Curious Epitaphs - Forgotten Books

MA RTYRS'MONUMENT , ED IN BU RGH .

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


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

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join


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 .


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


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.


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 .


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 .


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


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


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


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


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 .


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


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


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


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),


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


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 .


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


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


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


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


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


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 ,


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


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


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


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


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

PHCEBE HE

d 508

A GRAVESTONE IN BR IGHTON CHU RCHYARD .

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


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


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.


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


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


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.


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 ,


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 .


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


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 .


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


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


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 ,


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


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


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,


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 .”


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 .


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,


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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 ] .


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


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


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;


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 .


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


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


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 .


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


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


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


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 .


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.


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 .


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


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


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,


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


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


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


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


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


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,


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 .


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 ?


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 ,


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


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,


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


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


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


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,


‘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


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 .


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


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


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


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 .


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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.


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


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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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


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


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,


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


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


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 .


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


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


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


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 .

Curious Epitaphs - Forgotten Books

Documents

Transcript of Curious Epitaphs - Forgotten Books