Part 11
On a Thursday she was born, On a Thursday made a bride, On a Thursday put to bed, On a Thursday broke her leg, and On a Thursday died.
From Kingsbridge, Devonshire, we have the following:--
Here I lie, at the chancel door, Here I lie, because I'm poor: The farther in, the more you pay, Here I lie as warm as they.
In the churchyard of Kirk Hallam, Derbyshire, a good specimen of a true Englishman is buried, named Samuel Cleater, who died May 1st, 1811, aged 65 years. The two-lined epitaph has such a genuine, sturdy ring about it, that it deserves to be rescued from oblivion:--
True to his King, his country was his glory, When Bony won, he said it was a story.
A monument in Bakewell Church, Derbyshire, is a curiosity, blending as it does in a remarkable manner business, loyalty, and religion:--
To the memory of MATTHEW STRUTT, of this town, farrier, long famed in these parts for veterinary skill. A good neighbour, and a staunch friend to Church and King. Being Churchwarden at the time the present peal of bells were hung, through zeal for the house of God, and unremitting attention to the airy business of the belfry, he caught a cold, which terminated his existence, May 25, 1798, in the 68th year of his age.
The old church of St. Mary's, Sculcoates, Hull, contains several interesting monuments, and we give a picture from a specially taken photograph for this volume of a quaint-looking mural memorial, having on it an inscription in shorthand. In Sheahan's "History of Hull," the following translation is given:--
In the vault beneath this stone lies the body of Mrs. JANE DELAMOTH, who departed this life, 10th January, 1761. She was a poor sinner, but not wicked without holiness, departing from good works, and departed in the faith of the Catholic Church, in full assurance of eternal happiness, by the agony and bloody sweat, by the cross and passion, by the precious death and burial, by the glorious resurrection and ascension of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
We believe that the foregoing is a unique epitaph, at all events we have not heard of or seen any other monumental inscription in shorthand.
The following curious epitaph is from Wirksworth, Derbyshire:--
Near this place lies the body of PHILIP SHULLCROSS,
Once an eminent Quill-driver to the attorneys in this Town. He died the 17th of Nov., 1787, aged 67.
Viewing Philip in a moral light, the most prominent and remarkable features in his character were his zeal and invincible attachment to dogs and cats, and his unbounded benevolence towards them, as well as towards his fellow-creatures.
TO THE CRITIC.
Seek not to show the devious paths Phil trode, Nor tear his frailties from their dread abode, In modest sculpture let this tombstone tell, That much esteem'd he lived, and much regretted fell.
At Castleton, in the Peak of Derbyshire, is another curious epitaph, partly in English and partly in Latin, to the memory of an attorney-at-law named Micah Hall, who died in 1804. It is said to have been penned by himself, and is more epigrammatic than reverent. It is as follows:--
To The memory of MICAH HALL, Gentleman, Attorney-at-Law, Who died on the 14th of May, 1804, Aged 79 years.
Quid eram, nescitis; Quid sum, nescitis; Ubi abii, nescitis; Valete.
This verse has been rendered thus:--
What I was you know not-- What I am you know not-- Whither I am gone you know not-- Go about your business.
In Sarnesfield churchyard, near Weobley, is the tombstone of John Abel, the celebrated architect of the market-houses of Hereford, Leominster, Knighton, and Brecknock, who died in the year 1694, having attained the ripe old age of ninety-seven. The memorial stone is adorned with three statues in kneeling posture, representing Abel and his two wives; and also displayed are the emblems of his profession--the rule, the compass, and the square--the whole being designed and sculptured by himself. The epitaph, a very quaint one, was also of his own writing, and runs thus:--
This craggy stone a covering is for an architector's bed; That lofty buildings raisèd high, yet now lyes low his head; His line and rule, so death concludes, are lockèd up in store; Build they who list, or they who wist, for he can build no more.
His house of clay could hold no longer May Heaven's joys build him a stronger. JOHN ABEL. Vive ut vivas in vitam æternam.
In the churchyard of Walcott, Norfolk, the following cynical epitaph may be seen:--
In memory of WILLIAM WISEMAN, who died 5th of August, 1834, aged 72 years.
Under this marble, or under this sill, Or under this turf, or e'en what you will, Whatever an heir, or a friend in his stead, Or any good creature, shall lay o'er my head, Lies one who ne'er cared, and still cares not a pin What they said, or may say, of the mortal within, But who, living and dying, serene, still, and free, Trusts in God that as well as he was he shall be.
From Gilling churchyard, Richmondshire, is the following:--
Unto the mournful fate of young JOHN MOORE, Who fell a victim to some villain's power; In Richmond Lane, near to Ask Hall, 'tis said, There was his life most cruelly betray'd. Shot with a gun, by some abandon'd rake, Then knock'd o' th' head with a hedging stake, His soul, I trust, is with the blest above, There to enjoy eternal rest and love; Then let us pray his murderer to discover, That he to justice may be brought over.
The crime occurred in 1750, and the murderer was never discovered.
From a gravestone in Patcham was copied the following inscription:--
Sacred to the memory of DANIEL SCALES, who was unfortunately shot on Tuesday evening, Nov. 7, 1796.
Alas! swift flew the fated lead, Which pierced through the young man's head, He instant fell, resigned his breath, And closed his languid eyes on death. And you who to this stone draw near, Oh! pray let fall the pitying tear, From this sad instance may we all Prepare to meet Jehovah's call.
The real story of Scales' death is given in Chambers's "Book of Days," and is as follows: Daniel Scales was a desperate smuggler, and one night he, with many more, was coming from Brighton heavily laden, when the Excise officers and soldiers fell in with them. The smugglers fled in all directions; a riding officer, as such persons were called, met this man, and called upon him to surrender his booty, which he refused to do. The officer knew that "he was too good a man for him, for they had tried it out before; so he shot Daniel through the head."
The following inscription copied from a monument at Darfield, near Barnsley, records a murder which occurred on the spot where the stone is placed:--
Sacred To the memory of THOMAS DEPLEDGE, Who was murdered at Darfield, On the 11th of October, 1841.
At midnight drear by this wayside A murdered man poor DEPLEDGE died, The guiltless victim of a blow Aimed to have brought another low, From men whom he had never harmed By hate and drunken passions warmed. Now learn to shun in youth's fresh spring The courses which to ruin bring.
A stone dated 1853, the Minster graveyard, Beverley, is placed to the memory of the victim of a railway carriage tragedy, and bears the following extraordinary inscription:--
Mysterious was my cause of Death In the Prime of Life I Fell; For days I Lived yet ne'er had breath The secret of my fate to tell. Farewell my child and husband dear By cruel hands I leave you, Now that I'm dead, and sleeping here, My Murderer may deceive you, Though I am dead, yet I shall live, I must my Murderer meet, And then Evidence, shall give My cause of death complete. Forgive my child and husband dear, That cruel Man of blood; He soon for murder must appear Before the Son of God.
Near the west end of Holy Trinity Church, Stalham, Norfolk, may be seen a gravestone bearing the following inscription:--
JAMES AMIES, 1831.
Here lies an honest independent man, Boast more ye great ones if ye can; I have been kicked by a bull and ram, Now let me lay contented as I am.
The following singular verse occurs upon a tombstone contiguous to the chancel door in Grindon churchyard, near Leek, Staffordshire:--
Farewell, dear friends; to follow me prepare; Also our loss we'd have you to beware, And your own business mind. Let us alone, For you have faults great plenty of your own. Judge not of us, now We are in our Graves Lest ye be Judg'd and awfull Sentence have; For Backbiters, railers, thieves, and liars, Must torment have in Everlasting Fires.
On a stone in the north aisle of the church of St. Peter of Mancroft, Norwich, is the following pathetic inscription:--
SUSAN BROWNE, the last deceased of eleven children (the first ten interr'd before the northern porch) from their surviving parents, John and Susan his wife. She sought a city to come, and upon the 30th of August departed hence and found it.
A{o} Æt. 19. Dm. 1686.
Here lies a single Flower scarcely blowne, Ten more, before the Northern Door are strowne, Pluckt from the self-same Stalke, only to be Transplanted to a better Nursery.
From Hedon, in Holderness, East Yorkshire, is the following:--
Here lyeth the body of WILLIAM STRUTTON, of Patrington, Buried the 18{th} of May 1734 Aged 97. Who had, by his first wife, twenty-eight children, And by a second seventeen; Own father to forty-five Grand-father to eighty-six, Great Grand-father to ninety-seven, And Great, Great-Grand-father to twenty-three; In all two hundred and fifty-one.
In Laurence Lideard churchyard, says Pettigrew, is a similar one:--
The man that rests in this grave has had 8 wives, by whom he had 45 children, and 20 grand- children. He was born rich, lived and died poor, aged 94 years, July 30th, 1774. Born at Bewdley in Worcestershire in 1650.
According to the epitaph of Ann Jennings at Wolstanton:--
Some have children--some have none-- Here lies the mother of twenty-one.
The following quaint epitaph in Dalry Cemetery commemorates John Robertson, a native of the United States, who died 29th September, 1860, aged 22:--
Oh, stranger! pause, and give one sigh For the sake of him who here doth lie Beneath this little mound of earth, Two thousand miles from land of birth.
The Rev. William Mason, the Hull poet, married in 1765 Mary Sherman, of Hull. Two years later she died of consumption at Bristol. In the Cathedral of that city is a monument containing the following lines by her husband:--
Take, holy earth! all that my soul holds dear: Take that best gift which heaven so lately gave: To Bristol's fount I bore with trembling care Her faded form; she bow'd to taste the wave, And died. Does youth, does beauty, read the line? Does sympathetic fear their breasts alarm? Speak, dead Maria! breathe a strain divine; Ev'n from the grave thou shalt have power to charm. Bid them be chaste, be innocent, like thee; Bid them in duty's sphere as meekly move; And if so fair, from vanity as free; As firm in friendship, and as fond in love-- Tell them, though 'tis an awful thing to die, ('Twas e'en to thee) yet the dread path once trod, Heav'n lifts its everlasting portals high, And bids "the pure in heart behold their God."
How different is the sentiment of the foregoing to the following, said by Pettigrew and other compilers of collections of epitaphs to be inscribed on a monument in a Cumberland church, but as a matter of fact it does not exist on a memorial:--
Here lies the bodies Of THOMAS BOND and MARY his wife. She was temperate, chaste, and charitable; BUT She was proud, peevish, and passionate. She was an affectionate wife, and a tender mother: BUT Her husband and child, whom she loved, Seldom saw her countenance without a disgusting frown, Whilst she received visitors, whom she despised, with an endearing smile. Her behaviour was discreet towards strangers; BUT Independent in her family. Abroad, her conduct was influenced by good breeding; BUT At home, by ill temper. She was a professed enemy to flattery, And was seldom known to praise or commend; BUT The talents in which she principally excelled, Were difference of opinion, and discovering flaws and imperfections. She was an admirable economist, And, without prodigality, Dispensed plenty to every person in her family; BUT Would sacrifice their eyes to a farthing candle. She sometimes made her husband happy with her good qualities; BUT Much more frequently miserable--with her many failings: Insomuch that in thirty years cohabitation he often lamented That maugre of all her virtues, He had not, in the whole, enjoyed two years of matrimonial comfort. AT LENGTH Finding that she had lost the affections of her husband, As well as the regard of her neighbours, Family disputes having been divulged by servants, She died of vexation, July 20, 1768, Aged 48 years.
Her worn out husband survived her four months and two days, And departed this life, Nov. 28, 1768, In the 54th year of his age. WILLIAM BOND, brother to the deceased, erected this stone, As a _weekly monitor_, to the surviving wives of this parish, That they may avoid the infamy Of having their memories handed to posterity With a PATCH WORK character.
In St. Peter's churchyard, Barton-on-Humber, there is a tombstone with the following strange inscription:--
Doom'd to receive half my soul held dear, The other half with grief, she left me here. Ask not her name, for she was true and just; Once a fine woman, but now a heap of dust.
As may be inferred, no name is given; the date is 1777. A curious and romantic legend attaches to the epitaph. In the above year an unknown lady of great beauty, who is conjectured to have loved "not wisely, but too well," came to reside in the town. She was accompanied by a gentleman, who left her after making lavish arrangements for her comfort. She was proudly reserved in her manners, frequently took long solitary walks, and studiously avoided all intercourse. In giving birth to a child she died, and did not disclose her name or family connections. After her decease, the gentleman who came with her arrived, and was overwhelmed with grief at the intelligence which awaited him. He took the child away without unravelling the secret, having first ordered the stone to be erected, and delivered into the mason's hands the verse, which is at once a mystery and a memento. Such are the particulars gathered from "The Social History and Antiquities of Barton-on-Humber," by H. W. Ball, issued in 1856. Since the publication of Mr. Ball's book, we have received from him the following notes, which mar somewhat the romantic story as above related. We are informed that the person referred to in the epitaph was the wife of a man named Jonathan Burkitt, who came from the neighbourhood of Grantham. He had been _valet de chambre_ to some gentleman or nobleman, who gave him a large sum of money on his marrying the lady. They came to reside at Barton, where she died in childbirth. Burkitt, after the death of his wife, left the town, taking the infant (a boy), who survived. In about three years he returned, and married a Miss Ostler, daughter of an apothecary at Barton. He there kept the "King's Head," a public-house at that time. The man got through about £2,000 between leaving Grantham and marrying his second wife.
On the north wall of the chancel of Southam Church is a slab to the memory of the Rev. Samuel Sands, who, being embarrassed in consequence of his extensive liberality, committed suicide in his study (now the hall of the rectory). The peculiarity of the inscription, instead of suppressing inquiry, invariably raises curiosity respecting it:--
Near this place was deposited, on the 23rd April, 1815, the remains of S. S., 38 years rector of this parish.
From St. Margaret's, Lynn, on William Scrivenor, cook to the Corporation, who died in 1684, we have the following epitaph:--
Alas! alas! WILL. SCRIVENOR'S dead, who by his art, Could make Death's Skeleton edible in each part. Mourn, squeamish Stomachs, and ye curious Palates, You've lost your dainty Dishes and your Salades: Mourn for yourselves, but not for him i' th' least. He's gone to taste of a more Heav'nly Feast.
The next was written by Capt. Morris on Edward Heardson (thirty years cook to the Beefsteak Society):--
His last _steak_ done; his fire rak'd out and dead, _Dish'd_ for the worms himself, lies _honest Ned_: _We_, then, whose breasts bore all his _fleshly toils_, Took all his _bastings_ and shared all his _broils_; Now, in our turn, _a mouthful carve_ and _trim_, And _dress_ at Phoebus' _fire_, one _scrap_ for him:-- His heart which well might grace the noblest grave, Was grateful, patient, modest, just and brave; And ne'er did earth's wide maw _a morsel_ gain Of _kindlier juices_ or more tender _grain_; His tongue, where duteous friendship humbly dwelt, Charm'd all who heard the faithful zeal he felt; Still to whatever end his _chops_ he mov'd, 'Twas all _well season'd_, _relish'd_, and approv'd; This room his heav'n!--When threat'ning Fate drew nigh The closing shade that dimm'd his ling'ring eye, His last fond hopes, betray'd by many a tear, Were--That his life's last _spark_ might glimmer here; And the last words that choak'd his parting sigh-- "Oh! at your feet, dear masters, let me die!"
In St. John's churchyard, Chester, is an inscription as follows:--
Under this stone lieth the Broken Remains of STEPHEN JONES who had his leg cut off without the Consent of Wife or Friends on the 23rd October, 1842, in which day he died. Aged 31 years. Reader I bid you farewell. May the Lord have mercy on you in the day of trouble.
An inscription in St. Michael's churchyard, Macclesfield, illustrates the weakness for the love of display of the poor at a funeral:--
MARY BROOMFIELD dyd 19 Novr., 1755, aged 80.
The chief concern of her life for the last twenty years was to order and provide for her funeral. Her greatest pleasure was to think and talk about it. She lived many years on a pension of ninepence a week, and yet she saved £5, which, at her own request, was laid out on her funeral.
We give as the frontispiece to this volume a picture of the Martyrs' Monument, in Greyfriars' churchyard, Edinburgh. The graves of the martyrs are in that part of the burial-ground where criminals were interred, and an allusion is made to this fact in the inscription that follows:--
Halt, passenger, take heed what you do see, This tomb doth shew for what some men did die. Here lies interr'd the dust of those who stood 'Gainst perjury, resisting unto blood; Adhering to the covenants and laws; Establishing the same: which was the cause Their lives were sacrific'd unto the lust Of prelatists abjur'd; though here their dust Lies mixt with murderers and other crew, Whom justice justly did to death pursue. But as for them, no cause was to be found Worthy of death; but only they were found Constant and steadfast, zealous, witnessing For the prerogatives of Christ their King; Which truths were seal'd by famous Guthrie's head, And all along to Mr. Renwick's blood: They did endure the wrath of enemies: Reproaches, torments, deaths and injuries. But yet they're those, who from such troubles came, And now triumph in glory with the Lamb.
From May 27th, 1661, that the most noble Marquis of Argyle was beheaded, to the 17th February, 1688, that Mr. James Renwick suffered, were one way or other murdered and destroyed for the same cause about eighteen thousand, of whom were executed at Edinburgh about an hundred of noblemen, gentlemen, ministers and others, noble martyrs for JESUS CHRIST. The most of them lie here.
The above monument was first erected by James Currie, merchant, Pentland, and others, in 1706; renewed in 1771.
Rev. vi. 9.--And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.
10.--And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11.--And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
Chap. vii. 14.--These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Chap. ii. 10.--Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
The following is stated to have been added to the monument at a subsequent date, but at the present time there is not any trace of it:--
Yes, though the sceptic's tongue deride Those martyrs who for conscience died-- Though modern history blight their fame, And sneering courtiers hoot the name Of men who dared alone be free, Amidst a nation's slavery;-- Yet long for them the poet's lyre Shall wake its notes of heavenly fire; Their names shall nerve the patriot's hand Upraised to save a sinking land; And piety shall learn to burn With holier transports o'er their urn. JAMES GRAHAME. Peace to their mem'ry! let no impious breath Sell their fair fame, or triumph o'er their death. Let Scotia's grateful sons their tear-drops shed, Where low they lie in honour's gory bed; Rich with the spoil their glorious deeds had won, And purchas'd freedom to a land undone-- A land which owes its glory and its worth To those whom tyrants banish'd from the earth.
For the accomplishment of this resolution, the three kingdoms lie under no small debt of gratitude to the Covenanters. They suffered and bled both in fields and on scaffolds for the cause of civil and religious liberty; and shall we reap the fruit of their sufferings, their prayers and their blood, and yet treat their memory either with indifference or scorn? No! whatever minor faults may be laid to their charge, whatever trivial accusations may be brought against them, it cannot be but acknowledged that they were the men who, "singly and alone," stood forward in defence of Scotland's dearest rights, and to whom we at the present day owe everything that is valuable to us either as men or as Christians.
It is an easy matter to arrange words forming a simple sentence in English to appear like Latin. This was successfully done in 1796, when a print was published under the title of "The Puzzle." "This curious inscription is humbly dedicated," says the author, "to the penetrating geniuses of Oxford, Cambridge, Eton, and the learned Society of Antiquaries." The words have every appearance of a Latin inscription, but if the stops and capital letters or division of the words are disregarded, the epitaph may easily be read as follows:--
Beneath this stone reposeth CLAUD COSTER, tripe-seller, of Impington, as doth his consort Jane.
Ye Ende
Index.
Abdidge, John, 5
Abel, John, 216
Abery, Sarah, 37
Abingdon, John, 7
Acrostic, 170, 172, 173
Actors and Musicians, Epitaphs on, 73-91
Adderly, Sampson, 38
Alexander, J. H., 83