos passed away on October 3 rd,1 77 7 , and w a s buried in Birsta l churchyard . The
foregoing inscript ion may st i l l be rea d .
The Re v . R . H . Wh itworth te l ls us : “ There
is an o ld monument in the south ais le of B l idworth
Church,to the memory of Thomas Leake
, Esq
who w a s ki l led at B l idworth Rocking,in A .D . 1 598.
H e may be regarded a s the las t of the race who
sa t in Robin H ood’
s seat,i f those rest less Forest
Chiefs , typified under that n ame , can be supposed
ever to have sa t at al l . Leake he ld office under they
C rown,but w as a s W Ild a freebooter as ever
7
98 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
drew bow. H i s character is portrayed in his
ep Itaph
Here re sts T . LEAKE,who se ve rtues weere so kn own e
In all these par ts that this en graved sto n eNeeds n avght re late bvt h is vn time ly e nd
Whic h was in sin gle fight : wylst yo u th did le n dH is ayde to valo r
,hee w th ease o repast
Many slygh t dan ge rs, greate r then this lastt w illfvlle fate in these thin gs gove rn s allHee towld ovt three sc o re years be fo re h is fa l lMo st o f w ch tyme b e wa sted in this wo odMvch o f h is wea lth and last o f all h is b lo od .
The border of th is monumen t is rudely panel led,
each pane l hav ing some forest hunt ing subj ect in
re l ief. There are hounds gett ing scent , and a
hound pursu ing an an t lered stag ; a hunt ing horn ,
ribboned ; p lunging and flaying kn ives,a cross
bow,a fores t- bow
,two arrows
,and two hunters ’
bel ts with arrows inserted . This is his register
THOMAS LEAKE, e squ ire , bur ied th e4th February, 1 5 98.
There is a capt ivat ing bi t of romance connected
with Leake ’s death , which occurred at A rcher’
s
Water. Al though somewhat ‘
pro ve c tu s i n
ae ta te ,’ he had won the affect ions of the land
lady ’
s daughter, much to the annoyance of the
mother . A rcher’
s w ater wa s on the o ld dr iftro ad
1 00 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
occasion . As the church is dedicated to S t .
Mary in conn ect ion wi th the Purificat ion , the 2 nd
of February being the Feast Day , th is i s probably
an interest ing remin iscence of some o ld species of
M irac le Play,or observance connected with the
foundat ion . Anc ient ly peop le from al l neigh
bou r ing count ies used to attend this season .
Fores t games were p layed , and amid the attendant
l i cence and con fusion , Leake came to h is last
grief. N ot on ly in th is church does th is Ranger
of the B l idworth Wood,for th is was h is office ,
possess a memorial . A large cross was erected,
now stand ing at F ountain Dale , thus inscribed
Ho c c ruc is fragmenT raditum a sylvic o lis mo n umen tum
Lo c i ub i in singu la ri c e r tamin eGladiato r i lle in sign is
THO. LEAKEMo r i o c cubu itAn n o MDXCVI I I .
Ab an tiqua sede remo tum
H . P . C .
Joan n e s Down a l lP rid. No n Sext . MDCCCXXXV I .
What became of the daughter trad i t ion saye th not .
Doubtless she died , as Tom Leake s in te nded
bride ought,of grief, and was buried under some
gran d old oak in B l idworth Forest .
EPITAPHS ON SPORTSMEN .
Let us d irect attent ion to another c lass of
sportsmen . A t B unney,a monument is erected
to S ir Thomas P a rkyn s , the we l l -kn own wrest ler.
I t bears fou r l ines i n Lat in,which have been
trans lated thus
At length he fa l ls, the lo ng c o n te st’
s o’
e r,
And T ime has th rown whom n o n e e’
e r threw be fo reYe t boast n o t (T ime ) thy V ic to ry, fo r b eAt last sha l l r ise aga in and con qu e r thee .
The next i s cop ied from a stone in St . Michae l’
s
churchyard,Coventry , on a famous fencing
master
To the memo ry o fMr . JOHN PARKES,A n a tive o f th is City
He was a man o f mi ld dispo sitio n ,A Gladiato r by pro fe ssio n
Who a fte r havin g fo ugh t 3 50 battle s,In the pr in c ipa l pa rts o f Eu rope ,W i th ho n ou r and applause ,
len gth qu i tted the stage , shea thed h is swo rd ,And with Chr istian re sign a tio n ,
Submi tted to th e Gran d Vic to rI n the 5 e nd year o f h is age
An n o Domin i 1 7 3 3 .
An Old stone bearing the foregoing inscript ion
was rep laced by a new one some years ago at the
expense of the late S . Carter , E sq , formerly
Member of Parl iamen t for Coventry . In the
1 02 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
pages of the Specta tor honourab le ment ion is
made of J ohn Parkes .
I n the churchyard of H anslope is buried Sandy
M’
Kay,the Scott ish giant , who wa s ki l led in a
prize fight with S imon Byrne . A headstone
bears the fol lowing inscript ion
Sac red to the memo ry o f
ALEX . M ’KAY,
(Late o f G lasgow) ,W ho died 3 rd Jun e , 1 83 4 ,
Aged 2 6 years.
Stro n g and a th let ic was my frameFar from my n at ive home I came ,And man ly fought with S imo n Byrn e ;Alas ! bu t l ived n o t to re turn .
Reade r , take warn in g o fmy fa te ,Lest you Shou ld rue your c ase to o lateI f you eve r have fought be fo re ,De te rmin e n ow to fight n o mo re .
We are in formed that Byrne w a s ki l led shortly
afterwards , wh i ls t engaged i n fighting .
From the prize—ring let u s turn to the more
sat isfactory amusement of cricket . I n H ighgate
Cemetery, L i l lywhite , the celebrated Cricketer, is
buried , and over h is remains is placed a monument
with the sign ificant emb lem of a wicket being
upset wi th a bal l .
The fo l lowing l ines are said to be cop ied from
a tombs tone in a cemetery near Sal isbury
1 04 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Death kin d ly came , a ll wan ts supply’
d
By giu ing Re st which l i fe de ny’
d.
We conc lude th is c lass of epi taphs with a
coup le of piscatorial examp les . The fi rs t is from
the churchyard of H ythe
H is n e t o ld fishe r Geo rge lo n g drew ,
Shoa ls upo n shoa ls h e c aught,’T i l l Death came hau l in g fo r h is due ,And made po o r Geo rge his draught .Death fishe s o n thro ugh var io us shape s,In va in it is to fre t ;
No r fish n o r fisherman e scapesDeath ’s all-en c lo sin g n et .
I n the churchyard of Great Yarmouth , under
date of 1 769 , an epitaph runs thus
He re l ie s do omed,I n this vau lt so dark,A so ldie r weave r, a ngler , and c le rkDeath sn atched him hen c e , and from him tookH is gun ,
h is shu ttle , fish -rod, and ho ok ,He c o uld n o t weave , n o r fish , n o r fight, so thenHe le ft the wo r ld, and fa in t ly c r ied— Amen .
Jfiaccbana lian Ep itaphs .
OM E s ingu lar epi taphs are to be found over
the remain s of men who either manufactu red ,
dispensed , or loved the social glass . I n the
churchyard of N ewhaven,Sussex , the fol lowing
may be seen on the grave of a brewer
To the memo ry o f
THOMAS T I PPER whodeparted this l i fe May the 1 4th
1 785 Aged 54 Years.
READER , wi th k in d rega rd this GRAVE surveyNo r heed less pass whe re T I PPER ’S ashe s lay,Ho n e st he was, in gen uous, blun t, and kin dAnd dared do
,wha t few dare do
,speak h is mind ,
PHILOSOPHY and H ISTORY we l l he kn ew,W as ve rsed in PH YS I CK and in Surge ry to o ,The be st o ld ST INGO he bo th brewed and so ld,No r did o n e kn avish a c t to ge t h is Go ld .
He played thro ugh Life a var ied c omic pa rt,And kn ew immo rta l HUDI BRAS by hea rt.READER
,in rea l tru th
, suc h was the Man,
Be bette r, wise r , laugh mo re i f you can .
The next , on J ohn S cott , a L iverpoo l brewer,
i s rather rich in puns
Po o r JOHN SCOTT l ie s bur ied he reAlthough h e was bo th ha le and sto u t
1 06 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
Death stre tched him o n th e bitte r bier .In an o the r wo rld he hops abou t .
On a butler in Ollerton churchyard is the
fol lowing curious epi taph :
B en eath the droppings o f this spo ut,He re l ies the body o n c e so sto u t
,
O f FRANCIS THOMPSON .
A sou l this carcase o n c e po ssess’
d,
Whic h o f its V irtues was care ss’d,By a ll who kn ew the own e r be st .The Ruffo rds re c o rds can de c lare ,H is ac tio n who
,fo r seve n ty year ,
Bo th drew an d dran k its po ten t beerFame men tio n s n o t in a ll that t ime ,In this great Bu tle r the least c r ime ,
To sta in h is repu ta t io n .
To envy’
s se l f we n ow appea l ,I f aught o f fau lt she can reveal,
To make he r dec larat io n .
He re rest go od shade , n o r he l l n o r ve rmin fea r,Thy virtues guard thy sou l , thy body good stro ng bee r .
H e died Ju ly 6th , 1 7 3 9 .
We wi l l next give a few epi taphs on publ i cans .
Our fi rst is from Pannal chu rchyard i t i s on
J oseph Tha cke r ey,who died on the 2 6th of
N ovember,
1 7 9 1
I n the year o f our Lo rd 1 740
I came to “
the CrownIn 1 7 9 1 they la id me down .
The fo l lowing is from the graveyard Of Upton
1 08 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
And is, a las ! po o r Bucke tt go n e ?Fa rewe ll, c onvivia l, ho n e st Jo hn .
Oft at th e we l l , by fata l stroke ,Bu cke ts
,l ike pitche rs, must be broke .
In this same mo tley shift in g sc e n e ,How va r ious have thy fo rtu n e s beenNow l i fted high— n ow sin kin g low .
To -day thy br im wou ld ove rflow ,Thy boun ty the n wo u ld all supply,To fil l a nd dr in k , and leave the e dryT o -mo rrow sun k as in a we l l ,Co n te n t, un se en ,
with truth to dwe l lBu t high o r low, o r w e t o r dry,
No ro tte n stave c o u ld ma l ic e spy.
Then r ise , immo r ta l Bucke tt, r ise ,And c la im thy sta tio n in the skie s’Twixt Ampho ra a nd P i sc e s shin e ,St i ll guardin g Sto ckbr idge with thy S ign .
From the “ Sportive W i t ; the Muses’ Merri
ment ,” issued in 1 656, we extract the fo l lowing
l i nes on J ohn Tay lor,
“ the Water Poet,
” who
wa s a nat ive of G loucester, and died in Phoen ix
Alley , London , i n the 7 5 th year of h is age . You
may find h im,i f the worms have not devoured
h im,i n Covent Garden churchyard
He re l ie s JOHN TAYLOR , wi tho ut r ime o r reaso n ,
Fo r death struck h is muse in so c o ld a season ,
That JACK lo st th e use o f h is sc u l le rs to row
The chi ll pate rasca l wo u ld n o t le t h is boat go .
Alas, po o r JACK TAYLOR this ’tis to dr in k a le
BACCHANALIAN EPITAPHS . 1 09
W ith n u tmegs a nd gin ge r , with a taste though sta le ,I t dre n ch t the e in r ime s. Hadst thou be e n o f th e packWith Dra ito n and Jo n so n to qua ff o ff thy sack ,They
’d in fus’d the e a ge n ius sho u ld n e ’
e r e xpire ,And have thaw
’
d thy muse with e leme n ta l fire .
Ye t sti ll , fo r the ho n our o f thy spr igh tly w it,S in c e some o f thy fa n c ie s so handsome ly h i t.The nymphs o f the r ive rs fo r thy re la tio nS irn amed the e the w a ter -poet o f th e n a tio n .
W ho can wr ite mo re o f thee le t him do ’
t fo r me .
A take a ll r ime rs,JACK TAYLOR , bu t the e .
We ep n o t, reade r, i f tho u can st chuse ,Ove r the sto n e o f so me r ry a muse .
Robert B urns wrote the fo l lowing epi taph
J ohn Dove , i nnkeeper , Mauch l ine
He re lies JOHNNY P IGEONWhat was h is re lig io n
W hae’
e r de sires to ke n ,
To some o ther war l’
Maun fo llow the c ar ],
Fo r he re Jo hn ny had n o n e
Stro n g ale was ab lu tionSma l l bee r persec ut io n ,
A dram was memen to mor i ;
Bu t a ful l flowin g bow lW as th e savin g o f h is so u l
,
An d po rt was c e le stia l glo ry.
We extract , from a co l lect ion of epi taph s,the
fol lowing on a publ i can :
A jo lly land lo rd o n c e was I ,And kept the Old King
’s Head hard by,
1 1 0 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
So ld mead and gin ,c ide r and bee r ,
And eke a ll o ther kinds o f che e r ,T i ll Death my l ic en se to ok away,And pu t me in this house o f c layA house at whic h you all must c al l ,So on e r o r late r , grea t o r sma ll .
I t is stated in M r. J . Potter B riscoe’
s enter
tain ing vo lume,
“ N ott inghamsh ire Facts and
Fict ions,
” that in the churchyard of Edwal ton
is a gravestone to the memory of Mrs . Freland , a
con s iderab le landowner , who died in 1 74 1 ; but
who , i t wou ld appear from the inscr ipt ion,w a s a
very free l iver,for her memoria l says :
She dran k go od a le , stro n g pun c h and win e ,An d l ived to the age o f n in e ty-n in e .
A gravestone in Darenth churchyard,near
Dartford , bears the fo l lowing epitaph
Oh , the l iquo r he did love , bu t n eve r wi ll n o mo reFo r wha t h e loy ’d did turn h is fo e ;Fo r o n th e 2 8th o f
‘
Jan uary 1 74 1 , that fa ta l day,The Debt he owed he the n did pay.
A t Chatham,on a drunkard
,good adv ice is
given
Weep n o t fo r him the wa rme st tear that ’s shedFa l ls un ava i l in g o e r the un co n sc ious deadTake the advic e the se fr ie n d ly l in e s wo u ld give .
Live n o t to dr in k,bu t o n ly d r in k to l ive .
1 1 2 CURIOUS EP ITAPHS .
S imi lar epi taphs to the foregoing may be found
in many graveyards i n th is country . I n M ickle
hurst churchyard , an inscript ion runs til us ‘
Life is an In n ,whe re a ll men ba it,
The wa i te r,T ime , the lan dlo rd , Fa te ;
Death is the sco re by all me n due ,
I’
ve pa id my sho t— and so must you .
I n the o ld burial -ground in Cast le S treet,H u l l
,
on the gravestone of a boy , a s l igh tly differen t
vers ion of the rhyme appears
I n memo ry o f
JOHN,the so n o f JOHN a nd
AN N BYWATER ,died 2 5 th Jan uary,
1 8 1 5 , aged 1 4 years .
Life ’
s l ike an In n,whe re Trave l le rs stay,
Some o n ly breakfast a nd awayOthe rs to din n e r stay and are fu l l fed ;T he o lde st o n ly sup a nd go to bed ;
Lo n g is the bi l l who l in ge rs o u t the day,W ho go e s the so o n e st has the least to pay.
The churchyard of Mel ton Mowbray furn ishes
another rendering of the l i nes
This wo rld ’s a n In n,and I he r guest
I’ve eat and dran k and to ok my re st
W ith h e r awhi le,a nd n ow I pay
H e r lavish bi l l a nd go my way.
The foregoing inscript ions,comparing l i fe to a
house,remind us of a curious i nscr ipt ion in Fo lke
stone churchyard
BACCHANALIAN EPITAPHS . 1 1 3
In memo ry o f
REBECCA ROGERS,who died Aug. 2 2
,1 688,
Aged 44 years.
A house she hath, it’s made o f suc h good fashio n ,
A te n an t n e’
e r sha l l pay fo r reparatio n ,
No r wi ll he r land lo rd eve r ra ise the re n t ,
Or turn he r o u t o f doo rs fo r n o n -payme n tFrom c himn ey mo n ey, to o , this ca l l is free ,To suc h a house , who wou ld n o t te n an t b e .
In “ Chron icles of the Tombs , by Thomas
J oseph Pett igrew,pub l i shed in 1 85 7 , i t is stated
respecting the foregoing epi taph : Smoke
money or chimney money is now co l lected at
Bat t le,i n Sussex ,
each householder paying one
penny to the Lord of the Manor . I t i s also
lev ied upon the inhabi tants of the N ew Forest , i n
Hants,for the righ t of cutt i ng peat and turf for
fuel . And from ‘Aud ley ’
s Compan ion to the
Almanac ,’ page 7 6, we learn that
‘ancien t ly , even
in E ngland , Wh i tsun farth ings , or smoke farth ings ,
were a composit ion for Offerings made in the
Whi tsun week , by every man who occupied a
house with a ch imney,to the cathedral of the
diocese in wh ich he l ived .
’ The late M r . E . B .
P rice has observed,i n N otes a n a
’
Qu e r ies (Vo l . i i . ,
p.. that there is a church at Northampton ,
upon which is an i nscript ion recording that the8
1 1 4 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
expense of repai ring i t w a s defrayed by a grant of
ch imney money for,I be l ieve
,seven years , temp .
Charles I I . ”
I n bygone t imes the “ Boar’
s H ead w a s
S IGN OF T HE BOAR ’S HEAD .
common tavern s ign , and th is i s not surpris ing for
the an imal figures in E ngl ish h istory,poetry
,
romance and popu lar past imes . The most famous
inn bearing the ti t le of the“ Boar
’
s H ead”
w a s
1 1 6 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
give a picture of the gravestone , which ha s been
removed to the yard of S t . Magnus the Martyr .
r e lie th the Body oflate Dr awe r at the Boa
in. G departed this IDom 1730
Aged 27 Years
us t o give the topingWorld 3 11cd one Sober Some-inc! here he
US have tcopyBob in Meo fure
P RESTON'S TOM BSTONE AT ST . M AGN U S THE MARTYR .
The next examp le from Abe sfo rd,on an
exciseman,is enti tled to a p lace among Ba c cha
nal ian epitaphs
No superviso r ’s c he ck he fea rsNow n o commission e r o beys
BACCHANALIAN EPITAPHS. 1 1 7
He’
s fre e from care s, e n treatie s, tears.And all the heave n ly o il su rveys .
I n the churchyard of N orth W ingfie ld, Derby
shi re , a gravestone bears the fo l lowing inscript ion °
I n memo ry o f THOMAS , so n o f John and Mary C lay, whodepar ted this l i fe De c embe r i 6th
,1 7 2 4 , in the 4o th year o f h is
age .
W ha t tho ugh n o mo u rn fu l ki ndred stan dAroun d the so lem n bie r ,
No pare n ts wr in g the tremb l ing han d ,Or dro p the si len t tea r .
No c o stly oak ado r n ed with ar tMy weary l imbs in c lo se
No fr ien ds impart a windin g shee tTo deck my last repo se .
The cause of the foregoing curious epi taph is thus
exp lained . Thomas C lay w a s a man of in tempe r
ate habits,and at the t ime of h is death w a s
i ndebted to the v i l lage innkeeper, named Ad l ing
ton , to the amount of twenty pounds . The
publ i can reso lved to seize the body ; but the
parents of the deceased carefu l ly kept the door
locked unt i l the day appointed for the funeral .
As soon a s the door w a s opened,Ad l ington
rushed in to the house , seized the corpse,and
p laced i t on a form in the open s t reet in fron t of
the res idence of the parents of the departed .
C lay ’
s friends refused to discharge the publ i can ’s
1 1 8 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
account . After the body had been exposed for
several days,Ad l i ngton committed i t to the
ground in a ba con onest .
We conc lude th is c lass of epitaphs with the
fo l lowing from W i nchester Cathedral yard :
In memo ry o f
THOMAS THETCHER ,a Gren adie r in the No rth Regimen t o f Han ts M i l itia ,who died o f a vio le n t feve r c o n trac ted by dr in kin g sma ll
be er when ho tthe 1 2 th o f May, 1 764, aged 26 years.
In gra te fu l remembran ce o f who se un iversa l goodwi l ltowards his comrades th is sto n e is placed he re at the ir expen se , as
a sma l l testimony o f the ir regard and co n ce rn .
Here sleeps in peac e a Hampshire Gre n adier ,W ho c aught h is death by dr in kin g co ld sma ll bee rSo ldie rs, be w ise from his un t ime ly fa ll,And when ye
’re ho t dr in k stro n g, o r n on e at all.
This memo r ia l,be ing decayed, was re sto red by the o ffice rs of
the garr iso n,A .D . 1 78 1
An ho n est so ldier n ever is fo rgo t,Whether he die by muske t o r by po t .
This sto n e was plac ed by the No rth Han ts M i l itia , when disembodied at W in cheste r, o n 2 6th Apr il , 1 802 , in c o n sequen c eo f the o r igin a l ston e be in g de stroyed .
IEp itapbe on [par ish e lerke anb Eertone .
OT a few of ou r o ld parish c lerks and
sextons were eccentric characters , and i t
is not therefore surpris i ng that thei r epitaphs are
amongst the most curious of the many S trange
examp les to be found in the qu iet res t ing-places
of the departed .
I n the churchyard of Crayford is a graves tone
bearing the fo l lowing inscript ion
H e re lieth the bodyo f
PETER I SNELL,Thir ty years c le rk o f this Pa r ish .
He l ived re spec ted as a pious an d mirthfu l man,and died o n his
way to churc h to assist a t a weddin g,On the 3 1 st day o f Ma rch
,1 8 1 1
,
Age d 70 yea rs.
The inhabitan ts o fCrayfo rd have ra ised this sto n e to h is chee r fu lmemo ry, and as a tr ibu te to h is lo n g and fa ithfu l se rvic e s .
The l ife o f this c le rk , just three sco re and te n ,
Near ly ha l f o f whic h time he had sun g ou t “ AmenIn youth he was mar r ied , l ike o the r youn g me n
,
Bu t h is wife died o n e day, so he chan ted “Amen .
A sec on d h e took, she departed— what thenHe marr ied and bur ied a third with Amen .
Thus h is joys an d h is so rrows we re treb le , but then
1 2 0 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
H is vo ic e was de ep bass, as be sun g ou t “ Ame n .
On the ho rn he cou ld blow as we l l as mo st menSo h is ho rn was exa lted to blowin g “Ame n .
”
But he lo st all h is win d a fter thre e sco re a nd te n ,
And he re , wi th thre e wives, he awa its ti l l aga inThe trumpe t sha l l rouse him to sin g ou t “ Amen .
I n addi t ion to being parish c lerk; Frank Raw ,
of Se lby , Yorkshi re , w a s a graves tone cutter , for
we are to ld
He re l ies the body o f po o r FRANK RAW ,
Par ish c lerk and gravesto n e c utte r ,
And this is wr i t to le t you kn owWhat Fran k fo r o the rs used to do ,Is n ow fo r Fran k don e by an o the r .
The next epitaph,p laced to the memory of a
parish c lerk and bel lows-maker,was formerly in
the o ld church of All Saints ’,N ewcas tle-o u
TyneHe re l ie s ROBERT WALLAS
,
The Kin g o f Good Fe llows,C le rk o f All-Ha l lows,And make r o f be l lows.
On a s late headstone,near the sou th porch
of B ingham Church , N ott inghamshi re,is in
scribed
Be n eath this sto n e l ie s THOMAS HART,Years fifty-e ight he to ok the par tO f Par ish C lerk : few did exc e l .Co rre c t he read and sun g so we ll
1 2 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
To
The memo ry o f
SAMUEL ROE,
C le rkOf the Pa r ish Church o f Bakewe ll,
Which offic eHe fi l led thirty-five years
With c redit to himse lfAnd satisfac tion to the In habi tan ts.
H is n atura l powe rs o f vo ic e,
In c learn e ss, stren gth , and sweetn e ssWe re a ltoge the r un equa l led .
He died Oc to be r 3 1 st, 1 79 2 ,
Aged 70 years.
died aged
SARAH h is third wife 1 8 1 1 7 7
CHARLES the ir so n 1 8 1 0 5 2
H e had three wives,M i l l i cen t
,who died in
1 745 , aged 2 2 ; Dorothy , who d ied 1 7 54, aged
2 8 ; and Sarah ,who su rv ived ‘h im and died in
1 8 1 1 , at the age of 7 7 . A gravestone records
the death of h is fi rst two wives as fo l lows , and
the th i rd is commemorated in the above in sc r ipt ion .
MILLICENT,W i fe o f Sam l Ro e ,
She died Sepr 1 6th , 1 745 , agedDOROTHY,
W i fe o f Sam l Ro e ,She died Novr i 3 th , 1 7 54, aged
Respect ing the above -ment ioned Samue l Roe ,
PARISH CLERKS AND SEXTONS . 1 2 3
a contributor to the G en tlema n’
s M aga zin e wrote ,
on February i 3 th , 1 7 94“ Mr . U rban ,I t w a s with much concern that I read the
epitaph Upon M r . Roe,in your last vo lume
,
p . 1 1 9 2 . Upon a l i t t le tour wh ich I made in
Derbyshire,i n 1 789 , I met with that worthy and
very in te l l igent man at Bakewe l l , and ,i n the
course o f my ant iquarian researches there , derived
no incons iderab le assistance from his zea l and
civ i l i ty . I f he did not possess the learn ing of h is
namesake,your o ld and valuab le correspondent ,
I wi l l venture to dec lare that he was not less
influenced by a love and venerat ion for. ant iqu i ty ,
many proofs of which he had given by h is care
and attent ion to the monuments i n the church,
which were committed to h is charge ; for b e
un ited the characters of sexton,c lerk
,s inging
master,wi l l—maker
,and schoo l -master . Find ing
that I w a s qu ite alone,he requested perm iss ion
to wait upon me at the inn in the even ing,
urging, as a reason for th is request , that he mus t
be exceedingly grat ified by the conversat ion of a
gent leman who cou ld read the characters upon
the monument of Vernon , the fou nder of H addon
H ouse,a treat he had not met wi th for many
1 2 4 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
years .
1 After a very p leasant gossi p we parted,
but not t i l l my hon es t friend had,after some
apparent struggle , begged of me to indu lge him
with my name .
”
To h is carefu l atten t ion is to be attributed the
preservat ion of the cu rious Vernon and other
monuments in the church , over wh ich ,i n some
ins tances , he p laced wooden framework to keep off
the rough hands and rougher knives of the boys
and young men of the congregat ion . H e also
watched with special care over the W e nde sley
tomb , and even took carefu l rubbings of the
in scr ipt ions .
Whi le speaking of th is Mr . Roe , i t may be we l l
to put the readers of th is work in possess ion of
an in teres t ing fact in connect ion wi th the name
of Roe,or Row . The wri ter above , in h is
letter to M r . U rban , says ,
“ I f he d id not
possess the learn ing of h is namesake , your old and
va lued corresponde nt , etc . By th is he means T .
Row,whose contribution s to the G en t
’
s .Mag .
were very numerous and interest ing. The wri ter
under th is s ignatu re was the Re v . Samue l P egge ,
rector of Whitt ington,and the letters forming
th is pseudonym were the in it ials of the words ,
T [he] R [ector] O [f] W [h itt ingto n ] .
1 26 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
attended the serv i ce at Belbroughton Church,
Worcestershi re , where the parish clerk was M r.
Osborne , tai lor. H is fami ly had there been parish
c lerks and tai lors s ince the t ime of H enry the
E ighth , and were l i neal ly descended from W i l l iam
F itzOsbo rn e ,who , i n the twe lfth century , had been
deprived by Ralph F it z He rbe r t of h is right to
the manor . o f Be l lem,i n the parish of Be l
broughton . O ften have I s tood in the pictu resque
churchyard of Wo lverley . Worcestershire , by the
grave of i ts o ld parish clerk,whom I wel l
remember,o ld Thomas Worral l
,the i nscript ion
on whose monument is a s fo l lows
Sac red to th e Memo ry o f
T HOMAS WORRALL,Par ish C le rk o f Wo lve r ley fo r a pe r iod o f fo r ty-seven years.
Died A .D . 1 854, Feb ruary 2 3 rd.
Aged 76 years .
He se rved with fa ithfu ln e ss in humb le sphe re ,As o n e who c ou ld h is ta len t we l l employ.
Hope that whe n Chr ist h is Lo rd sha l l re -appear ,He may be h idden to H is Master
’s joy.
This tombsto n e was erec ted to the memo ry o f the de ceasedby a few o f the par ishio n e rs in te stimony o f h is wo rth .
Apr il,1 85 5 . Charle s R . Some rs Co cks, w ear .
I t may be noted of th is worthy parish c lerk
that,with the except ion of a week or two before
PARISH CLERKS AND SEXTONS . 1 2 7
h is death , he was never once absent from h is
Sunday and week -day dut ies i n the forty- seven
years during which he he ld office . H e succeeded
his father,J ames Worral l
,who di ed in 1 806, aged
seventy-n ine,after being parish c lerk of Wo lverley
for th i rty years. H i s tombstone,near to that of
h is so n,was erected ‘ to record h is worth both in
his publ i c and private cha ra c te r ,‘
a nd as a mark of
personal esteem I am to ld
that these in i t ials stand for F . H urtle and the
Re v . W i l l iam Cal low , and that the latter w a s the
author of the fo l lowing l ines i nscribed on the
monumen t , which are we l l worth quot ing
I f c our tly bards ado rn eac h state sman ’
s bust,
And strew the ir laure ls o ’
e r eac h warr io r ’s dustAl ike immo r ta l ise
,as go od and gre a t,
H im who e n slaved as him who saved the sta te ,
Su re ly the muse (a rustic min stre l ) may
Drop o n e wild flowe r upo n a poo r man ’
s c layThis artle ss tr ibu te to his mem
’
ry giveWho se l i fe was such as he ro e s se ldom l ive .
In wo r ldly kn owledge , poo r in deed h is sto reHe kn ew the Village and he scarc e kn ew mo re .
The wo rth of heaven ly truth he justly kn ewIn fa ith a Chr ist ian , and in prac tic e too .
Yes, he re l ie s o n e , exc e l him ye who can
G o ! im itate the Virtue s o f that man l ”
A memorial record on the church of H o ly
T rin i ty , H u l l , i s as fo llows
1 28 CURIOUS E P ITAPHS .
I n memo ry o f JOHN STONEPar ish C le rk 4 1 yearsExc e l le n t in h is wayBu r ied he re 2 6 May 1 7 2 7
Aged 78.
Firs t amongst notab le sextons is the name of
Old Scarlet t , who d ied J u ly 2,1 5 9 1 , at the good
o ld age of n inety- eight,and occupied for a long
t ime the posi t ion of sexton of Peterborough
Cathedral . H e buried two generat ion s of h is
fel low - creatures . A portrai t of him , p laced at the
west end of that nob le church , ha s perpetuated h is
fame,and caused him to be in troduced in effigy
in various pub l i cat ions . Says a wri ter in the
Book of Days And what a l ive ly effigy
short,stout
,hardy , and sel f- complacen t , perfect ly
sat isfied ,and perhaps even proud
,of h is profession
,
and content to be exh ibi ted with al l i ts ins ign ia
about h im ! Two queens had passed through h is
hands into that bed which gives a last ing rest to
queens and to peasants al ike . An officer of
Death , who had so long defied h is princ ipal ,
cou ld not but have made some impress ion on the
minds of bishop , dean , prebends , and other
magnates of the Cathedral,and hence
,as we may
suppose , the erect ion of th is l ively portrai tu re of
the old man,which is bel ieved to have been on ly
1 3 0 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
The fol lowing l i nes below h is portrai t are
characterist i c of h is age
You see OLD SCARLETT’S pic ture stan d o n hieBu t a t your fee t he re do th h is body lye .
H is grave sto n e do th h is age and de ath-t ime shew,His o ffic e by he is token [5 ] you may kn ow .
Secon d to n on e fo r strength and stu rdy lymm ,
A scare -babe mighty vo ic e , with visage gr imHe had in te r
’
d two que en es within this plac e ,And this town e s househo lde rs in his l i fe ’
s spac eTwic e o ve r ; bu t a t len gth h is own time cameWhat b e fo r o the rs did, fo r him the sameW as do n e : n o doubt h is sou le do th l ive fo r aye ,In heaven ,
tho ugh h is body c lad in c lay.
The fi rs t of the queen s i n terred by Scarlett w a s
Catherine , the d ivorced wife of H en ry V I I I . , who
died in 1 5 3 5 , at K imbo l ton Cast le , in H unt ing
do n sh ire . The second was Mary , Queen of Scots ,
who w a s beheaded at Fotheringay in 1 587 , and
fi rst in terred here , though subsequently trans
ported to Westminster Abbey .
Our next examp le is from B ingley , Yorkshi re
I n memo ry o fHEZEK IAH BR IGGS, who died August 5 th , 1 844 , inthe 8o th yea r o f h is age . He was sexto n at this c hurc h
43 years, an d in te rred upwards o f 7000 c o rpses .
[H ere the names of h is wife and several
ch i ldren are given ]
Here l ies an o ld r in ge r , be n eath the c o ld c lay,W ho has run g many pea ls bo th fo r ser ious and gay;
PARISH CLERKS AND SEXTONS . 1 3 1
Through Gran dsire and Tre bles with ease he cou ld ran ge ,T i l l de ath ca l led a Bob , whic h brought ro u n d the last chan ge .
Fo r all the vil lage came to himWhen they had n eed to c a l l ;H is c ou n se l free to a ll was give n ,
Fo r he was kin d to all .
R in g o n ,r in g o n , swee t Sabbath be ll ,
Sti l l kin d to me thy matin s swe l l,And whe n from earth ly thin gs I part,Sigh o ’
e r my grave , a nd lu l l my heart .
An upright s tone in the burial -ground at
Hartwi th Chapel,in N idde rda le ,
Yorksh i re,bears
the fo l lowing inscript ion
I n memo ry o fW ILL IAM DARNBROUGH,who fo r the last fo rty
years o f h is l i fe was sexto n o f this chape l . H e diedOc tobe r 3 rd,
1 846, in the o n e hun dred th yea ro f h is age .
Thou sha lt go to thy fa the rs in peac e ; thou sha lt be bu r iedin a go od o ld age .
”— Gen e sis xv.
,1 5 .
The grave s a roun d fo r ma ny a year
We re dug by him who slumbe rs he re ,T i l l wo rn with age , h e dropped h is spade
,
And in the dust h is bo n e s we re la id .
As he n ow,mo u lde r in g, shares the doom
O f tho se be bur ied in the tomb ;So sha l l he , too , with them ar ise ,To sha re the judgmen t o f th e skies.
An examinat ion of Pate ley Bridge Church
registers proves that Da rn b ro ugh w a s one
hundred and two years of age .
1 3 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
An epitaph from Saddleworth , Yorkshi re , tel ls
Here was in terred the body o f JOHN BROADBENT, Sexto n ,departed this l i fe , August 3 rd, 1 769 , in the 7 3 rd year o f h is
Fo r ty-e ight years, stran ge to te ll ,He bo re the b ie r a nd to ll’d the be ll ,And fa ithfu lly discharged h is trust,In earth to earth ”
a nd “ dust to dust .
Cease to lamen t,H is l i fe is spen t,
Th e grave is sti ll h is e leme n tH is o ld fr ien d Dea th kn ew ’
twas h is sphe re ,SO kin d ly la id the sexto n he re .
A t Rothwel l , near Leeds , an o ld sexton
buried in the church porch . A monumental
i nscript ion runs thu S °
In memo ry o f THOMAS FLOCKTON , Sexton 5 9 years, bur ied2 3 rd day o f February, 1 783 , aged 78 yea rs .
He re lies within this po rc h so ca lm ,
Old Thomas. Pray soun d h is kn e ll,
W ho thought n o so n g was l ike a psa lmNo music l ike a be ll .
A t Darl ington,there is a Latin epi taph
the remains of R ichard P reston,which ha s
freely translated a s fo l lows
Un de r this marble are depo s’
d
Po o r PRESTON ’S sad rema in s.
Alas too tru e fo r l ight-rob ’
d je stTo sing in playfu l stra in s.
[Dunn ing Ep i taphs .
UN S in epitaphs have been very common ,
and may be found in Greek and Lat in , and
st i l l more plent ifu l ly in our E ngl ish composit ions .
I n the French , I tal ian , Span ish , Portuguese ,
Dutch,and other languages
,examp les occur .
Empedoc les wrote an epitaph con tain ing the
paronomas ia, or pun,on a phys ic ian named
Pausan ias , and i t ha s by Merivale been ha ppi ly
translated
P AUSAN IAs— n o t so h am ’d wi thou t a cause ,
As o n e who o ft has giV’
n to pa in a pause ,B le st so n of ZEsculapius, go od and wise ,He re , in h is n at ive Ge la , bur ied l iesW ho many a wre tc h o n c e resc u
’
d by his charmsFrom da rk Pe rsepho n e ’
s c o n stra in in g a rms.
I n H o ly T rin i ty Church , Hu ll, is an examp le
of a punn ing ep itaph . I t is on a s lab in the floor
of the north ais le of the nave,to the memory of
The Worsh ipfu l J oseph F ie ld , twice Mayor of
th is town,and Merchant Adventurer. H e died
in 1 62 7 , aged 63 years :
He re is a Fie ld sown,that at len gth must sprout,
And’ga in st the r ipen ing harve st’s t ime break out,
PUNNING EPITAPHS . 1 3 5
When to that Husban d it a c rop sha l l yie ldWho first did dre ss and t i l l this n ew-sown Fie ldYe t e re this Fie ld you see this c rop can give ,The se ed first die s, that it aga in may l ive .
S it D eus amicus,
Sa n ctis, oel in Sepu lc/zr is spes est .
On B ishop Theophi lus F ie ld,i n H ereford
Cathedral,ob . 1 63 6, is another specimen
The Sun that ligh t un to three churc he s gaveIs se t this Fie ld is bur ied in a grave .
This Sun sha ll r ise , this Fie ld re n ew his flowe rs,This swee tn ess brea the fo r ages, n o t fo r ho urs.
H e was success ive ly B ishop of L landaff,St .
Dav ids , and H ereford .
The fol lowing rather singu lar epi taph , with a
p lay upon the name , occu rs in the chancel of
Check ley Church,Staffordsh ire °
To the Memo ry o f the Reve re nd JAMES WHITEHALL,Re c to r
o f this plac e twe n ty a nd five years, who depar ted this l i fe the
sec o n d da ie o f Marc h , 1 644 .
White was h is n ame , and white r than this sto n e .
I n ho pe o f joyfo le re surre c tio nHe re l ie s tha t o r thodox, that grave divin e ,I n wisdom trve , ve r tve did so e c lear ly shin e ;On e tha t c ou ld l ive and die as he ha th do n eSuffe r
’
d n o t dea th bu t a tran sla tio n .
t ovt o f char itie I ’l l speake n o mo re ,Le st h is fr iends pin e w ith sighs
,with teare s the po o r .
From Hornsea Church we have the epi taph of
1 3 6 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
Day,gent leman ; he l ived th irty - four years ,
May 2 2 nd,1 6 1 6
I f that man ’
s l i fe be l ike n ed to a day,
On e he re in te rr ’d in yo uth did lo se a day,
By death , an d ye t n o lo ss to him a t a ll,
Fo r h e a thre e fo ld day gain’
d by h is fa l lOn e day o f re st is b l iss c e lestia l .Two days o n earth by gifts te rre stryallThre e pounds a t Chr istmas, thre e a t Easte r Day,G ive n to the pou re un ti l th e wo rld ’s last day,This was n o cause to heave n bu t, con sequen t,Who thithe r wi ll, must tread the steps he wen t .Fo r why? Fa ith, Hope , and Chr istian Char ity,Pe rfec t the house framed fo r e te rn ity.
On the east wal l of the chance l of Kettlethorpe
Church , co . L inco ln , is a tab let to the memory of
J ohannes Becke,quondam Rector ist ius
ecclesiae , who died 1 5 9 7 ,with the fo l lowing l ines
in o ld E ngl i sh characters
I am a BECKE,o r r ive r as yo u kn ow,
And wat’
rd he re ye c hurch, ye scho le , ye po re ,
Whi le G od did make my spr in ge s he re fo r to flowBut n ow my foun ta in stopt, it run s n o mo re ;From Churc h and scho le mi l ife ys n ow bere ft,But n o ye po re four poundes I yearly le ft.
We may add that the s tream of his chari ty st i l l
flows,and is yearly distributed amongst the poor
of Kettlethorpe .
B ishop Sanderson , in h is“ Su rvey of L inco ln
1 3 8 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
on the grave of a man named Co le,
1 669
Reade r , you have wi thin this graveA Co le rak
’
d up in dust .H is c o u rteou s Fa te saw it was Late ,And that to Bed he must .
So e all was swept up to be KeptAl ive un ti l the dayThe Trump sha l l b low it up and shewThe Co le but sleepin g lay.
Then do n o t doubt the Co le s n o t o utThough it in ashe s lye s,Tha t l ittle sparke n ow in the DarkeW il l l ike the P hoenyx r ise .
Our next examp le was inscribed in Peter
borough Cathedral , to the memory of S i r R ichard
Worme , ob . 1 589
Doe s Wo rm eat Wo rme ? Kn ight Wo rme this truth co n firms,
Fo r here , with wo rms, lies Wo rme , a dish fo r wo rms.
Does wo rm eat Wo rme ? su re Wo rme wi l l this deny,Fo r Wo rme with wo rms, a dish fo r wo rms do n ’
t lie .
’Tis so , and
’
tis n o t so,fo r fre e from wo rms
’Tis c e rta in Wo rme is ble st withou t h is wo rms.
On a person named Cave,at Barrow - o u - Soar
,
Leicestershire , we have the fol lowing epitaph
He re , in this Grave , the re l ie s a Cave .
W e ca l l a Cave a GraveI f Cave be Grave , and Grave be Cave ,Then ,
reade r , judge , I c rave .
PUNNING EPITAPHS . 1 3 9
Whe the r do th Cave he re lie in Grave ,Or Grave he re lie in Cave
I f Grave in Cave he re bu r ied lie ,Then Grave , whe re is thy vic to ry?G o reade r , and repo rt , here l ie s a Cave ,W ho co n quers Death , and bu r ies his ow n Grave .
I n B letch ley , Ob . 1 6 1 5 , on Mr s . Rose Sparke
S ixty-e ight years a fragra n t Ro se she lasted,No e vi le reproach he r virtue s eve r blastedHe r au tumn past expe c ts a glo r ious spr in ge ,A se c o nd be tte r l i fe mo re flourishing.
Hearke n un to me , ye ho ly ch ildren , a rid bud fo r th as aRo se .
— Ec c le s . xxxix .,1 3 .
From severa l punn ing epitaphs on the name o f
Rose we give one more specimen . I t i s from
Tawton Church , ob . 1 65 2 , on Rose Dart '
A Ro se spr in gin g B ran c h n o so o n e r blo om’
d,
By Death’
s impa rt ia l Dar t lye s he re e n tombed .
Tho’
w ithe r’
d be the Bud, the sto c k re lye sOn Chr ist , bo th sure by Fa ith a nd Hope to r ise
I n Barnstap le Church,ob . 1 62 7 , on Grace
Medford,is an epi taph as fo l lows
Sc a rc e seve n yea rs Old this G rac e in g lo ry en ds,
Na tu re c o n demn s,but Grac e the c han ge c omme nds
Fo r Grac ious c hildren,tho
’
they die a t seven ,
Are he irs-apparen t to the Co ur t o f Heaven .
The n grudge n o t n a ture a t so sho rt a Rac eTho
’
sho r t, ye t swe e t, fo r su re ly
’
twas God ’s Grac e .
1 40 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
a punster the fol lowing was written
Be n eath the grave l and the se sto n e s,
Lie s poo r JACK T I FFEY’S skin and bon e s
H is fle sh I o ft have heard him say,
He hoped in t ime wo u ld make good hayQuo th I
,How c an that c ome to pass ? ”
And he repl ied, All fle sh is grass
1 4 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
longev i ty , the most importan t being the fo l low
ing
In memo ry o f PATR ICK M’CARREY o f Douglas, who
depar ted this l ife the 9 1h Dec embe r 1 85 1 , aged 1 0 2 years
a lso in memo ry o f JANE M ’
CARREY , a l ias Leech , wife o f
the above -n amed PATR ICK M ’
CARREY, who departed thisl i fe the 1 9th De c embe r 1 85 1 ,
aged 1 00 yea rs. Theyl ived toge the r upwards o f 7 0 years.
I t wi l l be not iced that al though the pai r had
l ived together a s man and wife for th ree score
years and ten , the widow on ly l ived ten days after
the death of her husband . On many o f the
tombstones the maiden name of the wife isgiven ,
and preceding i t is the word a l ia s .
Major VVilks , on h is ret i rement from the
Governorsh ip of S t . H e lena , where he had the
charge of the Emperor Napo leon , sett led in the
I s le of Man . H e brought wi th h im a black
servant , who died a few years after leav ing . h is
nat ive country . H e w a s buried in th is graveyard ,
and over h is remains Major VVilks erected a stone
bearing an inscript ion as fo l lows
SAMUEL ALLEY,An Afr ic an ,
and n ative o f St . He le n a ,Died 28th May 1 82 2 , aged 1 8 years,
Bo rn a S lave , and expo sedIn ear ly l i fe to the c o rrupt in flue n ce
MANXLAND EPITAPHS . 1 4 3
Of that un happy state , he becameA mode l o f Tru th and Probity, fo rThe mo re fo rtun a te o f any c o un try
Or c o n diti o n .
This sto n e is e re c ted by a gra te fu lMaster to the memo ry o f a fa ithfu lServan t, who repa id the bo o n o f
Libe rty with un bo un ded a ttachmen t .
Governor W i lks w a s a gent leman of h igh
character,personab le and court ier- l ike manners .
H e was a writer of some abi l i ty , and w a s the
author of a “ H i story of the Mahratta War ,
which N apo leon read and admired . The ex
Emperor great ly esteemed the Governor,and h is
departure from St . H e lena,where i t is said that
he made many wise and last ing improvements,
w a s much regretted . Short ly prior to leav i ng the
island , Governor W i lks introduced h is daughter
to N apo leon,who , i t i s reported
,looked at
her with a pleas i ng smi le and said,
“ I have long
heard from various quarters of the superior
elegance and beau ty of M iss W i lks ; bu t now
I am conv inced from my own eyes that report
has scarcely done her su ffic ien t j ust ice,
” and
concluded by most pol i tely bowing to M iss
W i lks . I n cou rse of conversat ion he said ,You
wi l l be very glad to leave th is i sland . She rep l ied
Oh no , s i re I am very sorry to go away .
”
Oh
1 44 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
Mademoisel le , I wish I cou ld change places with
you .
”
H e presented her with a bracelet in
memory of her v is i t . She subsequent ly became
Lady Buchan , and d ied in May,1 888, at the
advanced age of n inety- one years ; and at the
t ime of her death i t w a s stated that “she w a s one
of the last surv iv ing persons who had a d is t inct
reco l lect ion of the fi rst Napo leon .
”
There is a curious bi t of lore connected with
the es tate of Governor W i lks in the I s le of Man
i t is s i tuated not far from Kirk B raddan , and
cal led K irby,a name corrupted from two Manx
words,
“ Cur Bee .
” mean ing “ Give food .
” I n the
o lden days the owner of the estate had to prov ide
bed and board to the B ishop on h is j ourney to
and from E ngland,and from this ci rcumstance is
derived its name .
I n the churchyard rest the mortal remains of the
brother of M rs . W i l l iam Wordsworth,Captain
H enry H utch inson . The poet W’ ordsworth wrote
the epi taph wh ich appears on his tombstone .
The inscript ion can on ly be read with great
difficulty , and in a few years wi l l be effaced by the
effects of the weather on the tender stone . The
fo l lowing is a l i teral copy of the epi taph,and
perhaps the on ly one which has been prin ted
1 46 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Year a fte r year I strove , bu t strove in va in ,And hardships man ifo ld did I en dure ,Fo r Fo r tun e o n me n eve r de ign ed to smi leYe t I at last a re st in g plac e have foun d,W ith just e n ough l i fe ’s c omfo r ts to pro cu re ,In a snug Cove o n this our favoured Isle
,
A peace fu l spo t where Natu re ’s gi fts a boun dThen sure I have n o reason to c ompla in ,Though poo r to Sea I wen t, and po o r I sti ll rema in .
I ns ide the church there is another monument of
some l i terary interes t,p laced to the memory of
the Re v . J ohn Ke l ly, LL .D . , J . P etc . , Rector of
Copford , near Co lchester. H e w a s the compi ler
of a po lyglot d ict ionary in the Manx , Gael i c, and
E rse languages . The work has qu ite a romantic
h istory. We are to ld , “ whilst conveying the
manuscript , on which he had spent much t ime and
care , to England , he w a s wrecked between
Ramsey and Wh itehaven , but , with great forti
tude , he supported himse lf on the sea,and held
the manuscript at arm ’
s- length above the waters
for the space of five hours .
’ Several other
interest ing tab lets are ins ide the church .
There is a s t riking monument in the churchyard
to the memory of Lord H enry Murray , fifth son
of the Duke of A tho l l . The inscript ion states
Th is s incere test imon ial of affect ion and deep
regret for thei r commander and thei r friend is
MANXLAND EPITAPHS . 1 4 7
erected by the officers of the regiment . H e
w a s the L ieutenan t -Co lone l Commandant of the
Royal Manx Fencib les,and died in 1 805 , at the
age of th i rty- eight years .
I n the K irk B raddan Cemetery,s i tuated not far
from the o ld churchyard,i s buried J ohn Mart in ,
the celebrated art ist , and brother of the notorious
J onathan Mart in,who se t fi re to York M inster,
a nd the eccentri c W i l l iam Martin , the ant i
N ewton ian phi losopher. Marti n pa i nted some
remarkable pictu res,and was a man of gen ius .
H e was one of the most popu lar art ists of h is day ,
al though he was never a member of the Royal
Academy. According to the local guide- books ,
h is lates t product ions,
‘The Great Day of H i s
Wrath,
’ ‘The Day of J udgment,
’ and ‘The
Plains of H eaven ,
’— owe much of thei r atmospheric
grandeur and scenery to the res idence of the
painter on th is island . A marble s lab on a large
square vau l t bears the fo l lowing inscripti on
In memo ry o f JOHN MART IN, histo r ica l pa in te r, bo rn at
Haydon B r idge , No rthumbe r lan d, i 9th Ju ly 1 789 , died a tDouglas, Isle o f Man , 1 7 th February 1 854 .
Martin was a man greatly esteemed,and did
much to promote i ntercourse between men and
women devoted to l i terature , science,and art .
1 48 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
Mr . Samuel Carter H al l , in h i s pleasan t Memo i rs
of Great Men,suppl ies a genial sketch of th is
art ist . Martin,l ike so many other art ists ,
” says
Mr. H al l , “ had a terrible wrest le with advers i ty
on h is way to fame . I remember h is te l l ing me
that once he ‘owned ’ a sh i l l ing ; i t was needfu l
to hoard i t , but , being very hungry , he entered a
baker ’s shop to buy a penny loaf. To h is shame
and dismay , he found the shi l l ing was a bad one .
So long afterwards,
’ added the painter, then at
the real isat ion of h is hopes and aims,
‘when I had
a Sh i l l ing, I took care to get i t changed into
penny-pieces .
’
A gravestone in the churchyard of Santon
Parish Church contains the fo l lowing curious
inscript ion
Here,fr iend , is l ittle Dan ie l ’s tomb
To Jo seph ’s age h e did arr ive .
S lo th ki ll in g thousan ds in the ir blo om ,
Whi le labour kept poo r Dan al ive .
How stran ge , ye t true , fu l l seven ty yearsW as h is wife happy in he r tea rs
DAN IEL TEAR died 9 th Decembe r 1 70 7 , aged 1 1 0 years.
1 50 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
A few jott ings respect ing Metcalf wi l l probab ly
be read with interest . A t the age of s ix years he
los t h is s ight by an attack of smal l -pox . Three
years later he j o ined the boys in their bi rd - nes t ing
exploits,and c l imbed trees to share the p lunder.
When he had reached th i rteen summers he w a s
taught music,and soon became a profic ien t per
former ; he also learned to ride and swim , and
w a s pass ionate ly fond of fie ld—sports . A t the age
of manhood i t is said h is m ind possessed a sel f
dependence rare ly enj oyed by those who have the
perfect use o f'
the ir facu l t ies ; h is body was we l l
i n harmony with h is mind , for when twenty-one .
years of age he w a s s ix feet one and a hal f
inches in height,st rong and robust i n proport ion .
A t the age of twenty-five ,he w a s engaged a s a
music ian at Harrogate . About th is t ime he was
frequent ly employed during the dark n ights a s a
gu ide over the moors and wi lds,then abundan t in
the neighbourhood of Knaresborough . H e was a
lover of horse- racing, and often rode h is own
an imals . H i s horses he so tamed that when he
cal led them by their respect ive names they came
to h im,thus enab l ing h im to find his own amongs t
any number and without trouble . Part icu lars of
the marriage of th i s indiv idual read l ike a romance .
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS. 1 5 1
A Miss Benson,the daughter of an innkeeper
,
rec iprocated the affect ions of our hero ; however,
the su i tor did not p lease the paren ts of the “ fai r
lady ,” and they se lected a Mr . Dickinson as her
future husband . Metcalf, hearing that the obj ect
of h is affect ion w a s to be married the fo l lowing
day to the young man se lected by her father,
hastened to free her by induc ing the damsel to
e lope with h im . N ext day they were made man
and wife , to the great surprise of al l who knew
them , and to the d isappointment of the in tended
son - in - law . To a l l i t was a matter of wonder how
a handsome woman as any in the country , the
pride of the p lace,cou ld l ink her future wi th
B l ind J ack , and,for h is sake
,rej ect the many
good offers made her. But the bride se t the
matter at rest by dec laring : H i s act ions are so
s ingu lar,and h is sp ir i t so man ly and en terpris ing,
that I cou ld not help it . ”
I t is worthy of note that he was the fi rst to set
up,for the pub l i c accommodat ion of V i s i tors to
H arrogate,a four-whee led chaise and a one-horse
chair ; these he kept for two seasons . H e next
bought horses and went to the coas t for fish ,
wh ich be conveyed to Leeds and Manches ter.
I n 1 745 , when the rebel l ion broke out in Scot
I 5 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
land , he joined a regiment of vo lunteers raised by
Co lone l Thornton,a patriot i c gent leman
,for the
defence of the H ouse of H anover. Metcalf
shared with h is comrades al l the dangers of the
campaign . H e w a s defeated at Falki rk,and
v i ctorious at Cu l loden . H e w a s the fi rst to se t
up (in 1 7 54) a stage-waggon between York and
Knaresborough,which he conducted h imself twice
a week in summer , and once a week in winter .
This emp loyment he fo l lowed unt i l he commenced
contract ing for road -making . H is fi rs t cont ract
was for making three mi les of road between
M inskip and Fe r re n sby. H e afterwards erected
bridges and houses , and made hundreds of mi les
of roads i n Yorksh ire,Lancashi re, Chesh i re , and
Derbyshire . H e w a s a dealer i n t imber and hay,
‘
of wh ich he measured and calcu lated the so l id
contents by a pecu l iar method of h is own . The
hay he a lways measured wi th h is arms , and ,
hav ing learned the height,he cou ld te l l the
number of square yards in the stack . When
he went out , he always carried with h im a stout
staff some inches tal ler than h imsel f,which was of
great serv i ce both in h is t rave ls and measurements .
I n 1 7 78 he lost h is wife , after th i rty-n ine years of
conj ugal fel ic i ty, in the sixty-first year of her age .
1 54 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
I n the church on a mural tab let of b lack marble ,
i s inscribed the fo l lowing epitaph , composed by
Dr. Thomas Chapman,Master of Magdalen
Co l lege,Cambridge :
B lush n o t,marb le ,
to re scue from ob l ivionthe memo ry o f
HENRY JENK INS
a pe rson o bscu re in b ir th ,bu t o f a l i fe tru ly memo rab le
fo r
he was e n r ichedwith the go ods o f n ature ,i f n o t o f fo rtun e ,
and happyin the dura tio n ,i f n o t va r ie ty,
o f h is en joymen tsand,
tho’the par tia l wo rld
de spised and disregardedhis low and humble state ,the equa l eye o f Provide n c ebehe ld, and b lessed it
with a patr iarc h ’s hea lth and len gth o f daysto teach mistaken man
,
these blessings we re en ta i led on tempe ran ce ,o r , a l i fe of labo ur and a min d at ease .
He l ived to the amaz in g age o f 1 69
was in te rred he re , De c . 6, (o r 1 670,
and had this justice don e to his memo ry 1 743 .
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 1 5 5
Th is inscript ion is a proof that learned men,
and masters of col leges,are not always exempt
from the infirmity of wri t ing nonsense . Pass ing
over the modest reques t to the bla ck ma r ble not
to b lush,because
,i t may fee l i tse lf degraded by
bearing the name of the p lebeian J enkins , when i t
ought on ly to have been appropriated to kings and
nob les,we find but quest ionable ph i losophy in th is
inappropriate composi t ion .
The mu l t i tude of great events which took p lace
during the l i fet ime of th is man are t ru ly wonderfu l
and aston ishing . H e l ived under the ru le of n ine
sovereigns of E ng land— H enry V I I . , H enry
V I I I .,Edward V I .
,Mary , E l i zabeth , J ames I . ,
Charles I .,Ol iver Cromwel l
,and Charles I I . H e
was born when the Roman Catho l i c rel igion was
establ ished by law . H e saw the disso lut ion of the
monasteries , and the fai th of the nat ion changed
Popery estab l ished a second t ime by Queen Mary
Protestant ism restored by E l i zabeth ; the C iv i l
War between Charles and the Parl iament begun
and ended ; Monarchy abol ished ; the young
Repub l i c of E ngland , arbi ter of the dest in ies of
E urope ; and the restorat ion of Monarchy under
the l i bert ine Charles I I During h is t ime,
E ngland was invaded by the Scotch ; a Scott ish
1 56 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
King was S lain , and a Scott ish Queen beheaded in
E ngland ; a K ing of Spain and a K ing of Scot land
were K ings in E ngland ; th ree Queens and one
K ing were beheaded in E ngland in h is days ; and
fi re and p lague al ike deso lated London . H i s l i fe
t ime appears l ike that of a nat ion , more than
an indiv idual , so long was i t extended and so
crowded was i t with such great events .
The foregoing man y inc idents remind us of the
we l l -known Scott ish epitaph on Margery Scott,
who died February 2 6th,1 7 28, at Dunkeld , at the
extreme age of one hundred years . According to
Chamb e rs’
s“ Domest i c Annals of Scotland
,
” the
fo l lowing ep itaph was composed for her by
Alexander P e n n e cu ik , but never inscribed , and i t
has been preserved by the reverend stat i s t of the
parish , as a whims i cal statement of h istorical facts
comprehended with in the l i fe of an ind iv idual
Stop, passen ge r, un ti l my l i fe you read,
T he l ivin g mayge t kn ow ledge from the dead .
Five times five years I led a virgin l i fe ,Five time s five years I was a Virtuous wifeTen t imes five years I l ived a widow chaste ,Now t ired o f this mo rta l l i fe I re st.Be twixt my c radle and my grave hath beenE ight mighty kin gs o f Scotlan d and a que en .
Fu l l twice five years the Commonwea lth I saw,
Te n t imes the subj ects r ise aga in st the law
1 58 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
which was fought in 1 545 . The spot on which
the batt le occurred is so cal led from an Amazon ian
Scott ish woman,who is reported , by tradi t ion , to
have dist ingu ished herse l f in the fight . An
inscript ion wh ich w a s p laced on her tombstone
was legib le with in the present century , and is said
to have run thus
Fa ir Ma ide n LILLYARD l ie s un der this stan e ,Little was he r sta ture , bu t great was he r fameUpon the Engl ish loun s she la id mo ny thumps,And whe n he r legs w ere c u tted o ff, she fo ught upo n he r
stumps.
The tradi t ion says that a beaut i fu l young lady,
cal led Lillya rd,fo l lowed her lover from the l i t tle
V i l lage of Maxton , and when she saw h im fal l
in batt le , rushed herse l f in to the heat of the fight ,
and w a s ki l led , after s laying several of the E ngl ish .
I n Bo l ton churchyard,Lancashi re , i s a grave
stone o f cons iderab le h istorical in terest . I t ha s
been incorrectly printed in several books and
magaz ines , but we are ab le to give a l i tera l copy
drawn from a carefu l ly compi led “ H istory of
Bol ton,by J ohn D . Briscoe
JOHN OKEY,
The se rvan t o f G od,was bo rn e in Lo n do n ,
1 608,c ame
in to this toun e in 1 62 9 , marr ied Mary, daughte r o f Jame sCrompto n , o f Bre ightme t, 1 63 5 , with whom he l ived com
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 1 59
fo rtab ly 2 0 yeares, bego t 4 son s and 6 daughte rs.
S in c e then he l ived so le t i ll the da o f h is death . I n h is
time we re many great c han ge s, te rr ib le a lte ra t io n s— 1 8
yeare s Civi l Wa rs in En glan d,be sides many dreadfu l sea
fights— the c ro wn o r c omman d o f En glan d changed 8
t ime s, Ep iscopacy la id aside 1 4 ye are s Lo n do n burn t byPapists, and mo re sta te ly bu i l t aga in e Ge rmany wasted
3 00 mile s ; pro te stan ts murde red in Ire lan d , bythe Papists ; this toun e thr ic e sto rmed— o n c e taken , 81plun de red . He wen t throw many troub les and dive rsc o n ditio n s
,fo un d re st
, joy, 81 happin e s o n ly in bo l in esthe fa ith , feare , and lo ue o f G od in Jesus Chr ist . He diedthe 2 9 o f Ap and l ie th he re bur ied
,1 682. Come Lo rd
Jesus, 0 come qu ick ly. Ho l in ess is man ’
s happin e s.
[THE ARMS OF OKEY .]
We gather from Mr . Briscoe ’s h istory that
Okey was a w o o lcombe r , and came from London
to superintend some works at Bo l ton,where he
married the n iece of the proprietor,and died i n
affluence .
Brad ley , the “ Yorksh ire Gian t, w a s buried in
the Market Weighton Church , and on a marb le
monument the fo l lowing inscript ion appears
In memo ry o f
W ILL IAM BRADLEY,
(Of Marke t We ighton , )W ho died May 3 o th , 1 82 0
,
Aged 3 3 years.
H e measuredSeven fee t n in e in che s in He ight,
1 60 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
and We ighedtwen ty-seve n ston es.
On exhibi t ing h imsel f at H u l l Fai r,i n 1 8 1 5 , he
issued a hand-bi l l , and the fo l lowing is a Copy
of i t
To be se en du r in g the fa ir, at th e house , No . 1 0,Queen
Stre e t, Mr . Brad ley, th e mo st wo n de r fu l and surpr isin gYo rkshire G ian t, 7 fe e t 9 in che s high , we ighs 2 7 sto n e s ;
who has had the ho n o u r o f be in g in troduc ed to the irMajestie s 81 Roya l Fami ly a t W indso r , whe re h e was mo stgrac iously re c e ived . A mo re surpr isin g in stan ce o f gigantic stature has n eve r be e n behe ld , o r exhibited . in any
o ther kin gdom ; be in g p ropo r tion a te in a ll r e spe c ts,the
sight o f him n eve r fa i ls to give u n iversa l gra tifica tio n,
wi l l fi ll the beho lde r ’s eye s with wo n de r asto n ishmen t.He is a l lowed by the greate st judge s to su rpass all meneve r ye t seen . Admi ttan c e o n e shi ll in g .
I n “ Ce lebrit ies of the Yorksh ire Wo lds,by
Frederick Ross,an interest ing sketch of B rad ley
is given . Mr . Ross states that he w a s a ma n of
temperate habi ts,and never drank anyth ing .
s t ronger than water , mi lk , or tea , and wa s a very
moderate eater .
I n H ampsthwa i te churchyard was interred a
Yorkshi re Dwarf. H er gravestone states
In memo ry o f JANE R IDSDALE,daughte r o f Geo rge and
Isabe lla R idsda le , o f Hampsthwa ite , who died a t Swin to nHa ll
,in the par ish of Masham
,o n the 2nd day o f
1 62 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
these h is remains were ro l led into h is grave ,
which w a s in the new burial -ground at the back
of S t . Mart in ’
s Church . A regu lar descent wa s
made by s loping it for some distance I t w a s
found necessary to take down the window and
wal l of the room in which he lay to al low of h is
being taken away .
”
I n S t . Peter ’s churchyard , I s le of Thanet , a
gravestone bears the fo l lowing inscript ion
In memo ry o f Mr . R ICHARD JOY ca lled theKen tish Samso n
Died May 1 8th 1 74 2 aged 67He rcu les He ro Famed fo r StrengthAt last Lie s he re h is Breadth and Len gthSee how the mighty man is fa l le nTo Death ye stro n g and weak are all o n e
And the same Judgmen t do th Be fa l lGo l iath Great o r David sma ll .
J oy was inv i ted to Court to exh ibit h is remark
ab le feats of strength . I n 1 699 his portrait w as
pub l ished , and appended to i t w a s an account o f
h is prodigious phys ical power .
The next epitaph is from St . J ames ’s Cemetery
L iverpool
Reade r pause . Depo sited ben eath are the rema in s o fSARAH B I FF IN,
who was bo rn without arms o r ban ds,at Quan tox Head ,
Coun ty o f Somerse t, 2 5th o f Octo be r,
1 784, died at
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 1 63
Live rpo o l, 2 nd Oc tobe r, 1 850 . Few have passed thro ughthe va le o f l ife so much the chi ld o f haple ss fo rtun e as the
de c ea sed : and ye t po sse sso r o f men ta l e n dowmen ts o f n oo rdin ary kin d . G i fted wi th sin gu lar ta le n ts as an Ar tist,thousan ds have be e n gratified with the able produc tio n so f h e r pen c i l ! whi lst ve rsati le c o n versatio n and agre eableman n e rs e l ic ited the admiratio n o f a ll . This tr ibute to
o n e so un ive rsa l ly admired is pa id by tho se who were bestacqua in ted wi th the charac ter it so br iefly po rtrays. Do
any inqu ire o the rwise— the an swe r is suppl ied in the
so lemn admon itio n of the Apo stleNow n o lo n ge r the subje ci: o f tears,
Her co n fl ic t and tr ia ls a re o’
e r
In the pre se n c e o f G od she appears
Our correspon dent , Mrs . Char lotte Job ling, from
whom we received the above , says :“ The re
ma inde r i s buried . I t s tands against the wal l
and does not appear to now mark the grave
of M iss Biffin .
” Mr. H enry Morley,in h is
“ Memoirs of Bartho lomew Fai r, writ ing about
the fai r of 1 7 99 ,ment ions Miss Biffin . She
w as found,says M r . Morley , i n the Fai r , and
assisted by the Earl of Morton , who sat for h is
l ikeness to her,always tak ing the unfin ished
picture away with h im when he left,that he
might prove it to be al l the work of her own
shou lder. When it w a s done he laid i t before
George I I I i n the year 1 808 ; he obtained the
1 64 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
King ’
s favour for M iss Biffin ; and caused he
receive,at h is own expense
,further in st ru c t io r
her art from Mr . Craig. For the last tw c
years of h is l i fe he maintained a corresponde
with her ; and , after hav ing enjoyed favour fi
two K ing Georges , she received from W i l l
IV . a smal l pension , with which . at the E
request,she ret i red from a l i fe among c a ravz
But fourteen years later, hav ing been marrier
the in terval , she found i t necessary to resume
Mrs . Wright , late M iss Biffin , her bus iness a
ski lfu l miniature pain ter , in one or two of
ch ief prov in cial towns .
The fol lowing on But ler , the author
H udibras ,
” meri ts a place in our pages .
'l
first inscript ion is from St . Pau l ’s, C o y
Garden
BUTLER,the ce lebrated autho r o f “ Hudibras,
bur ied in this church . Some o f the in habitan ts, u r
stan din g that so famous a man was the re bur ied,regre tting that n e ithe r sto n e n o r in scr iption reco rdedeven t, ra ised a subsc r iptio n fo r the purpose o f e rer
some thin g to h is memo ry. Ac co rdin gly, an e legan t tzhas bee n pu t up in the po rtic o o f the church , bear imedal l io n o f that great man ,
which wa s taken frommo numen t in We stmin ste r Abbey.
The fol lowing l ines were contributed by
1 66 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Sac red to the Memo ry o f
SAMUEL BUTLER ,W ho was bo rn a t Stren sham ,
in Wo rc e ste rshire ,and died at Lo ndon , 1 680 a man o f un common leaiwit, and prob i ty as admirable fo r the produc t o f h is gtas un happy in the rewards o f them . H is satire , expthe hypo c r isy and wickedn ess o f the rebe ls, is suc
in imitab le piec e , tha t, as he was the fi rst,he may be
to be the last wr ite r in his pecu liar man n e r . That he,
when l ivin g, wan ted a lmo st eve rything, might n o t,
dea th , any lo n ge r wan t so much as a tomb, John Bac it iz en o f Lo n do n
,e re c ted this mo n ume n t 1 7 2 1 .
H ere are a few part icu lars respect ing an odc
furn ished by a correspondent : “ Died , at H
Wycombe , Bucks , on the 24th May, 1 83 7 ,
J ohn Guy, aged 64 . H is remains were in te i
i n H ughenden churchyard,near Wycombe .
a marb le s lab,on the l id of h is coffin , is
fo l lowing inscript ion
He re,without n a i l o r shroud
,do th lie
Or c ove red by a pa l], JOHN GUY .
Bo rn May 1 7 th , 1 7 7 3 .
Died 24th , 1 83 7 .
gravestone these l ines are inscribed
In c o ffin made without a n a i l,W ithout a shroud h is l imbs to hide
Fo r what can pomp o r show ava i l,
Or ve lve t pa l], to swe l l the pr ide .
He re l ies JOHN GUY ben eath this sod,W ho lov
’
d h is fr iends, and fear’
d h is G od.
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS. 1 67
Th is eccentric gent leman w a s possessed of con
s ide ra b le property , and was a nat ive of G loucester
sh ire . H i s grave and coffin were made under h is
d i rections more than a twe lvemonth before his
death the inscript ion on the tab let on his coffin,
and the l ines p laced upon h is gravestone , were
h is own compos i t ion . H e gave al l necessary
orders for the con duct ing of h is funeral,and five
sh i l l ings were wrapped in separate p ieces of paper
for each of the bearers . The coffin w a s of s i ngu lar
beauty and neatness i n workmansh ip,and looked
more l ike a p iece of tastefu l cabinet -work intended
for a drawing- room,than a receptac le for the dead .
N ear the great door of the Abbey of S t . Peter,
G louces ter,says Mr . H enry Calvert App leby
,at
the bottom of the body of the bu i lding, i s a
marble monument to J ohn J ones , dressed in the
robes of an alderman,painted in different co lours .
U nderneath the effigy,on a tab let of b lack marb le
are the fol lowing words
JOHN JON ES, a lde rman , thr ic e mayo r o f the c ity, burge sso f the Parl iamen t at the time o f the gun powder treaso n ;
registrar to e ight seve ra l B ishops o f this dio c e se .
H e d ied in the s ixth year of the reign of K ing
Charles I . , on the fi rs t of J une , 1 63 0 . H e gave
orders for his monument to be raised in his l i fe
1 68 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
t ime When the workmen had fixed i t up , he
found fau l t with i t , remarking that the n ose w as
too r ea'. W h i le they were al tering it
,he w alked
up and down the body of the church . H e then
said that he had himself almost fin ished,so he
paid off the men,and died the next morn ing .
The next epi taph from N ewark , N ott ingham
shi re,fu rn ishes a chapter of local history
Sac red to the memo ryOf HERCULES CLAY, Alde rman o f Newark,Who died in the year o f h is Mayo ra lty,
Jan . 1, 1 644 .
On the 5 th o f March,1 64 3 ,
He and h is fami ly we re pre se rvedBy the Divin e Providen c e
From the thun de rbo lt of a te rr i ble can n o n
Which had been le ve lled aga in st h is hou seBy the B e siege rs,
And e n tire ly destroyed the same .
Ou t o fgrat itude fo r th is de l ive ran c e ,He has take n c are
To pe rpe tuate the remembran c e the reo fBy an a lms to the poo r and a se rmo n ;
By this mean sRa isin g to himse lf a Mon umen tMo re durable than B rass.
The thund’
r ing Can n o n se n t fo rth from its mo uth the devour in gFlame s
Aga in st my Househo ld Gods, and yo urs, 0 Newa rk .
The Ba l l, thus thrown ,Invo lved the House in Ru in
But by a Divin e Admo n itio n from Heaven I was saved,
1 7 6 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
which the K ing wrote the fo l lowing commer
I f death co u ld speak , the king wou ld say,I n justi c e to h is c rown ,
H is a cts they we re the min iste rs’
s,
H is wo rds they we re h is own .
Mr . Thomas Broadbent T row sda le te l ls
I n the fine o ld church of Chepstow ,Mo nmo
sh ire,nearly opposite the read ing-desk
,i
memorial stone with the fo l lowing curious a c rc
i nscript ion,i n capi tal letters
HERE SEPT . 9 th , 1 680,
W AS BUR IEDA TRUE BORN ENGL ISHMAN ,
W ho , in Be rkshire , was we ll kn ownTo love h is c ou n try
’s fre edom ’bove h is ow n
Bu t be ing immured fu l l twe n ty yearsHad time to wr ite , as do th appears
H IS EPITAPH .
H e re o r e lsewhe re (a l l’s o n e to yo u o r me )
E ar th,Air
, o r Wa te r gr ipe s my gho stly dust,o n e kn ows how soo n to be by fire se t free
R eade r , i f you an o ld try’
d ru le wi ll trust,Y ou
’ll g lad ly do and su ffe r what you must .
y time was spen t in se rving yo u and you ,
nd death ’s my pay, it seems, an d we lcome to oevenge destroyin g but i tse lf, whi le I0 b irds o f prey leave my o ld cage an d fly
xamples preach to the eye— care then (min e says),
o t how you end, but how you spend'
your days .
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 1 7 1
This s ingu lar epi taph poin ts ou t the las t rest ing
p lace of H enry Marten , one of the j udges who
condemned K ing Charles I . to the scaffold . On
the Restorat ion , Marten was sen tenced to per
pe tua l imprisonment , Chepstow Cast le being
selected a s the p lace of his incarcerat ion . There
he died i n 1 680 , i n the twenty- eighth year of his
capt iv i ty,and seventy—eighth of h is age . H e w a s
original ly interred in the chance! of the church ;
but a subsequen t V i car Of Chepstow ,Chest by
name,who carried h is petty party an imos i t ies even
beyond the grave,had the dead man ’s dus t
removed , averring that he wou ld not al low the
body of a regic ide to l ie so near the al tar . And
so i t w as that Marten ’
s memoria l came to occupy
its present pos it ion in the passage leading from
the nave to the north ais le . We are to ld that one
Mr . Downton , a so n - in - law of th is pus i l lan imous
parson,touched to the qu ick by h is relat ive ’s
harsh t reatment of poor Marten ’
s inan imate
remains,retorted by writ ing th is sati ri cal epitaph
for the Re v . Mr . Chest ’s tombstone
He re l ie s at rest,I do protest,
On e CHEST within an o the rThe c hest o f wood was ve ry good ,W ho says so o f the o the r ?
1 7 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Some doubt ha s been thrown on the probal:
of a man of Marten ’
s cu l ture hav ing wri tten,
imp l ied in the inscript ion , the epi taph which
a p lace on h is memorial .
The regic ide w a s a so n of S ir H en ry Mart i
favouri te of the fi rs t J ames,and by him appo i
'
Principal J udge of the Adm iral ty and Dea
Arches . Young H enry w a s himsel f a promii
person du ring the period of the disastrous
War,and was e lected Member of Parl iamen t
Berkshi re in 1 640 . H e was,in pol i t i cs
,a deci
Repub l i can , and threw in his lot with the R0!
head fo l lowers of sturdy Ol iver. When the
of popu lar favour turned in Charles I I .
’
s d irect
and Royal ty was reinstated , Marten and the
of the regicides were brought to j udgment
s ign ing the death warrant of thei r monarch .
consequence , i n Marten ’s case,was l i fe- l
imprisonment,
a s we have seen,i n Cheps
Cast le .
”
N ext is a copy of an acrost ic ep itaph f
Tewkesbury Abbey .
He re lye th the body o f THOMAS MERRETT, o f Te !bury, Barbe r -chirurgeo n , who departed this l i fe the
day o f Oc tobe r, 1 699 .
T hough o n ly Sto n e Sa lutes the reade r ’s eye ,
1 74 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
eve n to save the l i fe o f a siste r,She n eve rthe le ss showed he rkin dn e ss and fo r titude ,
in re scu in g h e r from the seve r ity o f the
law a t the expen se o f pe rson a lexe r tio n s which the t ime
re nde red as difficu lt as the mo t ive waslaudable .
Re spec t the grave o f pove r tywhen c ombin ed with love o f tru th
and dea r affe c t io n .
Ere c ted Oc to be r 1 83 1 .
Robert Paterson , better known a s“ Old IV
tal i ty , res ts i n the churchyard of C a e r lave r r
Dumfriessh i re . We learn from Dr . Cha
Roge rs’
s“ Mo n ume n tS and Monumental In sc
t ions in Scot land ”
( 1 87 1 ) that Paterson was b
in 1 7 1 5 , and was the youngest so n o f W a
Paterson and Margaret Scott , who rented
farm of Haggista , parish of H awick . H e sr
t ime served an e lder brother who had a farm
Com c o ckle -muir, near Lochmaben . H e mar i
E l izabeth Gray,who
,hav ing been cook in
fam i ly of S i r Thomas K irkpatrick , of C lo se b i
procured for him an advantageous lease 0
freestone quarry at Morton H ere he resi l
many years,labouring with exemp lary dilige r
From his youth attached to « the sect of
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 1 7 5
am e ro n ia n s , he ev inced a deep interes t i n the
y of those who had suffered in the cause of
te ry. Occas ional ly he restored their tomb
e s . A t length h is zeal in the restoration of
e stony memorials acqu ired the force of a
ss ion . I n 1 7 58 he began to t ravel from parish
parish,ever working with hammer and ch ise l
renewing the epi taphs of the martyrs . His
el f- imposed task no entreat ies of wife or ch i ldren
ou ld induce h im to abandon . Tho iigh reduced
the verge of poverty , he pers isted in h is
ours t i l l the last day of h is ex istence . H e
d ied at Ba n pe nd v i l lage,near Lockerb ie , on the
2 9 th J anuary , 1 80 1 , aged eighty- S ix . A t h is
death he w a s found possessed of twenty - seven
sh i l l ings and S ixpence,which were app l ied to the
expenses of h is funeral . S i r Wal ter Scott,who
ha s made “ Old Mortal i ty the subject of a nove l,
i ntended to rear a tombstone to h is memory,but
was unable to discover h is p lace of sepu l tu re .
S ince the d iscovery ha s been made , Messrs .
B lack , of Edinburgh ,who possess the copyright
of the Waverley nove ls,have reared at the grave
of the o ld enthus iast a su i tab le memorial stone .
I t is thus inscribed
Erected to the memo ry o f ROBERT PATERSON,
1 76 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
the Old Mo rtal i ty o f S ir W a lter Sco tt ,who was bur ied he re Fe bruary, 1 80 1 .
Why se eks he with u nwear ied to i lThro ugh death ’s dim wa lk to u rge his way
Re c la im h is lo n g asse rted spo i l ,And lead o bl ivio n in to day.
”
H ere is a picture of the s tone placed o ve r
grave of W i l l iam Shakespeare,at S t ra tfo r r
Avon , with its we l l -known and frequen t ly q t
i nscript ion
A t Loddon,i n N orfo lk , is buried one who ,
the bard of Avon,had a grea t horror o f
bones being removed . The epitaph is
fo l lows
When o n this spo t a ffe c t ion ’
s down c ast eye ,The lu c id tr ibute sha l l n o mo re be stowWhen frie n dship’s breast n o mo re sha l l heave a
In kin d remembran c e o f the dust be low ;Should the rude sexton diggin g n ear this tomb,A plac e o f re st fo r o the rs to prepare ,
The vau lt ben eath to Vio la te presume
1 78 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
we re , in the 86th yeare o f h is pi lgr image , la id upo
two wives.
This thin g in l ife migh t ra ise some j ea lo usy,H e re all three lie toge the r lovin g ly,Bu t from embra c es here n o pleasure flows,Al ike a re he re all human -joys and wo esHere Sarah ’s c hidin g John n o lo nge r hears,And o ld John ’
s ramb l in g Sarah n o mo re fearsA per iod’s c ome to all the ir toylsome l ive s,The good man ’
s qu iet sti l l are bo th h is wive s .
On a slab affixed to the east wal l of S t . M ;
Church,Whi tby
,is an inscript ion contai
some remarkable coincidences
Here lie the bodie s o f FRANCIS HUNTRODDS and l
h is wife , who we re bo th bo rn o n th e sam e day o f the
mo n th and year (viz . ) Sepr ye 1 9 th 1 600 ma rry’d 0
day o f the ir birth and a fte r having had 1 2 c hi ldrento them died aged 80 years o n the same day o f the
they we re bo rn Septembe r ye 1 9th 1 680,the o n e n c
above five hou rs be fo re ye o the r .
Husban d an d wife that did twe lve chi ldren bear ,Dy
’d the same day a l ike bo th aged we re
’Bout e ighty years they liv’
d, five hours did part
(Ev’
n o n the marr iage day) each te n de r heartSo fit a match , sure ly c ou ld n ever be ,Bo th in the ir l ive s, and in the ir deaths agree .
The fo l lowing is from St . J u l ian ’
s Ch i
Shrewsbury
The rema in s o f HENRY CORSER o f this par ish , Cgeo n , who Deceased Apr i l 1 1
,1 69 1 , and ANN IE h is
who fo l lowed him the n ext day a fte r
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 1 79
W e man and wife ,Co n j o in ed fo r Life ,Fe tched ou r last breathSo n ear that Death ,W ho par t u s wou ld ,Ye t ha rd ly c ou ld .
Wedded again e ,In bed o f dust ,He re w e rema in e ,
T i l l r ise we must.A do uble priz e this grave do th finde ,I f you a re w ise keep it in min de .
I n the church of L i t t le D r iffie ld,East York
shi re,were placed in modern t imes two inscript ions
to the memory of Al fred,King of N orthumbria .
The first s tates
In the c han c e l o f this churc h lie the rema in s o f ALFRED,
Kin g o f No rthumbr ia , who departed this l i fe in the year
705 .
The present one reads a s fo l lows
W ITHIN THIS CHANCELL IES INTERRED THE BODY OF
ALFREDK ING OF NORTHUMBR IADEPARTED THIS L I FE
JANUARY 1 9TH A .D . 705
IN THE 20TH YEAR OF H i s RE IGNSTATUTUM EST OMN I BUS SEM IL MOR I .
In St . Anne’
s churchyard , Soho , erected by
1 80 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
the Earl of O rford (Walpole), i n 1 7 58, these
were (or are ) to be read
Near th is plac e is in te rredTHEODORE, K in g o f Co rsica ,
W ho died in this Par ishDec ember x 1 . , MDCCLV 1 . ,Immediate ly a fte r leavin gThe K ing
’s Ben clz P r ison
,
By the ben efit o f the A ct of l nsoloen cyIn c on sequen c e o f which
He r egister ed lzis K ingdom of Cor sica
For tlze use of ms Cr editor s
The grave — great teacher — to a leve l br in gsHero e s and beggars, ga lley-slaves and kin gsBu t THEODORE this mo ra l learn ed, e re dead ;Fa te pour
’
d its le sso n s on h is l ivin g head ,Be stow
’
d a kingdom , and den ied him bread .
In the bu rial -ground of the I s land of Ji
Fernandez , a monument states
In Memo ry o f
ALEXANDER SELK IRK,Mar in e r,
A n at ive o f Largo , in the c oun ty o f Fife , Sco tland,Who l ived o n this island , in c omple te
so l itude , fo r four years a nd four mo n ths.
He was lan ded from the C in que Po r ts ga l ley, 96 ton s,1 8 gun s
,A .D . 1 704 , and was taken o ff in the
Duke , pr ivate e r, 1 2 th February, 1 709 .
He died Lieute n an t o f H .M .S . Weymou th ,A .D . 1 7 2 3 , aged 4 7 years.
This Tablet is erected n ear Se lkirk’s lo ok ou t,
1 82 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
‘p lain dump ;’ when t i red of p lain dump ,
changed his diet to ‘hard dump ;’ and when
was in a special s tate of exh i larat ion , he ad
the variety ‘apple dump ’ to h is very mode
fare .
”
On Saturday , the 2 nd May,1 800 , the rem :
of W i l l iam Cowper were interred in that par1
Dereham Church known as S t . Edmund ’s Cha
H e d ied without a wi l l,but Lady H esketh
sented to adm in ister h is estate , and e ve n tu
p laced a tablet to h is memory on the wall of
chance l , near h is grave . I t is constructed
wh ite marb le, and over the top are r epre se r
two vo lumes , labe l led respect ive ly “ H o ly Bit
and “ The Task .
” The inscript ion a s fo l lows
written by Cowper’s friend,H ay ley
In memo ry o f
W ILLIAM COWPER, Esq . ,
Bo rn in He rtfo rdshire in 1 7 3 1 ,
Bur ied in this Church in 1 80 1 .
Ye who with warmth the pub l ic tr iumph fe e lOf ta len ts, dign ified by sac red z ea l,He re , to devo tio n ’
s bard devoutly just,P ay yo ur fo n d tr i bute due to Cowpe r
’
s dust !En glan d, exu ltin g in h is spo tle ss fame ,Ran ks with her deare st so n s h is fav’
r ite n ame ;Sen se , fan cy, wit, suffice n o t a ll to ra ise
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 1 83
So c lear a title to a ffe c t io n ’s pra ise
His highe st ho n o urs to the hear t be lo ngHis vi rtue s fo rm’
d the magic o f h is so n g .
Charles and Mary Lamb are buried in the
chu rchyard of E dmonton,and a white headstone
,
marks the spot , on which is recorded,i n bo ld
black letters,the fo l lowing inscript ion wri tten by
Lamb ’s friend , the Re v . H enry Francis Cary , the
translator of Dante
To the memo ryo f
CHARLES LAMB,
died 2 7 th December 1 83 4, aged 5 9 .
Farewe l l dear fr ie n d , that smi le , that harm le ss mirth ,N0 mo re shall gladden o u r domestic hearthTha t r isin g tear, wi th pa in fo rbid to flow ,
Be tte r than wo rds n o mo re assuage o ur wo e
That han d ou tstre tc hed from sma l l bu t we l l-earn ed sto re ,Yie ld suc cour to the de stitu te n o mo re ,Ye t a rt thou n o t a ll lo st, thro ’ many an age
With ster l in g sen se o f humo ur sha l l thy pageW in m any an En gl ish bo som pleased to see
That o ld a nd happie r ve in revived in thee .
This fo r our e arth , an d i f wi th fr ie n ds we shareOur joys in heave n we hope to mee t the e the re .
Also MA RY ANNE LAMB,
S iste r o f the above .
Bo rn 3 rd De cembe r 1 767 , Died 2 0 th May 1 84 7 .
1 84 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
I n the church is a memorial to Lam
Cowper. I t occupies a good pos i t ion at thr
end of the north wal l,and cons i sts of two ins
wh ite marb le panels,enshrined in a gr
freestone des ign , the arches of which are sup!by veined marble pi lasters . I n the upper p «
of each pane l is carved a portrai t in rel ie
one on the right showing the head of CO
whi le on the left the features of Lam l
characterist i cal ly depicted .
The fol lowing are the inscript ions cont
on the memorial
(Left pa n el . )
In memo ry o f
CHARLES LAMBThe Ge n tle Ella and au tho r ofTa les from Shakespeare , e tc .
Bo rn in the In n e r Temple 1 7 7 5
educa ted a t Chr ist’s Ho spita ldied at Bay Co ttage Edmo n to n 1 83 4
and bur ied beside h is siste r Mary
in the adjo in in g churchyard .
I
At the c e n tre o f h is be in g lodgedA sou l by re sign atio n san c tified0,he was go od if e ’e r a go od man l ived !
WORDS“
(Rig/i tpa n el . )
In m emo ry o f
W ILL IAM COWPER , THE POET
1 86 CURIOUS EP ITAPHS.
Greyfriars ’ churchyard,Edinburgh
,s imp ly I
her name , Mary Pyper. Such was the in
t ion we received from a friend whom we i i
to see the memorial and give us part icu lars
and to our surprise when we V i s i ted her gi
Apri l,1 899 , we found on the cross the fo l
inscript ion , which we presume ha s been
s ince i ts erect ion °
By admir in gFr ien dsErected
in memo ry o f
MARY PYPER ,
who amidstun toward
surroun din gscher ished
he r gift as a wr iter o fsac red verse .
Bo rn 2 5 th May,
1 79 5 .
She died atEdin burgh ,
2 5 th May, 1 870 .
Le t me go The day is breakin gMo rn in g bu rsts upo n the eye ;
Dea th this m o rta l frame is shaking,Bu t the so u l can n eve r die !
The l ines are from her poem ent it led
Christ ian ’
s V iew of Death,which finds a
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 1 87
several s tandard works of poetry . H er best
nown product ion is an “ Epitaph : A L i fe,
” and
fte n attri bu ted incorrect ly to German sources .
t is as fo l lows
I c ame a t mo rn —‘twas Spr in g, and smi led ,
l‘
he fie lds wi th gre e n we re c ladI wa lked abroad a t n o o n , and lo
’Twas Summe r— I was g lad .
I sa te me down —’
twas Autumn eve ,
And I with sadn e ss weptI la id me down a t n ight— and then
’Twas Win te r— and I slept .”
mong se lf- taught poets Mary Pyper is ent i t led
0 an honourable p lace .
Mr. J ohn T . Page furn ishes us with the
fo l lowing inscript ions copied from Hoga r th’
s
monument in Ch iswick churchyard . I t w a s
erected , says Mr . Page , i n 1 7 7 1 , seven years
after h is death,and is a tal l piece of masonry
crowned with a funeral urn . Beneath th is , on
the s ide facing the church,are carved in low
re l ief a mask,mau l -st ick
,palette and brushes , a
laure l wreath and an open book bearing the t i t le
of his famous “ Analys is of Beauty . On the
same S ide,on a smal l b lock of Aberdeen gran i te
at the foo t of the memorial,i s recorded the fact
that i t was
1 88 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Re sto red byW ILL IAM HOGARTH
,
of Aberde en ,in 1 856 .
It has wel l s tood the “s torm and st re s
then, bu t is now beginn ing to show s igr
need of another restorat ion , for, on the
over the inscript ion,the combined
bearings of H ogarth and his wife are as 1
poss ib le ob l i terated .
The inscriptions are as fo l lows
(xv. S ide. )
Farewe l l great Pa in te r o f mankin d !W ho reach
’
d the n o ble st po in t o f Ar t,Who se pictu r
’a’ M or a ls charm the M in d ,
And through the Eye co rrec t the Heart .
I f Gen ius fire thee , Reade r , stay ;I f N a tu r e touch the e , drop a Tear
I f n e ithe r move thee , turn away,Fo r HOGARTH
’S hon our
’
d dust l ie s he re .
D . G
(E . S ide . )
He re l ie th the bodyo f W I LL IAM HOGARTH , ESQR .
,
who died Oc to ber the 2 6th 1 764
aged 67 yearsMRS . JANE HOGARTH
W i fe o f Wi l l iam Hogar th Esqr .
Obit . the i 3 th o f Novembe r 1 789
[ Etat 80 years.
1 90 CURIOUS EP ITAPHS.
Nat ional Gal lery . The v i ru lent contes t w i
W i lkes and Churchi l l , with wh ich h is last da
were embittered,ha s long ago been forgot
and the name of W i l l iam H ogarth st i l l l ives , a n
ET Tv’
s GRAVE .
wi l l be popu lar for al l t ime through h is admired
series of paint ings and engrav ings,which are
p rized and bo a rded with an ever- i n creasing love
by their happy possessors .
Fa irho lt , i n h is“ H omes , Works , and Shr ines
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 1 9 1
of E ngl i sh gives an in terest ing sketch
of the career o f W i l l iam E t ty , the so n of a mi l ler ,
who for seven years w a s an apprent ice to a printer in
H u l l,bu t devoted al l h is spare t ime to art
,and
eventual ly after many st ruggles won a h igh place
amongst the painters of the period . H e was
buried in the churchyard of St . Olave , York , where
from the beaut i fu l grounds of the Yorksh i re Phi lo
soph ical Society , and through one of t he arches
of the ru ined Abbey of St . Mary,h is tomb may
be seen . The arch near h is grave w a s c losed,
but w a s opened to bring in S igh t h is tomb . Mr .
Fa irho lt i s i n error in saying,
it bears the s imp le
inscript ion
W ILL IAM ETTY,ROYAL ACADEM ICIAN .
Some years ago from the other s ide of the tomb
we copied the fo l lowing inscr ipt ion from a
crumbl i ng stone
W ILL IAM ETTY,ROYAL ACADEM IC IAN
,
W ho in h is br i ll ian t wo rks has le ftan e ndur in g mo numen t o f h is exa lted gen ius.
Earn estly a im ing to a tta in that lo fty positio n o n whichhis high ly gifted ta len ts have plac ed him ,
he throughout l i feexh ibited an un deviatin g pe rseve ran c e in h is pro fe ssio n .
To promote its advan cemen t in his be loved c o un try he wa tchedthe progre ss
o f tho se e n gaged in its study with the mo st disin te re stedk indn ess.
Lon don , 1 873 .
1 9 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
To a cu ltivated and high ly po etica l min dWe re un ited a c hee r fu ln e ss and swee tn ess o f dispo sitio n
W ith great simpl ic ity and u rban ity o f man n ers.
He was r ich ly e ndeared to all who kn ew him .
H is pie ty was un affec ted, h is fa ith in Chr ist sin c e re ,and h is devo tion to G od exemplary.
He was bo rn at Yo rk, March r o th , 1 787 , and diedin h is n ative c ity, November 1 3 th , 1 849 .
W hy se ek ye the l ivin g amon g the dead ? ” — Luke xx1 1 . , 5 .
E t ty , says Fa irho lt , had that wisdom which few
men possess,the wisdom of a contented m ind .
H e loved his qu iet home,i n h is prov in cial bi rth
p lace , better than the bust le o f London , or the
notoriety he might obtain by a res idence there .
H is character a nd his talen t wou ld ensure him
attent ion and deference anywhere,but he preferred
h is own nook by the o ld church at York . H e
probably fe l t wi th the poet , that
The win d is stro n ge st o n the highest hi l ls,The qu ie t l ife is in the va le be low .
”
The remains of C ruikshank res t in the crypt in
S t . Pau l ’s Cathedral , London , and over h is grave
the fol lowing inscript ion appears
GEORGE CRU IKSHANK ,Ar tist,
Design e r,Etche r , Pa in te r .
Bo rn at No . Duke Street, St. Geo rge ’s, B loomsbury, Londo non Septembe r 2 7 th , 1 792 .
1 94 CUR IOUS EPITAPHS.
was handed to the doctor . I t mus t be the gran
son , or the son , at any rate , of the great art ist I
remember as a boy,said the pat ien t . I t is
imposs ib le that George Cru ikshank of Queen
Caro l ine ’s t rial - t ime can be al ive ! ” The
asked the v ivac ious George to come in .
t ripped in , i n h is e ighty - fourth year , and , when
the o ld Officer expressed h is aston ishment,George
exclaimed,
“ I’
l l show you whether he is al ive !”
W i th th is he took the poker and tongs from the
grate,laid them upon the carpet
,and executed the
sword dance before Dr. R i chardson ’s aston ished
pat ient .
A t the east end of the H igh S treet,Portsmouth
,
and nearly oppos i te the house before wh ich the
Duke of Buckingham was stabbed by Fe l ton,
i n 1 628,stands the Un i tarian Chapel . J ohn Pounds
habi tual ly worsh ipped here on a Sunday even ing ,
and the place where he used to s it , i n front of
one of the S ide gal leries , j ust to the right of the
min ister,i s st i l l pointed out . H e l ies buried in
the graveyard , on the left-hand s ide of the chapel ,
near the end of the l i t t le foot-path which leads
round the bu i lding to the ves tries . Short ly after
h is death a tablet wa s p laced in the chape l , beneath
the gal lery , to h is memory . Al though h is grave
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS. 1 95
was dug as near as poss ib le to that part of the
chapel wal l oppos i te where he used to s i t , yet th is
tablet was,apparent ly wi thout any reason
,put
some d istance away from the spot . I n shape and
material i t i s of the usual orthodox s ty le— a square
s lab of whi te marb le,edged with b lack
,and in
scribed o u i t are the words
Erec ted by fr ien dsas a memo r ia l o f the ir e steem
and re spe c t fo rJ O H N P O U N D S
who,whi le ea rn in g h is l ive liho od
bymen din g sho e s, gra tu ito uslyedu ca ted , a nd in pa rt c lo thed a nd fed,
som e hu nd reds o f po o r c hi ldre n .
H e died sudde n lyo n the I st o f Jan uary, 1 83 9 ,
aged 7 2 yea rs .
Thou sha lt be b le ssed fo r theyc an n o t rec ompen se the e .
N ot long after th is tablet w a s p laced in pos i t ion
the idea w a s mooted that a monument shou ld
be erected over h is grave . The Re v . H enry
H awkes,the m in ister who then had charge of the
place,at once took the matter up ,
and subscript ion s
came in so wel l that the monument w as more than
paid for . The surp lus m oney w a s w ise ly laid out
in the purchase of a Memorial L i brary, w h ich sti l l
1 96 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
occupies one of the ante- rooms of the chapel .
The monument erected over the grave i s of a
su i tab le descript ion , p lain but substant ial , and is
i n form a square and somewhat tapering b lock of
stone about four feet h igh . On the front is the
following inscript ion
Un dern eath this Mo n umen trest the mo rta l rema in s o f
JOHN POUNDSthe Phi lan thropic Sho emake r
o f St . Mary’
s Stre et, Po rtsmou th ,who whi le
wo rkin g at h is trade in a very
sma l l room , gratu itouslyin structed in a use fu l educatio nand partly c lothed and fed,
some hun dreds o f gir ls and boys.
He died sudden ly,o n New Year ’s Day, MDCCCXXX IX,while in h is ac tive ben efic en c e ,
aged LXX I I years .
We l l do n e thou good and fa ithfu lservan t, en te r thou i n to the joyo f thy Lo rd .
”
Ve r i ly I say un to the e , inasmuch asthou hast do n e it un to o n e o f the
least o f the se My bre th ren , thouhast don e it un to Me .
On the s ide facing the l ibrary door there are,i n
addit ion to the above,the ensu ing sentences
1 98 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Ben eath this sto n e are depo sited the rema in s o f
R ICHARD TURNER,
autho r o f the wo rd Tee to ta l, as
app lied to abstin en c e from a ll in toxica tin g l iquo rs, whodepar ted this l ife o n the 2 7 th day o f October , 1 846, aged
56 years .
I n M r. W . E . A . Axon ’
s able and entertain ing
vo lume , Lancash ire G lean ings ”
(pub . is
an interes t ing chapter on the O rigin of the Word‘Teetotal . I n the same work we are to ld that
D r. Whitaker, the h istorian ofWhal ley ,wrote the
fo llowing epitaph on a mode l pub l ican
He re l ies the Body o f
JOHN W IGGLESWORTH,
Mo re than fi fty years he was theperpetua l In n keeper in this Town .
W ithstan ding the tempta tio n s o f that dan ge rous call ing,h e ma in ta in ed go od o rder in hisHouse , kept the Sabba th day Ho ly,freque n ted th e Pub l ic Wo rshipwith h is Fami ly, in duced h is gue sts
to do the same , and regu lar lyparto ok o f the Ho ly Commun io n .
He was a lso bo un ti fu l to the Poo r,in pr ivate a s we l l as in publ ic ,
and, by the b le ssin gs o f Provide n c eo n a l i fe so Spen t, died
possessed o f c ompeten t Wealth,Feb . 2 8, 1 8 1 3 ,
aged 7 7 years.
The churchyard of Sutton C o ldfie ld, Warwick
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS. 1 99
shi re,contains a gravestone bearing an inscript ion
as fo l lows
As a warn in g to fema le Virtue ,And a humble mo n umen t of fema le chast ity,
This ston e marks the grave of
MARY ASHFORD,
W ho , in the 2 0th yea r o f her age , havin gIn caut io usly repa ired to a sc en e o f amusemen t,
W as bru ta lly vio la ted and murde redOn the 2 7 th o f May, 1 8 1 7 .
Love ly an d chaste as the pr imro se pa le ;Rifled o f virgin swee tn e ss by the ga le ,Mary ! the wretc h who the e remo rse le ss slewAvengin g wrath , who sleeps n o t, wi l l pursueFo r though the deed o f b lo od was ve i led in n ight,W i ll n o t the Judge of all man kin d do r ight ?Fa ir bl ighted flowe r, the muse that weeps thy doom ,
Rears o’
e r thy murde red fo rm this warn in g tomb .
The writer of the forego ing epitaph was Dr .
Booker,v i car of Dud ley . The inscript ion is asso
c ia ted with one of the most remarkab le trials
of the present centu ry . I t w i l l not be withou t
in terest to furn ish a few notes on the case . One
Abraham Thornton was tried at the Warwick
Ass izes for the murder of Mary Ashford,and
acqu i tted . The brother and next of kin of the
deceased,not being sat isfied with the verdict , sued
out,a s the law al lowed h im
,an appeal against
Thornton , by wh ich he cou ld be put on h is t ria l
2 00 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
again . The law al lowed the appeal i n case of
mu rder, and i t also gave opt ion to the accused of
hay i ng It t r ied by wager of law or by wager of
batt le . The brother of the unfortunate woman
had taken no account of th is,and accordingly
,
not on ly M r. Ashford but the j udge,j ury
,and
bar were taken greatly aback,and stri cken with
d ismay , when the accused,being requested to
p lead , took a paper from Mr . Reader , his counsel ,
and a pai r of gloves,one of wh ich he drew on
,
and , th rowing the other on the ground , ex
claimed , “ N ot gu i l ty ; and I am ready to
defend the same with my body ! Lord E l len
borough on the bench appeared grave , and the
accuser looked amazed,so the court w a s adjourned
to enab le the j udge to have an opportun i ty of
conferring with h is learned brethren . After
several adjournments,Lord E l lenborough at last
declared solemn ly , but reluctant ly , that wager of
battle was st i l l the law of the land , and that the
accused had a right of appeal to i t . To get rid
of the law an attempt was made , by passing a
short and speedy Act of Parl iament , but th is was
ru led imposs ib le,as i t wou ld have been ex post
fa cto, and peop le waited curious ly to se e the l ists
set up in the Toth i l l Fields . As Mr. Ashford
2 0 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
In memo ry o f THOMAS SCATCHARD,Who dy
’
d r ich in fr ien ds, De c . 1 0,1 809 .
Aged 58 years.
That An n lov’
d Tom , is ve ry true ,Pe rhaps you
’ll say, wha t’
s that to you .
W ho e’
e r thou art, remembe r this,To rn lov’
d An n,
’twas that made b l iss.
I n We l ton churchyard,near H u l l , the next
cu rious inscript ion appears on an o ld grave
stoneHe re l ieth He ou ldJe remy who hath
e ight t ime s mar ied
bee n bu t n ow in h is
ou ld age he l ie sin h is c age un derthe grass so greenwhich JEREM IAH S IMP
SON departed thisLife in the 84 yeareo f h is age in the
year o f our Lo rd1 7 1 9 .
According to “ Shropsh i re Fo lk-Lore (pub
lished Edward Burton,of Lo ngn e r ,
Shrewsbury,died in 1 5 58,
and in the garden of
Lo ngn e r H al l i s a p lain al tar - tomb , dated 1 6 1 4 .
H e was a zealous Protestant , and died sudden ly
of exci tement on hearing Shrewsbury bel ls ring
for the access ion of Queen E l izabeth . The
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 2 6 3
min ister of S t . Chad ’
s Church , Shrewsbury,
refused to perm i t h is body to be buried there ; i t
was therefore taken home again and laid in his
garden
Was’t fo r denyin g Chr ist, o r some n o to r ious fact,
That this man ’
s body Chr istian bur ia l lack t ?Oh n o ; h is fa ithfu l true pro fe ssio nW as the c hie f cause
,what then was he ld tran sgressio n .
When P op’
ry he re did re ign , the See o f RomeWou ld n o t admit to any such
, a tombW ithin the ir Ido l Temple Wa l ls, bu t he ,Tru ly pro fe ssing Chr ist ian ity,W as l ike Chr ist Je sus in a garden la id,Whe re he Sha ll re st in peac e t i ll it be sa id,“ Come , fa ithfu l se rvan t, c ome , rec e ive with Me
,
A just reward o f thy in tegr ity.
”
Mr. J . Potter B riscoe favours us with an accoun t
of a N ott ingham character, and a copy of h is
epi taph . V in cen t Eyre was by t rade a need le
maker,and w a s a fi rm and cons istent Tory in
po l i t i cs , taking an act ive in terest i n al l the party
struggles of the period . H i s good nature and
honesty made h im popu lar among the poorer classes ,
with whom he ch iefly associated . A commendab le
trai t i n h is character i s worthy of special ment ion ,
namely,that
,notwithstanding frequent tempta
t ions,he spurned to take a bribe from anyone .
I n the year 1 7 2 7 an e lect ion for a Member of
2 6 4 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
Parl iament took p lace , and al l the ardour of V i n’s
nature was at once aroused in the in teres ts of h is
favourite party . The Tory cand idate , Mr. Borlase
Warren , w a s opposed by M r . J ohn Plumtree, the
Whig nominee, and , i n the heat of the exci tement ,V i n emphat ical ly dec lared that he shou ld not
m ind dying immediate ly i f the Tories gained the
v i ctory . Strange to relate,such an event actual ly
occurred,for when the contest and the “ chairing
of the v i ctor was over, he fel l down dead with
j oy , September 6th , 1 7 2 7 . The ep itaph upon
h im is as fo l lows
He re l ie s VIN EYRELe t fal l a tearFo r o n e true man o f hon our
NO courtly lo rd ,W ho breaks his wo rd ,W i l l ever be a mourn er .
In freedom ’s cause
He stre tc hed h is jaws,Exhausted all h is spir it
,
Then fe l l down dead .
It must be sa idHe was a man o f me r it .
Le t Freemen beAs brave as he ,
And vote without a gu in eaVIN EYRE is hur ledTo t
’othe r wo r ld,
And n e’er took br ibe o r pen ny.
2 06 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
fate suggested Ma l let’s beautifu l bal lad of Edwin
and Emma . The real names of the couple
were Rodger Wrightson and Martha Rai l ton .
The s tory is rendered with no less accuracy than
pathos by the poet
Fa r in the win din gs o f the va le ,Fast by a She lte r in g wo od ,
The sa fe re treat o f he a lth and peac e ,A humble c o ttage sto od .
The re beau teo us Emma flou r ished fa ir ,B en ea th a mo the r ’s eye
Who se o n ly wish o n e a rth was n ow
To see h e r ble st and die .
Lo n g had she fi lled each you th wi th love ,Eac h ma iden with de spa ir ,
And though by a ll a wo nde r own ed,Ye t kn ew n o t she was fa ir .
Ti ll Edwin came,the pr ide o f swa in s,
A so u l devo id o f a r tAnd from who se eye s, se ren e ly mi ld ,Sho n e fo rth the fe e l ing heart .
We are to ld that Edwin ’
s father and s ister were
b itterly opposed to the ir love . The poor youth
pined away . When he w a s dying Emma w a s
perm itted to se e h im ,but the cruel s ister wou ld
scarce ly al low her to bid h im a word of farewe l l .
Return ing home,she heard the pass i ng bel l tol l
for the death of he r lover-w
EPITAPHS ON NOTABLE PERSONS . 2 0 7
Just then sh e reac hed, with tremb l in g step ,H e r aged mo the r’s doo rHe
’
s go n e sh e c r ied,
“and I sha l l see
That ange l fac e n o mo re ! ”
I fee l, I fee l this breakin g heartBeat high aga in st my side ”
F rom he r white a rm down sun k he r head ;She , Shive r in g , sighed , and died .
The lovers were buried the same day a nd i n the
same grave . I n the year 1 848, D r .'F . Dinsdale
,
editor of the “ Bal lads and Songs of
Dav id Mal let , etc erected a simple but tastefu l
monument to the memory of the lovers,bearing
the fo l lowing inscript ion
RODGER WR IGHTSON, jun r .
,and MARTHA RA ILTON
,
bo th o f Bowe s bur ied in o n e grave . He died in a feve r ,and upo n to l l ing o f his passin g be ll
,She c ry
’
d o u t My
heart is broke n and in a few ho u rs expired, pure ly thro ’
love , March 1 5 , 1 7 1 4- 1 5 . Such is the br ie f and to u chin g
rec o rd c o n ta in ed in the par ish registe r o f bur ia ls. I t has
been handed down by u n varyin g tradit io n tha t the gravewas a t th e we st e nd o f the chu rch
,dire c tly ben ea th the
be lls. The sad h isto ry o f the se true and fa ithfu l love rsfo rms the subje c t o f Ma lle t’s pa the tic ba l lad o f “ Edwinand Emma .
”
I n M idd leton Tyas,
Church , near R i chmond , i s
the fo l lowing
Black ’s G uide to Yo rkshire .
2 08 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
This Mon umen t re scue s from Obl ivio nthe Rema in s o f the Reve ren d JOHN MAWER , D .D . ,
Late vicar o f this Par ish , who died Nov. 1 8,1 763 , aged 60 .
As a lso o f HANNAH MAWER , h is w ife , who diedDe c . 2 0th , 1 766, aged 7 2 .
Bur ied in this Chan c e l .They we re pe rso n s o f emin en t wo rth .
The Do c to r was de sc e n ded from the Roya l Fami lyo f Mawe r
,and was in fe r io r to n on e o f h is i l lustr ious
an c e sto rs in perso n a l mer it, be in g the greate stLingu ist this Natio n ever produced .
He was able to speak 8: wr ite twen ty-two Languages,and pa rtic u lar ly exc e lled in the Easte rn To ngues,in which he propo sed to H is Roya l Highn essFreder ick Pr in c e o f Wa le s, to whom he was firm ly
attached, to propagate the Chr istian Re l igio nin the Abyssin ian Empire a great and n o bleDe sign ,
which was frustrated by theDea th o f that amiable Pr in c e to th e great mo rtificatio n o f
this exc e lle n t Pe rso n ,who se me r it me e t in g with
n o rewa rd in this wo r ld , wi ll , it ’s to be hoped, re ce iveit in the n ext, from that Be ing which Justic e
o n ly can in fluen c e .
2 1 0 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
I n the churchyard o f Stanton H arcourt
gravestone bearing the fol low ing inscript ion
Near this plac e lie the bodie s o fJOHN HEWET and MARY DREW
,
an in dustr io us youn g Man
and V irtuous Ma iden o f this Par ishW ho
,be in g a t Harve st Wo rk
(with seve ra l o thers)we re in o n e in stan t ki lled by Lightn ing
the last day o f Ju ly 1 7 1 8.
Thin k n o t, by t ig’ron s Judgmen t se iz ’d,A Pa ir so fa i thfu l cou ld expire ;
Vic t ims so pure Heav’
n saw we l l pleas’
d,
And sn atch’
d them in c e lestia l fire .
Live we l l, and fear n o sudden fateWhen G od c a l ls Virtue to the grave ,
Al ike ’
tis Justic e soon o r late ,Me rcy a like to ki ll o r save .
Virtue unmov’
d can hear the cal l,And fac e the flash that me lts the ball .
According to a letter from Gay, the poet , to
Fenton , relat ing the death of the pai r, who were
lovers , th is epi taph was wri tten by Pope, and the
memorial erected at the cost of Lord H arcourt on
the condit ion that Gay or Pope shou ld wri te the
ep itaph . Gay gives the fo l lowing as the joint
product ion of the two poets
When Easte rn love rs fe ed the fun ’
ral fire ,
On the same pi le the fa ithfu l pa ir expire
M ISCELLANEOUS EPITAPHS . 2 1 1
He re pityin g Heav’n that virtue mutua l foun d,
An d blasted both , tha t it might n e ithe r wound .
H ear ts so sin ce re th ’ Almigh ty saw we l l pleas’d,
Sen t h is own lightn in g, and the vic tims se iz ’d.
But,wrote Gay , my Lord is apprehensive
the country people wi l l not understand th is ; and
Mr. Pope says he ’l l make one with someth ing of
Scripture in i t , and with a s l i t t le of poetry as
Hopkins and S te rn ho ld. H ence the l i nes
which appear on the tomb of ‘ the loVe rs .
Our next examp le is from Bury S t . Edmunds
churchyard
He re l ie s in te rred the Body o f
MARY HASELTON ,A young ma iden o f this town ,
Bo rn o f Roman Catho l ic pare n ts,And virtuously brought up,
W ho , be in g in the ac t o f prayerRepeatin g he r ve spe rs,
W as in stan tan eously ki lled by a
flash of Lightn in g, August 1 6th,
1 785 . Aged 9 years.
No t Siloam’s ru in ous towe r the victims Slew,
Because above the many sin n’
d the few ,
No r he re the fated lightn in g wreaked its rageBy ven gean ce se n t fo r c r ime s matur ’d by age .
Fo r whi lst the thun der ’s awfu l vo ice was heard ,The l ittle suppl ian t with its han ds uprear
’
d.
Addressed her God in prayers the pr ie st had taught,His me rcy c raved, and H is pro te c tion sough tLearn reader hen c e that wisdom to ado re
,
CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Thou can st n o t scan and fear His boun dle ss powerSafe sha lt thou b e i f thou per fo rm ’
st H is wi ll,B lest if he spare s, and mo re b le st shou ld He ki ll .
From Bury S t . Edmunds is the fol lowing in
scr ipt ion which te l ls a sad story of the low value
p laced on human l ife at the c lose of the eighteenth
centurydRea e r,
Pause at this humb le sto n e it re co rdsThe fa l l of un guarded youth by the a lluremen ts o f
vic e and treac he rous sn are s o f seduc tion .
SARAH LLOYDOn the 2 3 rd Apr i l, 1 800 , in the 2 2 nd year o f he r age ,
Suffered a just and ign omin ious death .
Fo r admitt ing he r aban don ed seduce r in the
dwe l l ing-house of he r mistre ss, o n the 3 rd o f
Oc tobe r , 1 799 , and bec omin g the in strume n t inh is han ds o f the c r ime o f ro bbe ry and
housebreakin g .These were her last wo rds
Maymy example be a warn in g to thousan ds.
A lover at York inscribed the fo l lowing l i nes to
h is sweetheart , who was accidental ly drowned ,
December 24th , 1 796 .
N igh to the r ive r Ouse , in Yo rk’s fa ir c ity,Un to this pretty ma id death shew
’
d n o pityAs soo n as she ’d he r pa i l with wa te r fill’dCame sudden death , and l i fe l ike wa te r spill’d.
I n H o ly T rin i ty Church , H u l l , i s an e legant
marble monument by Earle,with figures of a
2 1 4 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
On a Thursday she was bo rn,
On a Thursday made a br ide ,On a Thu rsday pu t to bed,On a Thursday broke he r leg,On a Thursday died .
Kingsbridge,Devonsh i re ,
Here I lie , at the chan ce l doo r ,Here I lie
,because I ’m po o r
The farther in ,the mo re yo u pay,
He re I lie as warm as they.
I n the churchyard of K irk H al lam,Derbyshire
,
a good specimen of a true Engl i shman is buried,
named Samue l Clea te r , who d ied May I st , 1 8 1 1,
aged 65 years . The two - l ined epitaph has such a
genu ine,stu rdy ring about i t , that i t deserves to be
rescued from ob l iv ion
True to h is K in g, his c oun try was h is glo ry,When Bony wo n , he sa id it was a sto ry.
A monument in Bakewel l Church,Derbysh ire
,
i s a curiosi ty , blending as i t does in a remarkab le
manner business , loyal ty , and rel igion
To the memo ry o f MATTHEW STRUTT, o f this town ,farr ier , lo n g famed in the se parts fo r ve te r in ary ski ll . Ago od n e ighbou r, and a staun ch fr ien d to Churc h and
K in g . Be in g Churchwarden at the time the pre sen t pea lo f be l ls we re hung, through z ea l fo r the house o f G od, and
un remittin g a tte n tio n to the a iry busin ess of the be lfry, hecaught a c o ld
,which te rmin ated h is existe n c e , May 2 5 ,
1 798, in the 68th year o f h is age .
F r on t a P h o to by] [W e l ls /ed 69° S on , Hu ll .
SHORTHAND EP ITA P H I N OLD ST . MA RY S CH U RCH,SC ULCOA TES .
2 I 6 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
TO THE CR IT IC .
Seek n o t to Show the devio us paths Phi l trode ,No r tear h is fra ilties from the ir dread abode ,In mode st scu lpture le t this tombsto n e te ll,That much esteem ’
d he l ived , and much regre tted fe ll .
A t Cast leton,i n the Peak of Derbysh ire , i s
another curious epitaph,partly in Engl ish and
part ly in Lat in,to the memory of an attorney-at
law named M icah H al l,who died in 1 804 . I t i s
said to have been penned by himse lf,and is more
epigrammat ic than reverent . I t is a s fo l lows
To
Th e memo ry o f
MICAH HALL,Gen tleman
,
Atto rn ey-at-Law,
Who died on the i 4th o fMay, 1 804,
Aged 79 years.
Qu id e ram,n esc itis ;
Qu id sum,n esc itis
Ubi abi l,n esc itis
Va lete .
Th is verse has been rendered thus
What I was you kn ow n o t
What I am you kn ow n o t
Whither I am go n e you kn ow n o t
G o about your busin e ss.
I n S a rn e sfie ld churchyard , near Weob ley, i s the
tombstone of J ohn Abe l , the ce lebrated arch i tect
of the market-houses of H ereford,Leominster
,
Knighton , and Brecknock , who died in the year
M ISCELLANEOUS EPITAPHS. 2 1 7
1 694 ,hav ing attained the ripe o ld age Of n inety
seven . The memorial stone is adorned with three
statues in knee l ing postu re, represent ing Abel
and his two wives ; and also disp layed are the
emb lems of h is profess ion— the ru le , the compass ,
and the square— the who le being des igned and
scu lptured by h imse l f. The ep itaph , a very quaint
one,was also of his own writing
,and runs thus
This c raggy ston e a c over in g is fo r an arch itec tOr’s bed
That lo fty bu i ldin gs ra ised high, ye t n ow lyes low h is headH is l in e and ru le , so death co n c ludes, a re lo cked up in sto re
Bu i ld they who l ist, o r they who wist, fo r he can bu ild n o mo re .
His ho use o f c lay c ould ho ld n o lon gerMay Heaven
’
s joys bu i ld him a stro n ge r .
JOHN ABEL .
Vive u t vivas in vitam aetern am .
I n the churchyard of Walcott,N orfo lk
,
fol lowing cyn ical epitaph may be seen
In memo ry o f
W ILL IAM W ISEMAN,
who died 5 th o f August, 1 83 4 , aged 7 2 years.
Un de r this marble , o r un de r this si l l,Or unde r this turf, o r e ’
en what you wi ll,Whatever an he ir
,o r a fr ien d in h is stead
,
Or any good c reature , sha l l lay o ’
e r my head,Lie s o n e who n e
’
e r cared , and sti ll cares n o t a pin
What they sa id, o r may say, o f th e mo rta l within ,
But who , l iving and dyin g, se re n e , sti ll, and fre e ,Trusts in God tha t as we l l as he was he sha l l be .
2 1 8 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
From Gi l l ing churchyard, Richmo ndsh ire
,
the fo l lowing :
Un to the mourn fu l fate o f yo un g JOHN MOORE,W ho fe l l a vic t im to some vi l la in ’
s powe rIn R ichmo n d Lan e , n ear to Ask Ha ll, ’
tis sa id ,There was h is l ife mo st c ru e l ly betray’d.
Sho t with a gun ,by some abandon
’
d rake ,The n kn o ck ’
d 0’
th’ head with a hedgin g stake ,
H is sou l, I trust, 1 5 W i th the b lest above ,The re to e n joy e te rn a l re st and loveThen le t us pray h is murdere r to disc ove r,That he to justic e may be bro ught over .
The crime o cc rir r ed i n 1 7 50 ,and the murderer
was never discovered .
From a gravestone in Patcham was copied the
fo l lowing inscript ion
Sac red to the memo ry o f
DAN IEL SCALES,
who was un fo rtun ate ly Sho t on Tue sday even in g ,NOV . 7 , 1 7 96.
Alas swift flew the fa ted lead ,Wh ic h pie rced through the young man
’
s head,He in stan t fe ll, re sign ed his breath ,And c lo sed h is langu id eye s o n death .
And you who to this sto n e draw n ea r,
Oh ! pray le t fa l l the pityin g tear ,From this sad in stan c e may we a ll
Prepare to mee t Jehovah ’s ca ll .
The real story of Scales ’ death is given in Cham
be rs’
s Book of Days,
” and is as fol lows : Daniel
2 2 0 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
a rai lway carriage tragedy , and bears the fo l lowing
extraord inary inscription
Myste r ious was my cause o f DeathIn the Pr ime o f Life I Fe ll ;Fo r days I Lived ye t n e
’
e r bad breathThe se c re t o f my fate to te l l .Farewe l l my chi ld and husban d dearBy c rue l hands I leave you ,
Now that I ’m dead , a nd sleepin g he re ,My Mu rdere r may dec e ive yo u ,Tho ugh I am dead
, ye t I sha ll l ive ,I must my Murde re r me et,And then Eviden c e , sha l l giveMy cause o f death comple te .
Fo rgive my chi ld and husban d dear,
That c rue l Man o f b loodHe so o n fo r mu rde r must appearBe fo re the Son o f G od.
N ear the west end of H o ly T rin i ty Church,
Stalham,N orfo lk , may be seen a gravestone
bearing the fo l lowing inscript ion :
JAMES AM IES, 1 83 1 .
He re l ie s an ho n e st in depen den t man,
Bo ast mo re ye great o n es i f ye can
I have be en kicked by a bu l l and ram,
Now le t me lay c o n ten ted as I am .
The fo l lowing s ingu lar verse occurs upon a
tombstone cont iguous to the chancel door in
Grindon churchyard,near Leek
,Staffordsh i re
M ISCELLANEOUS EPITAPHS . 2 2 1
Farewe ll , dear frien ds ; to fo l low me prepareAlso o ur lo ss w e ’d have you to beware ,And your own busin e ss mind . Le t u s a lo n e ,Fo r you have fau lts great ple n ty o f your own .
Judge n o t o f us,n ow W e a re in o u r Grave s
Le st ye be Judg’
d and awfu l] Sen ten ce haveFo r Backbiters, ra i le rs, thieve s, and l iars,Must to rmen t have in Eve r last in g Fire s.
On a stone in the north ais le of the chu rch of
S t . Peter of Ma n c ro ft , N orwich ,is the fo l lowi ng
pathet ic inscript ion
SUSAN BROWNE, the la st de ceased o f e leve n c hi ldre n
(the first ten in te rr ’d be fo re the n o rthe rn po rch ) from the irsurvivin g paren ts
,Jo hn and Susan h is wi fe . She sought a
c ity to c ome , and upo n the 3 o th o f August departed he n c eand foun d it .
AO [EL 1 9 . Dm . 1 686.
He re l ie s a sin gle Flowe r sc arc e ly blown e ,Te n mo re , be fo re the No r the r n Do o r a re strown e ,
Pluckt from the se l f-same Stalke,o n ly to be
Tran splan ted to a be tte r Nurse ry.
From H edon , i n H o lderness , East Yorksh i re ,
the fo l lowing
Here lye th the bodyOfW ILL IAM STRUTTON, o f Patr in gto n ,Bur ied the 1 8th o f May 1 7 3 4
Aged 9 7 .
had, by h is first wife , twen ty-e ight chi ldre n,
And by a se co n d seven te enOwn father to fo r ty-five
Gran d-fathe r to e ighty-six,
2 2 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Grea t Gran d-fathe r to n in e ty-seve n,
And Great, Grea t-Gran d-fathe r to twen ty-threeI n all two hun dred and fifty-o n e .
I n Laurence Lide a rd churchyard,says Pett i
grew,i s a s im i lar one :
The man that re sts in this grave has had-8 wive s,
by whom he had 45 c hi ldren , and 2 0 gran dc hi ldren . He was bo rn r ich , l ived and
died poo r, aged 94 years,Ju ly so th . 1 7 74 .
Bo rn at Bewd ley in Wo rceste rshire in 1 650 .
According to the ep i taph of Ann J ennings at
Wo lstanton
Some have chi ldre n — some have n on e
He re l ies the mo ther o f twen ty-o n e .
The fol lowing quaint epi taph in Dal ry Ceme
te ry commemorates J ohn Robertson,a nat ive of
the U n ited States , who died 2 9 th September,
1 860 ,aged 2 2
Oh , stran ger ! pause , and give o n e sighFo r the sake of him who he re doth lieBen eath this l ittle mou n d o f earth ,Two thousan d mi le s from lan d o f birth .
The Re v . W i l l iam Mason , the H u l l poet ,
married in 1 765 Mary Sherman , of H u l l . Two
years later she died of consumpt ion at B risto l .
I n the Cathedral of that ci ty is a monument con
tain ing the fo l lowing l ines by her husband
2 24 CURIOUS EPITAPHS.
Whi lst she re c e ived visito rs, whom she despised, with an
e ndear in g smi le .
He r behaviour was disc ree t towards stran gersBUT
Indepen den t in he r fami ly.
Abroad, he r co n duc t was influen c ed by go od bre edingBUT
At home, by i ll temper .
She was a pro fe ssed en emy to flattery,And was se ldom kn own to pra ise o r commen d
BUT
The ta len ts in which she pr in c ipa l ly exc e lled,We re diffe ren ce o f Opin ion
,and discover in g flaws and
imperfe c t io n s.
She was an admirab le e co n omist,And, without prodiga l ity,
Dispe n sed ple n ty to eve ry pe rso n in her fami lyBUT
Wou ld sac r ific e the ir eye s to a far thin g cand le .
She some time s made he r husban d happy with he r goodqua l itie sBUT
Much mo re frequen tly mise rable— with he r many fa i l in gsIn somuch that in th irty years c ohabitatio n he o fte n
lamen tedThat maugre o f all he r virtues,
He had n o t, in the who le , en joyed two years o f matr imo n ia lc omfo rt .
AT LENGTHFind in g that she had lo st the affec tio n s o f her husband ,
As we l l as the regard o f he r n e ighbours,Fami ly d ispute s havin g been divu lged by se rvan ts,
She died of vexat io n , Ju ly 2 0, 1 768,
Aged 48 years.
M ISCELLANEOUS EPITAPHS. 2 2 5
Her wo rn ou t husban d surv ived her fo ur mo n ths and two days,And depa rted this l ife , Nov. 2 8
,1 768,
In the 54th year o f h is age .
W ILLIAM BOND, bro the r to the de c eased , e re c ted this sto n e ,
As a w eekly mon i to r , to the surviving wive s o f this pa r ish,That they may avo id th e in famy
Of havin g the i r memo r ies han ded to poste r ityW ith a PATCH WORK charac te r .
I n S t . Peter ’s churchyard,Barton -o u - H umber ,
there is a tombstone with the fo l lowing st range
inscript ion
Do om’
d to re c e i ve ha l f my so u l he ld clear ,The o the r hal f wi th gr ie f, she le ft me here .
Ask n o t he r n ame , fo r sh e was true and just ;On c e a fin e woman
,bu t n ow a heap o f dust .
As may be inferred,no name is given the date
is 1 7 7 7 . A curious and romant ic legend attaches
to the epi taph . I n the above year an unknown
lady of great beau ty,who is conjectured to have
loved not wise ly,but to o we l l , came to res ide in
the town . She w a s accompanied by a gent leman,
w ho left her after making lav ish arrangements fo r'
her comfort . She w a s proud ly reserved in her
manners,frequent ly took long so l i tary walks
,and
s tud iously avo ided al l in tercourse . I n giv ing birth
to a ch i ld she died,and did not d isclose her name
or fami ly connect ions . After her decease , the
gent leman who came wi th her arrived , and w a s
1 5
2 26 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
overwhelmed with grief at the intel l igence which
awaited h im . H e took the ch i ld away without
unravel l ing the secret , hav i ng fi rst ordered the
s tone to be erected,and del ivered into the mason ’s
hands the verse,which is at once a
"
mystery and
a memento . Such are the part icu lars gathered
from “ The Social H i story and Ant iqu i t ies of
Barton -ou -H umber,by H . W . Bal l , i ssued in
1 856. S ince the pub l i cat ion of M r. Bal l ’s book,
we have received from him the following notes,
which mar somewhat the romant ic s tory as above
related . We are informed that the person referred
to in the ep itaph was the wife of a man named
J onathan Burki tt,who came from the neighbour
hood o f Grantham . H e had been va let a’e
cbambr e to some gen t leman or nob leman,who
gave h im a large sum of money on h is marrying
the lady . They came to res ide at Barton,where
she died in ch i ldbirth . Burki tt,after the death of
h is W i fe,left the town , tak ing the infant (a boy),
who surv ived . I n abou t three years he returned,
and married a M iss Ost ler,daughter of an apo the
cary at Barton . H e there kept the “ King ’s
H ead,a pub l i c -house at that t ime . The man
got th rough about between leav ing
Gran tham and marrying h is second wife .
2 28 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
H is hear t which we l l might grac e the n o ble st grave ,W as gra te ful, pat ie n t, mode st, just a nd brave ;And n e
’
e r did earth ’s wide maw a mor sel ga inO f kindlier j u ices o r mo re te n de r gr a inHis to n gue
,whe re du te ous fr ie n dship humbly dwe lt,
Cha rm’
d a ll who hea rd the fa ithfu l z ea l he fe lt ;Stil l to whateve r e nd h is c/zops h e mov
’d,
’Twas a ll w ell sea son’
d,r elis/z
’
d,a nd appro v
’
d
h is ro om h is he av’
n -Whe n th rea t’
n ing Fate d rew n ighThe c lo sin g shade that dimm’
d h is ling’
r ing eye ,
H is last fo n d hope s,b e tray
’
d by many a tea r ,
W e re — That h is l ife ’
s last spa r k might g l immer he re ;And the last wo rds tha t c hoak ’
d h is par ting sighOh ! a t yo ur fe e t, dea r maste rs, le t me die
I n St . J ohn ’
s chu rchyard,Chester
,is an in
script ion as fo l lows
Un de r this sto n e l ie th the B rokenRema in s o f STEPHEN JONES who hadh is leg c ut o ff witho ut the Co n se n t o fW i fe o r Fr ie nds o n the 2 3 rd Oc to be r ,
1 84 2 , in whic h day he died . Aged 3 1 yea rs.
Re ade r I bid you fa rewe l l . May
the Lo rd have me rcy o n yo u in the
day o f trouble .
An inscript ion in S t . Michael ’s chu rchyard
Ma c c le sfie ld, i l lust rates the weakness for the love
of d isp lay of the poor at a funeral
MARY BROOMF IELDdyd 1 9 Novr . , 1 7 5 5 , aged 80 .
The chie f c o n c e rn o f he r l i fe fo r th e last twe n ty yearswas to o rde r and provide fo r he r fun e ra l . He r grea test
M ISCELLANEOUS EPITAPHS . 2 29
pleasure was to thin k and ta lk abou t it . She l ived manyyea rs o n a pen sio n o f n in epe n c e a week , and ye t she saved
£ 5 , which , at he r o wn reque st, was la id o ut o n he r fun e ra l .
We give a s the front ispiece to th is volume a
picture of the Martyrs ’ Monument,in Greyfriars ’
churchyard,Edinburgh . The graves of the
martyrs are i n that part of the burial -ground
where crim inals were in terred,and an al lusion
is made to th is fact i n the inscript ion that
fo l lows
Ha lt, passe nge r, take heed wha t you do see ,
This tomb do th shew fo r what some me n did die .
He re l ies in te rr ’d the dust o f tho se who stood’Ga in st pe rjury, re sist in g un to blood ;Adhe r in g to the c ove n an ts and lawsEstabl ishin g the same : whic h was the cause
The i r l ive s we re sa c rific’
d un to th e lustOf pre latists abj ur
’
d ; tho ugh he re the ir dustLie s mixt with mu rde rers and o the r c rew,Whom just ic e ju stly did to dea th pursue .
But as fo r them , n o cause was to be fo un dWo rthy o f death bu t
’
o n ly they we re fo un dCo n stan t and steadfast
,z ea lous, witn e ssin g
Fo r the pre rogative s o f Chr ist the ir K in gWhich truths we re sea l
’
d by famous Guthr ie’
s head,And all a lon g to Mr . Renwick’s bloodThey did en dure the wrath o f e n emiesReproaches, to rmen ts, deaths and in ju r ie s.
Bu t ye t they’
re tho se , who from suc h troub le s came ,And n ow tr iumph in glo ry with the Lamb
2 3 0 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
From May 2 7 th , 1 66 1 , that the mo st n oble Marqu is o fArgyle was beheaded
,to the 1 7 th February, 1 688, that
Mr . James Renwick su ffe red, were o n e way o r o the rmurde red and destroyed fo r the same cause abo ut e ighteen thousand, Of whom we re exe cuted at Edin burghabou t an hun dred o f n ob lemen
,gen tlemen
,min isters and
others, n ob le martyrs fo r JESUS CHR IST. The mo st o fthem lie he re .
The above mo n umen t was first e re c ted by JamesCurr ie , merchan t, Pen tlan d, and o the rs, in 1 706 re n ewedin 1 7 7 1 .
Rev. Vi . 9 .
— And when he had ope n ed the fi fth sea l, I saw
un de r the a ltar the sou ls o f them that we re Sla info r the wo rd of G od, and fo r the te stimony whichthey he ld .
1 0.— And they c r ied with a loud vo ic e , sayin g, How
long, 0 Lo rd, ho ly and true , do st thou n o t judgeand avenge our blood o n them tha t dwe ll o n the
ear th ?1 1 .
-And white robes were given unto every o n e of
them ; and it was sa id un to them that they shou ldrest ye t fo r a l ittle seaso n , un ti l the ir fe l low-servan tsa lso and the ir bre thren , that shou ld be ki lled as theywe re , shou ld be fu lfi lled .
Chap . Vi i . 1 4 .— The se are theywhich came out of great tribula
tion , and have washed the i r robe s and made themwhite in the b lo od o f the Lamb .
Chap . 1 1 . I o .— Be thou fa ithful un to death , and I wi l l givethee a c rown of l ife .
The fo l lowing is stated to have been added to
the monument at a subsequent date,but at the
presen t t ime there is not any trace of i t
2 3 2 CURIOUS EPITAPHS .
I t is . an easy ma t te r'
to arrange words forming
a s imp le sentence in Engl ish to appear l ike Latin .
This w a s successfu l ly done in 1 7 96, when a prin t
GT. ONAs -DO
. I .A EN E.
THE P UZZ LE .
R epr oduced f r om a pi c tu r e publ is/tea’i n 1 796.
w a s pub l ished under the t i t le of “ The Puz z le .
This curious inscript ion is humb ly dedicated,
says the author, “ to the penetrat ing gen iuses of
Oxford,Cambridge , E ton , and the learned Society
M ISCELLANEOUS EPITAPHS . 2 3 3
of Ant iquaries . The words have every appear
ance of a Lat in inscription,but if the s tops and
capital letters or div is ion of the words are dis
regarded,the epi taph may eas i ly be read a s
fol lowsBe n eath
this sto n e repo se th
CLAUD COSTER,
tripe -se lle r , o f Impingto n ,
as do th h is c o n so r t . Jan e .
INDEX .
B r ay, Hen r ie tta M . , 80
Br emhil l , 50Br ew e r , 105Br ic kmake r , I4B r id ge fo r d -o n -the -H i l l
,5
B r i ggs , He z ekiah , 1 30Br ighton , 5 9
Br isc oe , John D. quo ted , 1 5 8Br isc oe , J . P o tte r
, q uo ted,Br isto l , 1 9 , 222Br o adben t , Jn o .
,1 3 2
B r omsgrove , 6Br o u sa r d , Jame s , 3 6Br own e , Susan ,
221
Buc ke t t , J u o . ,1 07
Bu i lde r , 1 4B u l len , ReV . H . , 7Bu l l in gham , 1 4
Bu n n ey, 1 01Bur ba ge , 9 1Bu rkit t , Jon a tha n , 226
Bu r n e d to dea th , 2 1 3B ur n s , Robe r t , quo ted , 1 09Bu r to n ,
205
Bu r ton , Edwa r d , 202Bu r t o n Joyc e , 2 1 3
Bu r to n -on ~Tr en t , 3 8
Bu ry, S t . Edmu n ds , 3 1 , 5 7 , 21 12 1 2
Bu t le r , a ,1 06
'
Bu t le r , Samu e l , 81 , 1 64- 1 66
Bu t le r , Samu e l Wil liam , 82
Bu t t r e ss . J . E. , 69
Byfield, Sa rah , I I IByn g , John , 67Byro n ,
Lo r d , 8, 1 7Bywa te r , J n o .
,1 1 2
Ca dman , 86
Ca e r lave r oc k , 1 74
Campbe l l , Pa t r ic k , 65
Ca rmicha e l , Ja s . , 65
Ca r pe n te r , 1 5Ca r r ie r , 8Ca r twr i ght , Hy. , 94
Ca ry, Rev . H . F . , qu oted , 1 83Ca st le to n , 2 1 6
Ca ve , of Ba r r ow-on -Soa r , 1 38
Ca ve , Edwa r d , 1 1Cave , J o s .
,l o
Cave ,William
,1 1
Ca xton , Will iam , 24
Chambe r s , Dr . Wm . , 24 , 25
Chan c e l doo r , bu r ie d a t the , 21 4Chapma n ,
Dr . T . , 1 5 4
Cha pma n , Wm .,42
Cha r le s I . , 5 1
Cha r le s II . , e pita ph o n , 1 69
Char lton , J n o . , 92
Cha tham , 1 10
Cha tsw o r th , 3 5Che c kley, 1 3 5
Che lse a Hospita l ve te ra n , 49
Ch e pman , Wil liam ,242 5
Che pstow. 1 70Che ste r , 1 3 , 5 7 , 228C lay, He rc u le s , 1 68C lay, Thoma s , 1 1 7Clea te r , Samu e l , 2 1 4C lem e tshaw , Hy. , 73C l iff , E l iz a be th , 2 1 3C l ifton , 80
C lo c kmake r s , 1 -5C loth -draw e r , 1 7Co a chdr ive r . 7Coffin , c u r iou s , 1 66Co in c ide n c es , r ema r ka ble , 1 78Co le , Dean , 1 3 7Co le , of Li l l in g ton , 1 3 8
Co l l ison , D. , 70
Co lton ,1 4
Cooks , 227Co r by, 20
Cor po ra t ion c o ok , 227Cor se r , He n ry, 1 78
Co ste r , C lau de , 232-23 3
Co t ton , John ,28
Co ve n t ry, 3 4, 101 , 103
Co ven try M er cu ry, 3 4
Cowpe r , Wm ., 1 82, 1 84 1 85
Cr a c kle s , Thos ., 70
Cr a z ford, 1 1 9
Cr e ton , 21 3
Cr ich , V ic a r of, 1 2Cr icke te r , 102, 1 03Cr u iksha n k , G e or ge , 1 92-1 94
Cr u ke r , Joseph , 1 7Cu r r ie , Jame s , 230Cyn ica l e pita ph , 2 1 6
Da lam o th , Jan e , 21 5Da le , John , 1 77Da lry, 222
Da n ish so ld ie r s , 5 2-5 5
Da r e n th , 1 10Da rfie ld, 2 1 9
Da r l in gton , 1 3 2
Da r n bor ough ,Wm . , 1 3 1
Da r t , Rose , 1 3 9Da r tmou th , 66
INDEX .
Da vidson ,A le x . , 67
Day, Will . , 1 3 6Dea f a nd dumb m a n
,205
Deak in , Rowlan d , 1 5 7Dea l , 68, 69De a l bo a tman , 68
Dea n s , Jea n ie , 1 7 3 - 1 74
Dea th fr om po l it ic a l e xc i teme n t ,204
De fo e , Da n ie l , 1 81Depledge , Thoma s , 2 1 9
De r eham , 1 82
Devo n sh ir e , Duke o f, 3 5
Din sda le , D r . F . ,207
Dis ley, 3 6
Dixo n , G eo . , 93
Dome st ic A n n a ls of Sc o t la n d ,qu o ted , 1 5 6
Dove , John , 109
Dr ew , Ma ry, 2 l0
Drown e d , 2 1 2 -2 1 3
Drun ka r d ,’
1 10
Dub l in , 30
Duc k , S . , 87 -90
Du n ke ld , 1 56Dun se , 83
Du n ton , 7Dwa r f
,Yo r ksh ir e , 1 60
Dye r , 1 6
ak r in g , 94
Ea r l En gl ish e pita ph , 209Ba r t e n w a r e , dea le r i n
,1 3
Ea rw ak e r , J . P . , 3 7
Ea s to n ,W m . , 70
Ec c le sfi e ld , 94
Ede n so r , 3 5 , 3 6Ed in bu r gh . 24 , 3 2 ,
1 86, 229
Edmon ds , Jn o . , 66
Edmo n ton , 1 83
Edwa lto n , 1 10
Edw in a n d Emma ,
”206
E ltham , 3 9
En gin e dr ive r , 6n gin ee r , 6
Ep ita phs o n So ld ie r s a n d Sa i lo r s ,49 -72
E psom ,4 1
E t on , 1 1 1
Et ty,W m . , 1 90 1 92
Exc iseman , 1 1 6
Eyr e , V in ce n t , 203-205
Fa irh o lt,F . W .
,1 90
Fami l ies , la r ge , 22 1 -222
2 3 7
Fa ta l pr iz e -fight s , 102Fa u lkn e r
,G e o rgm ‘
Fema le so ldie r s , 5 8F iddle r , 75F ie ld , B isho p , 1 3 5F ie ld , Jose ph , 1 3 4F ishe r , J n o .
, 3 9
F l i xto n , 7 5
F lo c kto n , Thoma s , 1 3 2Fo lkesto n e , 1 1 2Foo ls , 85Fo r t Will iam , 65
Fr a n kl in ,A bia h , 30
Fr an kl in ,Be n jamin ,
26-3 0
Fr a n kl in , Jo s iah , 3 0Fr e la n d , Mr s . , 1 10
G a rde n ,bu r ia l in ,
20°
G a rde n e r , 3 6G a r r ic k , Da vid , 78 ; quo ted , 80,
1 88
Ga sk o in ,Je n ny, 43 -45
Ga sk o in , Ma ry,45
G ay, 2 l0
G edge ,L. , 3 1
Gen tlema n’
s Al aga z in e , qu o ted ,1 23
G e o r ge III . ,43
G e o r ge 1 V. , 6 1
G ia n t , Yo rksh ir e , 1 5 9G i l l in g , 2 18G i l l in gham , 84
G lad ia to r , 1 01G la sgow , 83 -84
G lou c e ste r Abbey, 1 67
G lou cester N o tes a nd Quer ies , 1 81G o ldsmith , Dr . D. , 1 1 5
G o ldsmith , Thoma s , 66G o od an d Fa i thfu l Se r va n t s , 3 5 -43
G r a in ge , W m . , qu o te d , 1 5 3
G r ay, Ca the r in e , 1 3
G r ay, John Wil liam ,2 1 3
G r ay, Robe r t , 1 8G r ea t e ve n t s , 1 5 5
G r e a t Lim be r , 43
G r e a t Ma r low , 3 8
G r e enw ic h , 1 07G r iffiths , G e o r ge ,
5 6
G r in do n,220
Gu a rdia n ,qu o ted , 1 3 7
G uy, John ,1 66- 1 67
Ha c ke t t , Robe r t , 92Ha i gh
,Br ian . 1 7 7
Ha l l,M ic ah , 21 6
2 3 8 INDEX .
Hamilton , 72
Hampstea d , 4Hampsthwa it e , 1 60Ha n slope , 1 02Ha r r ison ,
John ,4 5
Ha r r ison , Wm . , 7 1Ha r t
,Thoma s , 1 20
Ha r tw i th , 1 3 1Ha se l to n , Ma ry,
2 1 1
Haw kswo r th , Dr . , 1 1
Hayley,qu o te d
,1 1 , 1 82
Hea rdso n , Edwa r d , 227Hedde rw ick ,
Jame s , quo te d , 84Hedo n , 22 1
He n bu ry,46
Hesse l , Phoebe , 5 8-64He ssle ,
1 6
Hewe t , John ,2 10
Heyw o od , James , 1 5H igh Wyc ombe , 5 ,
1 66
H i ll , Dr . O tw e l l , 1 3 7H i l l in gdon , 46
H i l to n Ca st le , foo l a t , 86H in dle , Thoma s , 4Hippisley, J n o . , 79
Hise la n d,W m .
,49
Hobson , c a r r ie r , 8Ho ga r th , W m . ,
1 87 - 1 90
Ho n e st m an ,220
Ho r n c a st le , 72
Ho r n sea ,1 3 5
Howa r d , John ,
2 2
Hudibr a s,
a u thor o f,1 64 - 1 66
Hu ghe n de n ,1 66
Hu l l , 70, 7 1 . 72 , 74 , 1 1 2, 1 27 , 1 3 4,2 12
,2 1 5 , 223
Hu l l Fa ir , gia n t a t , 1 60Hu lm
,J oh n . 3 4
Hu n t r odds,Fr a n c is , 1 78
Hu n tsma n . 92, 9 3 , 94 , 97Hu t ch in so n , He n ry, 1 44 -5
Hythe , 104
In n ke e pe r , 1 06- 1 10Ir o n g r ay,
1 73Is la n d o f Ju an Fe r n a n dez , 1 80
I sme ll , Pe te r , 1 1 9
Ja ckso n ,Thoma s , 84
Je n kin s ,He n ry ,
1 5 3 - 1 5 6
Je n n in gs , A n n , 222
Jewit t , L. , qu o t e d , 1 2 1J o b lin g , Mr s . C . , quo ted , 1 63Jon e s
,A lde rma n J . , 1 67
J o n e s , Edw a r d , 25
Jon es. S te phen , 228
J oy, R ic ha r d , 1 62
Kee pe r , 92, 94Ke l ly, Rev . John , 1 45
Kempsey,40
Ke n t ish Samso n , 1 62
Ke tt le tho r pe , 1 3 6
Kin g , John ,42
K in gsbr id ge , 2 1 4K ir k Br a dda n , 1 40-1 48
K ir k Ha ll,2 1 4
Kn i gh t, Cha r les , 9 1
La c kington , Jame s , 9Lamb , Cha r le s a nd Ma ry, 1 83
-1 85
Lambe r t , Da n ie l , 1 61Lambe r t , G eo rge , 7Lambe th
,22
La n chbu ry, Sa r ah , 40La r ge familie s , 22 1 -222La u r en ce Lidea rd,
222
Leake , Thoma s , 97 -1 00Li ght n in g , kil led by, 2 10-2 1 1
Li l l in g to n , 1 3 7Li llya rd,
Ma iden , 1 5 8
Lin c o ln ,1 3 7
L i tt le Dr iffie ld, 1 79Live r poo l , 105 , 1 62
Lloyd , Sa rah , 2 1 2Loddo n , 1 76Logn e r Ha l l , 202Lo n do n , 7 , 49 , 86, 1 02, 1 08, 1 1 5 ,
1 92
Lo n gev i ty, 3 7Lo n gn o r , ] 5 , 49
Low va lue of human l ife , 21 2Ludlow , 7Lu to n , 93
Lyd for d , 1Lyn n ,
227
Ma c be th , J n o . , 76
Ma c c le sfie ld ,228
Ma l i br a n,Ma dame , 78
Ma n cheste r , 22Ma n xlan d Epita phs , 1 40- 1 48Ma r ke t We i ght o n , 1 5 9
Ma r ryin g ma n ,222
Ma r te n , Hen ry,1 70- 1 72
Ma r t in , John ,20, 1 47
Ma r tyr s’ mon ume n t , 229
Ma so n , 1 4
Ma son , Mr s . Ma ry,222
Ma son , Rev . W m .
,222
240 INDEX .
Ra t c l iffe -on -Soa r , 1 20
Raw , F r a n k , 1 20Re ic ide , 1 70- 1 72R igge , Tho s . , 94
R idsda le , Ja n e , 1 60R in ge r , 1 30Robe r t s , A n n e , 80
Robe r tso n , John , 222
Robin son Cr usoe ,” 1 81
Ro cheste r on Cha r les II . 1 69
Roe , Phi li p , 1 25Ro e , Samu e l , 1 22Ro ge r s , Dr . Cha r les , qu o te d , 1 74 ,
1 76
Roge r s . Re be c c a , 1 1 3
Ro ss , Fr ede r ic k , qu oted , 1 60Ro the rham , 1 9
Ro thw e l l , Le eds , 1 3 2Rou t le igh , Ge o r ge , 1
Rudde r , Samu e l , 1 81Ru gby, 1 0
Ru n n in g fo o tma n,46
Sa ddlew o r th,1 3 2 , 201
Sa i lo r s a n d So ld ie r s, 49 -72
Sa l isbu ry, 1 02
Sambo ’
s r a ve , 47 -48Samso n , e n t ish ,
1 62
Sa n ds,Re v . Samu e l , 227
Sa n to n , 1 48
Sa r n e sfie ld,2 1 6
Sa v in g mo n ey fo r a fu n e r a l , 228S c a le s , Da n ie l , 2 1 8S ca r le tt , O ld , 1 28-1 3 0Sc a tc ha r d , Thoma s , 202Sc i pio A fr ic a n u s ,
46
Sc o t la n d , pr in t in g in t r odu c e din t o ,
24
S c o t t , J n o .,105
Sc ot t , Ma rge ry, 1 5 6
S c o t t , S ir Wa l te r , 1 73S c r ive n o r , Wm . , 227S c ro pe , Ca pt . G .
,1 03
S c u lc oa te s . 2 1 5
S eaham ,1 7
Se iz in g th e d ead for d ebt , 1 1 7Se l by, 66, 67 , 1 20
Se lk i r k , A le xa n de r , 1 80Se rva n t s ,G ood a n d Fa i thfu l , 3 5 -43S e x to n s a n d Pa r ish Cle rks , 1 1 9
1 3 3
Shake spea r e , W m . , 1 76Sh efii e ld , 9
She rma n ,Ma ry,
222
Shoemake r , 1 7
Shor tha n d e pi taph , 2 1 5Shr ewsbu ry, 86, 1 5 7 , 1 78
S i gn of th e Boa r ’s Hea d , 1 1 4S i lkston e , 1 3S impson ,
Je r emiah , 202Sk u l lc r oss , Phil i p , 2 1 5S lave s fr eed , 46S la te r , Joseph , 2S lea fo rd , 1 7Smith , Isaa c , 5 6Smith , Rob t . , 1 21
Smoke mon ey, 1 1 3Smu ggle r , 2 1 8-2 1 9
So ldie r s a n d Sa i lor s , 49 -72
Sou th Cave , 201
Sou tham ,227
So u th il l , 67Sou thwe l l , 8Spa ld in g , J os . , 66
S pa r ke , Rose , 1 3 9
Sp ecta tor , qu oted , 68S poffo r th , 1 49Spo n g , John , 1 6
S po r tsme n ,E pita phs o n , 92 104
S ta lham , 220
S tamfo rd , 1 61S ta n to n Ha r c ou r t , 2 10S t . He le n a ,
1 42
S t . Pe te r ’
s , Isle of Tha n e t , 1 62S tockbr idge , 107S tokes , Thoma s , 205S to n e , J ohn ,
1 28
S to n ey Middle ton , 77S t r a n ge fa r ewe l l se rmon ,
1 2
St r e e t , Amos , 97S t r a ke r , Da n ie l , 52St r a t fo r d -ou -Avo n ,
1 76
St r u tt , Ma tthew , 2 1 4
S t ru tton , Wm . ,22 1
Su ffo lk , Ea r l o f, 46Su n de r la n d Po i n t , 47S u tto n Co ldfie ld , 3 9 , 1 98
Sw a in . Cha r le s , qu o te d , 82Sw a i r
,Edwa rd , 1 9
Sw ift , quo ted, 85 , 90-9 1
Sw ift , G eo . , 7 7
Ta les o f a G r a n d fa the r , 1 5 7
Tappy, J a s ., 3 9
Ta u n ton ,1 8
Tawto n , 1 3 9
Taylo r , Joh n ,1 3
Taylor , J n o . , qu o ted , 1 08Te a r , Da n ie l , 1 48Te e to ta l , a u tho r of the word , 1 97
INDEX . 24 1
Ten n is ba l l , 1 03Tewke sbury Abbey, 1 72Tha c ke r ey, J os . , 106Theodo r e , K in g of Co r s ica , 1 80
Th etche r , Thoma s , 1 1 8Thompson , Fr a n c is , 106Thompson ,
Rev . Pa t r ic k , 1 40Thorn to n , A braham ,
1 99
Tho r sby Pa rk , 95Thur sday, e ven ts o n . 2 1 4
T ideswe l l , 1 7 7Tidm in to n ,
40
Tifi'e'
y, a c k , 1 40
Times , quo ted , 3Tippe r , Thoma s , 1 05Ton br id ge , 1 1 1Ton son , Jac ob , 26Tra desca n ts , 2 1 -22Tr ade smen , E pita phs on ,
1 -23
Tr ow sda le , T . B. ,qu oted , 1 70
Tu ra r,T . , 1 9
Tur n e r , R icha rd , 1 97Tw ic ken ham
,43
Typogra phic a l Epita phs , 24-3 4
U ley, 1 81
Upton -o n -Seve r n , 107Ut toxe te r , 2
Vege ta r ian ,1 8]
Wa ge r of ba tt le,1 99 -201
W akefie ld , 73Wa lc o t t , 2 1 7Wa les , Pr in c e of, 44
Wa lfor d , Edwa rd , 3Wa lke r , He len ,
1 73Wa lke r , John , 5
Wa l l , David , 77
Wa l las,Robt . , 1 20
Wa r r en , S ir G eor ge , 3 7Wa tc hmake r s , 1 -5Wa tson , Jos . , 3 6
W a ver ley n ove ls , 1 75Weave r , 1 7Weem , 64
We lton , 202
We stmin ste r , 24, 78, 79 , 1 65Westo n ,
1 7Wha l ley,
1 98
Whitake r , Dr .
, 1 98
Whitby,1 78
Whi teha l l , Rev . J 1 3 5
Whit ta ke r , W m . , 67Whit ty,
Ma ry, 3 8
Whi two r th , Rev. R . H. , quo ted ,97
Wiggleswo r th , John ,1 98
Wilks , Ma jo r , 1 42Will iamso n ,
A dam , 32
Wimb le don ,20
Win che st e r Ca thedr a l , 5 1 , 1 1 8Win dso r , S t . G e or ge ’
s Chape l , 45Wir kswo r th , 2 1 5VViseman , Wm . , 21 7Wo lst an ton ,
222
Woodbr idge , 66
Wo r dswor th , Wm . , 1 44
Wo rme , S ir R icha r d , 1 3 8Wo r ra l l , Thoma s , 1 26Wr e st le r , 1 01Wr ight , Joe , 20
Wr i ghtson , Rod ge r , 206Wyn te r , S ir Edwa r d , 5 5
Ya rmou th , 1 6, 5 6, 104Yo r k , 1 9 1 , 2 1 2Yo rkshir e dwar f, 1 60!Yorksh ir e gian t , 1 59
Va luable and in teresting.— The Times.
Readable a s we l l as in structive .
”— The Globe .
A va luable addition to any l ibrary.
”— Der byshir e Times.
The Bygo n e S e r ie s .
In this se ries th e fo llowing vo lumes a re inc luded , and issued a t 7 5 . 6d.
each . Demy 8vo , c lo th gi lt.
These bo oks have been favourably reviewed in the leading c ritica l
journ a ls of Englan d and Ame rica .
Ca refu lly w ritten a rtic les by recogn ised autho r ities a re in c luded o n
histo ry, castles, abbeys, biography, roman tic episodes, legenda ry lo re ,traditio n a l sto r ies, curious customs, fo lk -lo re , e tc . , e tc .
The w o rks a re i llustra ted by emin en t a rtists, and by the reproduc tion o f
qua in t pictures of th e o lden time .
BYGONE BERKSHIRE , edited by Rev. P . H . D itchfi e ld , M .A . , F .S. A .
BYGONE CHESHIRE ,edited byWilliam Andrews.
BYGONE DEVONSHIRE , by the Rev. Hilde r ic Fr iend.
BYGONE DURHAM , edi ted byWilliam Andrews.
BYGONE G LOUCESTERSHIRE , edited byWilliam Andrew s.
BYGONE HAMPSHIRE , edited byWilliam Andrews.
BYGONE HERTFORDSHIRE ,edited byWil liam Andrews.
BYGONE LEICESTERSHIRE , edited byWilliam Andrews.
BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE (2 vo ls) , edited byWilliam An drews.
BYGONE M IDDLESEX, edited byW i l liam An drews.
BYGONE NORFOLK, edited byWilliam An drews.
BYGONE NORTHUMBERLAND , edited byWilliam An drews.
BYGONE NOTTINGHAMS II IRE, byWill iam Steven son .
BYGONE SCOTLAND , by David Maxwe l l , C . E.
BYGONE SOMERSETSHIRE , edited by Cum ing Wa lte rs.
BYGONE SOUTHVVARK , by Mrs. E . Boge r .
BYGONE SUFFOLK,edited by Guming Wa lte rs.
BYGONE SURREY , edited byG eo rge C lin ch a nd S . W . Ke rshaw , P . S . A .
BYGONE SUSSEX , byW . E . A . Axon .
BYGONE WARWICKSHIRE , edited byWil liam Andrews.
BYGONE YORKSHIRE , edi ted byWil liam Andrew s.
Bygo n e P un ishme n ts .
BY WILLIAM ANDREWS .
D emy 82m, claik gi lt , 7 s . 6d. N umer ou s I llu str a tion s.
CONTENTS — Han gin g Hangin g in Cha in s Hangin g ,Drawin g, and Quar ter in g— P re ssin g to Dea th -D rown ingBurn in g to Death Bo i l in g to Death Beheading The
Hali fax Gi bbe t— The Sco ttish Ma iden — Mu ti latio n — Bran din g— The P i llo ry— Pun ishin g Au tho rs and Burn in g Bo oks— Fin ge rP i l lo ry— The Jougs— The Sto cks— The Drun kard’s C loakWhippin g and Whippin g-Po sts— Publ ic Pe n an c e — The Repentan ce Stoo l— Th e Ducking Sto o l— The B ran k , o r Sco ld ’sB r idle— R idin g the Stan g— In dex .
“Mr . An drews’ vo lume is admirab ly produ c ed , and con ta in sa c o l le c tion o f c u r ious i l lustration s, repre sen tative o f many o f
th e pun ishme n ts he de sc r ibe s, which con tr ibu te towards makin git o n e o f the mo st c u r ious and en te rta in in g books that we havepe rused fo r a lon g t ime .
”— N orfo/,é C/zr om
'
r/e
“ Tho se who wish to o bta in a good gen e ra l idea o n the
subje c t o f c r imin a l pun ishme n t in days lo ng past, wi ll o bta in itin this we l l -pr in ted and stou tly-boun d vo lum e .
”— D a z
’
/y M a i l.
“ Mr . W i ll iam An drews, o f Hu ll, is an in de fatigable searche ramo ngst the byways o f an c ie n t En gl ish histo ry, and it w ou ld bedifficu lt to n ame an an t iquary who ,
a lo n g h is c ho se n l in e s, hasmade so tho rough ly in teresting and in struc tive the mass o f
fac ts a pa in stakin g in dustry has brought to l ight . Fo r twe n tyfive years he has bee n de lvin g in to the subjec t o f Bygo n ePun ishmen ts, and is n ow o n e o f the be st au tho ritie s upo no bso le te systems o f jur isdic tio n and to rtu re , fo r to rture was, in
va r ious fo rms,the ma in charac ter istic o f pun ishmen t in the
go od o ld t ime s. Th e re fo rmatio n o f the pe rso n pun ished wasa far mo re remo te o bj ec t o f re tr ibut io n than it is with us
,and
even with us re fo rm is ve ry much a matte r o f se n t imen t .Pun ishmen t was in te n ded to be pun ishme n t to the in dividua l inthe first p lac e , and in the seco n d a wa rn ing to the re st . I t is a
grue some study, but Mr . An drews n owhere wr ites fo r m e ree ffec t . As an an tiqua ry o ught to do , he has made the c o l lec tio no f fac ts and the ir pre se rvat io n fo r mode rn studen ts o f histo ry ina c lea r, stra ightfo rward n arrat ive his ma in o bj ec t, a nd in thisvo lume h e ke eps to it c o n siste n tly. Eve ry page is the re fo re fu l lo f cur ious, out-of-the -way fac ts, with autho r ities and re fe ren ce samply quoted .
”Yor ksfiir e P ost.
Mr . An drews ’ bo oks a re a lw ays in te re st ing.— Cl mw lr Be ll,»
No studen t of Mr . Andrew s’ books can be a du ll a fte r -din n e r speaker ,fo r h is w ritings a re fu ll o f cu rious out-of-the -way in fo rma tio n and goodsto ries.
— Bi rmingham Da ily Ga z ette .
England in the Days o f Old.
Bv WILLIAM ANDREWS,D emy 8vo . , 7 s. 6d. N umer ous I llustr ations .
THIS vo lume is o n e of un usua l in te rest and va lue to the love ro f o lde n days and ways, and can hardly fa il to in te rest and
in struc t the reade r . It reca lls many fo rgo tten episodes, scen e s,charac te rs, man n e rs, customs, e tc .
, in the so c ia l and domesticli fe o f En glan d .
CONTENTS -When Wigs w e re Wo r‘
n — Powderin g the Hair— Men
Wea r ing Muffs— Con ce r n ing Co rpo ra tion Customs - Bribe s fo r the Pa la te
Rebe l Heads on CityG a te s— Bur ia l a t Cross Roads— De ta in ing the Deadfo r Debt— A Nobleman ’
s Househo ld in Tudo r Times— Bread and Bakingin Bygon e Days
— Ar ise , Mistress, Arise — The Turn spit— A G o ssip abo utthe G oo se — Be lls as Time -Te lle rs— The Age of Snuffing
— Sta te Lo tte r ie sBea r -Ba iting— Mo rr is Dan ce rs— The Fo lk -Lo re of Midsumme r Eve
Ha rvest Home— Cu rious Char ities— An O ld-Time Ch ron ic le r .
L IST OF ILLUSTRATIONS — The House of Common s in the time o f S ir
Robe r t Wa lpo le— Egyp tian W ig— The Ea r l of A lbema r le— Campa ign W ig—Pe riwig w ith Ta il— Ramillie -W ig— Pig-ta il Wig— Bag-W ig
— A rchbishopTilo tso n— Hea r t -Breake rs - A Ba rbe r ’s Shop in the time of Queen Elizabe th— With and Withou t a W ig— Stea ling a Wig— Man w ith Muff, 1 693Burying the Ma ce a t No ttingham— The Lo rd Mayo r of Yo rk esco rtingPrin cess Marga re t— The Mayo r o f Wycombe go ing to the Gu ildha llWoman w ea r ing a Sco ld’s Bridle— The Brank— Andrew Marve l l— O ldLondon Bridge , shew ing heads of rebe ls o n the ga te — Axe , Block , and
Execution e r ’s Ma sk— Ma rga re t Ro pe r taking leave of he r fa the r , Sir ThomasMo re — Rebe l H eads, from a pr in t published in I 746
— Temple Ba r in Dr .John son ’
s time— Micklega te Ba r , Yo rk— C lock , Hampton Court Pa laceDraw ing a Lo tte ry in the G u ildha ll , In t — Adve rti sing the Last Sta teLo tte ry— Pa r taking of the Pungen t Pin ch— Mo rris Dan ce , from a pa in tedwin dow a t Be tley— Mo rr is Dan ce , temp. James I .
— A Whitsun Mo rris
Dan ce— Bea r G a rden , o r Hope Thea tre , I647— The G lobe Theatre , temp.
Elizabe th— Plan ofBankside ea r ly in the Seven teen th Cen tury— John Stow’
s
Monumen t.A ca refu lly prepa red Index e nables the reader to refe r to the var ied and
in te re sting co n te n ts of the bo ok .
A very a ttra c t ive and in fo rming bo ok .— Bi rmingli am D a i ly Gazette.
Mr . Andrew s has the true a rt o f na rration , and con tr ives to give us
th e results o f h is lea rn ing w ith con side rable freshn ess of style , wh i lst h i ssubj ec ts a re a lw ays in te re sting and pic turesque .
”— M am lzester Cou r i er .
The bo ok is o f unusua l in te rest . ” —Ea stem Mor n ing N ew s.
Of the many c leve r bo oks which Mr . Andrew s has wr itten n on e doe s
him grea te r c redit tha n “ Engla nd in the Days o f O ld ," md none W i ll bel ead w ith grea te r pro fi
‘
.- 1Vor l l ur n Gaz et te .
Bygo n e Church Life in S co tla nd.
EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS .
Demy 8uo . , Cloth gilt, 7s . 6d.
CONTENTS —The Cro ss in Sco tland— Be ll Lo re — Sa in ts andHo lyWe lls— Life in the P re -Re fo rmatio n Cathedra ls —Publ icWo rship in Olde n T ime s— Church Mu sic — Disc ipl in e in the
Ki rk — Cur io sities o f,Church Fin an c e — W itchc ra ft and the
K irk— Birth and Baptisms, Customs and Superstition sMarr iage Laws and Customs— Gre tn a Green Gossip— Deathand Bur ia l Cu stoms and Superstitio n s— Th e Sto ry o f a Stoo lThe Martyrs
’ Mo n umen t,Edin burgh— In dex .
The bo ok fa ir ly te ems with ra re glean in gs from the fie ldso f a rchaeo logy and fo lk-lo re , and can n o t fa i l to be o f extremeva lue to the an tiquary and of great in te rest to eve ry in te ll igen treade r .
”— A or t/z Br i tt
's/z D a i ly M a i l.
“A han dsome vo lume .—A rdr ossa n H er a ld.
A fasc in a tin g book .
”— Oba n Expr ess.
Capita l ly put toge the r, fin e ly i l lustra ted, and a we l l pr in tedvo lume .
”— Gr ief
'
j ou r n a l.“ The vo lume is c e rta in to re ce ive a we lcome from Scotsmen
a t home and abroad .
”-B a i lu Cit r on icle.
Eve ry sen ten c e in the bo ok is e ithe r in structive o r amusin g,
and it shou ld c o n sequen tly find many appre c iative reade rs. Itc o n ta in s a vast amoun t o f tradit io n a l and histor ica l lo rere fe rr ing a lmo st to eve ry distr ic t o f Sc o tlan d . The re are someartistic i l lustra tio n s, e spe c ia lly those o f G lasgow Cathedra l andviews o f an c ien t po r tio n s o f that c ity from the pe n c i l o f DavidSma ll .”— D u ndee Adver tiser .
“ A pre -emin en tly readable wo rk .— D undee Cou r ier .
A va luable and e n te rta in in g vo lume .
”- 1Vezveastle D a ily
Leader .
“ An e n gro ssing book .— P eople
’s j ou r n a l .
En te -
'ta in ing and in struc tive .
— Leeds i ll er ru ry.
The book has been care fu lly prepared, and give s in tere stin g gl impses in to the o ld-time l ife of our c oun try, and
shou ld, as its edito r de sires, ‘win a we lc ome from Sco tsmen at
home and abro ad .
’— A ber a
’
een Fr ee P r ess .
“ A va luable vo lume .
”-K i lin a r n ock S ta nda rd.
A de l ightfu l book which w e rec ommen d to the n o tic e o f
all in tere sted in Churc h l ife in Sco tland in o lden times.
”
P eople’
s Fr iend.
Eccle s ia stica l Cur io sitie s .
EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS.
Demy 8uo . , Cloth gi lt, 7 s . 6d. Numerous Illustra tions .
CONTENTS — The Chu rc h Doo r— Sac rific ial Foundation sThe Bu i ldin g of the Engl ish Ca thedra ls— Ye Chape ll o f OureLadye
— Some Famous Spire s— The Five o f Spades and the
Chu rch o f Ashto n -un de r-Lyn e — Be l ls and the ir Me ssagesSto r ie s about B e lls— Co n c e rn in g Fo n t-Lo re —Watchin g Chambe rs in Chu rc he s— Churc h Chests— An An tiquar ian Pro blemThe Leper W in dow— Maz es— Churchyard Superst itio n sCur ious An n oun cemen ts in the Church— Big Bo n e s Pre se rvedin Chu rches— Samue l Pepys at Chu rch— In dex .
An in te re stin g and e n gro ssin g vo lume .— Cnu r elz Bells.
I t c on sists o f studie s by var ious wr i te rs in the histo ry,customs, and fo lk-lo re o f the Churc h o f En gland . Whi lst itwi l l appea l mo st stro n gly to tho se who are given to an t iquar ianand e cc le sio logica l in qu iry, it c o n ta in s much that shou ld proveo f in te re st to any in te l l igen t reader . The va r ious c on tr ibution sgive eviden c e o f dil igen t and disc r imin atin g re search , and
embodymu ch o ld-wo r ld lo re that is cur ious and in struc tive .
”
Aberdeen Fr ee P r ess .
Wi l l in struc t and amuse all readers.— T/ze N ews, edited
by the Rev. Char le s Bu llo ck .
To eve ry love r o f an t iqu itie s, to eve ry studen t o f histo ry,and to eve ry membe r o f th e Church , suc h a bo ok as this i s a
boon . The chapte rs are a ttrac tive ly wr itte n in tho rough lypopu la r fo rm , ye t at the same t ime the reade r is acqu ir i n gkn ow ledge which can se ldom be o bta in ed without re searc h o r
c o n su ltin g the massive treat ises o f an tiquar ie s. The pub l icationOf the se r ie s o f wo rks o n Church lo re is c on sequen tly o f muchbe n efit, and it ca lls fo r than ks and apprec iatio n .
”— Bi r 7n ingna 7n
D a i ly G a z ette.
The subje c t is a fasc in atin g on e , and M r . An drews has go ttogethe r a capi ta l team o f c o n tr ibuto rs. The re su l t is a vo lumen o t o f dry a rchaeo logy, but o f l iving in te rest, even though itdea ls with bygo n e t ime s. Altogether a most readable bo ok.S/zefiield D a ily Telegr ap/t .
Lo re a nd Lege nd o f the English
Church .
BY THE REV. GEO . S . TYACK,B.A .
Cr own , cloth extr a , 7 3 . 6d.
CONTENTS — In troduc tio n — The Bu i ldin g o f the ChurchThe Churc h Ste eple— The Chu rchyard— Graves and Fun era ls— The Nave— The Pulpit and the Lec tern — The Fo n t— Fo lkLo re and Customs o f Marr iage— The Chan c e l and the Cho irAlms and Offe r in gs— Con c lusion — In dex .
SEVENTEEN FULL-PAGE PLATES .
A han dsome and substan tia l vo lume The fe r ti le theme ha s o ftenbeen trea ted ; i t appea ls mo st stro ngly to eve ry an tiqua ry and histo r ian ;and in Mr . Tyack i t ha s found a ve ry sympa the tic and w e l l -in fo rmedexpon e n t . An arden t Churchma n himse lf, he is a grace fu l and culturedwri te r , a pa in staking studen t , an adept c ompile r ; and in this, as in h is
o ther wo rks, he ha s proved w ith wha t skill he c an br ing tho se qua lities in toope ra tio n in o rde r to produc e a vo lume which is a t o n ce in te resting to thegen e ra l r eade r and a so l id c on tribution to the l ite rature o f its c la ss.
”
Birmingham D a i ly Ga z ette .
“ The Rev. G e o . S . Tya ck , B. A . , whose bo oks o n ecc lesiastica l an tiqu ities a re a lr eadywe l l a nd favou rably kn own ,
has la id us stil l furthe r unde robliga tion by h is la test wo rk , Lo re an d Lege n d o f the English Church .
’
Mr . Tyack is o ve rfl ow ing w ith in fo rma tio n , and has a kn ack o f impa r tingi t iri a pleasa n t go ssiping fa shio n , which a t o n ce take s h is w o rk out o f the
ca tego ry o f dry-as-dust c ompila tio n s, w i thou t fo r a momen t lessen in g itsr e liability. The mo st casua l o bse rve r is awa re how the vil lage chu rch iscon n ec ted w ith the histo ry o f the past in its par ticu la r lo ca lity, bu t n o t on eman in a thousand is able to expla in the co n n ec tio n — o ften remo te , o r evenfa n c iful— be tw e en c e rta in church fea ture s and th e c ustoms and past l ives o fthe people . This , and much mo re , is Mr . Tya ck
’s pleasan t task to impa r t
in this we l l -prin ted a nd fin e ly-i llustra ted vo lume .
— Hull Times.
W e warmly commend th is handsome vo lume of Mr . Tyack’
s to our
reade rs. I t is embe llished w ith de l ightfu l illustra tio n s, and is o f a mostin fo rming cha rac te r . Mr . Tyac k is n o t appa l led by the quan tity o f legendshe finds in the Church . He says that they o ften en shrin e subl ime tru ths,and tha t they a cqu ire a n ew a nd l iving fo rc e if w e but rea lise that they a re
the k ey to the modes o f thought o f o ur fo re fathe rs. And he der ives th isc on so ling fact from the existen ce o f fo lk -lo re — tha t as the shadow p rovesth e existen ce of the substan c e , as hypo c r isy is sa id to show tha t eve n vic eapprec iate s vir tue , so do es supe rstitio n bea r w itn e ss to th e soundn ess of th eFa ith .
—Bi rm ingham Mer cury .
“ The Rev . G e o . S . Tya ck , B. A . , has added greatly to h is reputa tion as
the au tho r o f re liable and readable books w ith his Lo re a nd Legen d of
the English Church .
’I t is n o t me re ly a book to re ad , but o n e to pla ce
in th e refe ren c e libra ry, and it may be sa fe ly asse rted tha t i t w i l l find a
pe rman en t plac e in lite ra ture . The vo lume is w e l l il lustra ted , and the
pr in ting and binding a re a c r edit to Messrs. Wi lliam An drews Co . , the
publishe rs.
”— Hull Cr itic .
A Book About Be lls .
BY THE REv. GEO . S . TYACK,B.A. ,
Autho r of The H isto r ic Dress of the C le rgy, e tc .
Crown , Cloth extra , 63 .
CONTENTS — Inven tion o f Be lls— Be ll Foundin g and Be llFounde rs Date s and Name s o fBe l ls— The Dec o ration o fBe l ls— Some Notewo rthy Be lls— The Lo ss o f Old Be lls— Towe rsand Campan iles— m Be ll-Ringin g and Be ll-Rin gers— The Chu rchGo in g Be ll— Be l ls at Chr istian Festiva ls and Fasts— The
Epo chs o f Man’
s Li fe Marked by the Be lls— The B le ssingsand the Cursin gs o f the Be l ls— Be l ls as T ime -Marke rsSecu lar Uses o f Church and o the r Be l ls— Sma l l Be lls, Secu larand Sac red— Car i l lo n s— Be l fry Rhymes and Legends— I n dexo f Subjec ts, In dex o f Places.
TH IRTEEN FULL-PAGE PLATES .
A most usefu l and in te restin g bo ok . All who a re in te restedin be l ls will , w e fee l co nfiden t , read it with pleasure and profit. — Chur chFamily N ewsp aper .
“ A pleasin g, gracefu l , and scho lar ly book A handsomevo lume w hich w ill b e priz ed by the an tiquary, and can be pe rused withde light and advan tage by the gen e ra l reade r .
— N otes a nd Quer ies.
‘A Bo ok About Be l ls ’can be hea r tily commended .
”— P a ll Ma ll
Gaz ette.
“ An exce l len t and en te rta in ing bo ok , wh ich w e c ommend to the
a tten tion n o t on ly of those who a re spec ia l ly in te rested in the subj ect of
be lls, but to a ll love rs of qua in t a rchaeo logica l lo re .
”— Glasgow H er a ld.
The book is we ll pr in ted and a r tistic in form -Man chester Cour i er .
A Book About Be lls is destin ed to be the wo rk of re fe rence on the
subj ec t , and it ought to find a home on the she lves o f eve ry library.
”
N or ther n Ga z ette .
The ta sk Mr . Tyack has se t himse lf, he has c ar ried out admirably, andthroughout ca re and patien t resea rch are appar en t . ”— Lynn N ews
“ W e hear ti ly recommen d our reade rs to procure this vo lume .— The
Chur chwoman .
An en tertain in g work .— Yor kshir e P ost.
A Bo ok About Be l ls wil l in terest a lmost everyon e . An tiqua r ies w il lfind in it an immen se store of in fo rmation . but th e gen e ra l reader w il le
qqua llyy fee l that it is a book we ll wo r th reading from beginn in g to end.
he N ews, Edited by the Rev. Char les Bu llock , B. D .
An exce l len t wo rk .— S toclcton Her a ld .
“ I t is a we l l -wr itten work , and it is sure to be popular .
”— Hull
Chr istian Voice .
Covers th e who le fie ld of be ll-lore .
”Scotsma n .
Most interesting and fin e ly i l lustrated .— Birmingham D a ily Gaz ette.
Histo r ic Dre ss of th e Cle rgy.
BY THE REV. GEO. S. TYACK, B. A . ,
Author of “ Th e Cross in Ritua l , Ar chitecture , and Ar t.
Cr own , clo th extr a , 3 3 . 6d.
The wo rk con tain s thirty-three i llustration s from an c ie n tmo n umen ts, rare man usc r ipts, and othe r sourc es.
A Ve rypa in staking and ve ry va luable vo lume o n a subj ect which is j ustnow a ttra c ting much atten ti on . Mr . Tyack has c o llec ted a large amoun tof in forma ti on from sources n o t ava ilable to the un learn ed , and has pu t
toge the r h is ma te r ia ls in an attractive way. The book dese rves ‘
and is su re
to mee t w ith a w ide c ircu la tion .
”-D a i ly Cit r on iele.
This bo ok is w ri t te n w ith great ca re , and w ith an eviden t know ledgeof histo ry. I t is we ll wo r th th e study of a ll who w ish to be be tte r in fo rmedupon a subj e c t which the autho r sta tes in his pre face gives eviden t sign s o fa l ive ly and grow ing in te rest.”— Man cltester Cou r ier .
Those wh o are in te rested in the Dress of the Clergy w ill find fu ll info rma tion ga the red toge ther he re , and set fo rth in a lucid and scho la rlyw ay.
”— G lasgow Her a ld.
W e a re glad to w e lcome ye t ano ther vo lume from the autho r of The
Cro ss in Ritua l , Architec ture , and Ar t. ’ H is subject, chosen w ide ly and
ca rried ou t comprehen sive ly, makes this a va luable bo ok . of refe ren ce fo rall c lasses. I t is on ly the an tiqua ry and the e c c le sio logist who can devo tetime and ta le n t s to resea rch of this kind , and Mr . Tyack has don e a rea land lasting se rvic e to the Church of England by co llec ting so much usefula nd re liable in fo rma tion upon the dress of the c le rgy in a ll ages, and o fferingit to the public in such a popula r fo rm . W e do n o t h esi ta te to recommendthis vo lume as the most re liable and th e most comprehen sive il lustra tedgu ide to the histo ry and o rigin of the can on i ca l vestmen ts and o the r dresswo rn by the c le rgy, whe ther ec c lesiastica l , academica l , or gen e ra l , whilethe exce l len t wo rk in typography and binding make it a beautifu l giftbo ok .
”— Clxu r clz Bells.
A ve ry luc id h isto ry of e cc lesiasti ca l vestmen ts from Levitica l times toth e prese n t day.
”— P a ll Ma l l Ga z ette .
“ The bo o k can be re c ommended to th e undoubtedly large c lass o f
pe rsons who are seeking in fo rma tion on this a nd kindred subjec ts.
”— l e
Times.
The wo rk may be rea d e ithe r as pastime o r for in struc tion , and is
wo rthy o f a plac e in the pe rman en t sec tion of any library. The nume r‘ousillustratio n s , e xten sive c on ten ts table and index , and beautifu l w o rkman sh ip .
bo th in typography a nd bin ding , a re a ll featur es of a ttrac tion and u t i li ty.
- Du n dee Adver t i se r .