Curious Epitaphs Part 18

Here lies at rest, I do protest, One CHEST within another!

The chest of wood was very good,-- Who says so of the other?

"Some doubt has been thrown on the probability of a man of Marten's culture having written, as is implied in the inscription, the epitaph which has a place on his memorial.

"The regicide was a son of Sir Henry Marten, a favourite of the first James, and by him appointed Princ.i.p.al Judge of the Admiralty and Dean of Arches. Young Henry was himself a prominent person during the period of the disastrous Civil War, and was elected Member of Parliament for Berkshire in 1640. He was, in politics, a decided Republican, and threw in his lot with the Roundhead followers of st.u.r.dy Oliver. When the tide of popular favour turned in Charles II.'s direction, and Royalty was reinstated, Marten and the rest of the regicides were brought to judgment for signing the death warrant of their monarch. The consequence, in Marten's case, was life-long imprisonment, as we have seen, in Chepstow Castle."

Next is a copy of an acrostic epitaph from Tewkesbury Abbey.

Here lyeth the body of THOMAS MERRETT, of Tewkesbury, Barber-chirurgeon, who departed this life the 22nd day of October, 1699.

T hough only Stone Salutes the reader's eye, H ere (in deep silence) precious dust doth lye, O bscurely Sleeping in Death's mighty store, M ingled with common earth till time's no more, A gainst Death's Stubborne laws, who dares repine, S ince So much Merrett did his life resigne.

M urmurs and Teares are useless in the grave, E lse hee whole Vollies at his Tomb might have.

R est in Peace; who like a faithful steward, R epair'd the Church, the Poore and needy cur'd; E ternall mansions do attend the Just, T o clothe with Immortality their dust, T ainted (whilst under ground) with wormes and rust.

In the churchyard of Irongray a table stone, reared by Sir Walter Scott, commemorates Helen Walker, the prototype of Jeanie Deans, whose integrity and tenderness are, in his "Heart of Midlothian," so admirably portrayed by that great novelist. The following is the inscription:--

This stone was erected by the author of Waverley to the memory of HELEN WALKER, who died in the year of G.o.d 1791.

This humble individual practised in real life the virtues with which fiction has invested the imaginary character of Jeanie Deans; refusing the slightest departure from veracity, even to save the life of a sister, she nevertheless showed her kindness and fort.i.tude, in rescuing her from the severity of the law at the expense of personal exertions which the time rendered as difficult as the motive was laudable.

Respect the grave of poverty when combined with love of truth and dear affection.

Erected October 1831.

Robert Paterson, better known as "Old Mortality," rests in the churchyard of Caerlaverock, Dumfriesshire. We learn from Dr. Charles Rogers's "Monuments and Monumental Inscriptions in Scotland" (1871) that Paterson was born in 1715, and was the youngest son of Walter Paterson and Margaret Scott, who rented the farm of Haggista, parish of Hawick. He some time served an elder brother who had a farm in Comc.o.c.kle-muir, near Lochmaben.

He married Elizabeth Gray, who, having been cook in the family of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, of Closeburn, procured for him an advantageous lease of a freestone quarry at Morton. Here he resided many years, labouring with exemplary diligence. From his youth attached to the sect of the Cameronians, he evinced a deep interest in the memory of those who had suffered in the cause of Presbytery. Occasionally he restored their tombstones. At length his zeal in the restoration of these stony memorials acquired the force of a pa.s.sion. In 1758 he began to travel from parish to parish, ever working with hammer and chisel in renewing the epitaphs of the martyrs. His self-imposed task no entreaties of wife or children could induce him to abandon. Though reduced to the verge of poverty, he persisted in his labours till the last day of his existence. He died at Banpend village, near Lockerbie, on the 29th January, 1801, aged eighty-six. At his death he was found possessed of twenty-seven shillings and sixpence, which were applied to the expenses of his funeral. Sir Walter Scott, who has made "Old Mortality" the subject of a novel, intended to rear a tombstone to his memory, but was unable to discover his place of sepulture. Since the discovery has been made, Messrs. Black, of Edinburgh, who possess the copyright of the Waverley novels, have reared at the grave of the old enthusiast a suitable memorial stone. It is thus inscribed:--

Erected to the memory of ROBERT PATERSON, the "Old Mortality" of Sir Walter Scott, who was buried here February, 1801.

"Why seeks he with unwearied toil Through death's dim walk to urge his way Reclaim his long a.s.serted spoil, And lead oblivion into day."

Here is a picture of the stone placed over the grave of William Shakespeare, at Stratford-on-Avon, with its well-known and frequently quoted inscription:--

[Ill.u.s.tration:

GOOD FREND FOR IESVS SAKE FORBEARE, TO DICC THE DVST ENCLOASED HEARE, BLESTE BE Y{E} MAN Y{T} SPARES THES STONES, AND CVRST BE HE Y{T} MOVES MY BONES.]

At Loddon, in Norfolk, is buried one who, like the bard of Avon, had a great horror of his bones being removed. The epitaph is as follows:--

When on this spot affection's downcast eye, The lucid tribute shall no more bestow; When friendship's breast no more shall heave a sigh, In kind remembrance of the dust below; Should the rude s.e.xton digging near this tomb, A place of rest for others to prepare, The vault beneath to violate presume; May some opposing Christian cry "Forbear"-- Forbear! rash mortal, as thou hop'st to rest When death shall lodge thee in thy destined bed, With ruthless spade, unkindly to molest The peaceful slumbers of the kindred dead.

In Tideswell churchyard, among several other singular gravestone inscriptions, the following occurs, and is worth reprinting:--

In memory of BRIAN, son of JOHN and MARTHA HAIGH, who died 22nd December, 1795, Aged 17 years.

Come, honest s.e.xton, with thy spade, And let my grave be quickly made; Make my cold bed secure and deep, That, undisturbed, my bones may sleep.

Until that great tremendous day, When from above a voice shall say,-- "Awake, ye dead, lift up your eyes, Your great Creator bids you rise!"

Then, free from this polluted dust, I hope to be amongst the just.

Under the shadow of the ancient church of Bakewell, Derbyshire, is a stone containing a long inscription to the memory of John Dale, barber-surgeon, and his two wives, Elizabeth Foljambe and Sarah Bloodworth. It ends thus:--

Know posterity, that on the 8th of April, in the year of grace 1757, the rambling remains of the above JOHN DALE were, in the 86th yeare of his pilgrimage, laid upon his two wives.

This thing in life might raise some jealousy, Here all three lie together lovingly, But from embraces here no pleasure flows, Alike are here all human-joys and woes; Here Sarah's chiding John no longer hears, And old John's rambling Sarah no more fears; A period's come to all their toylsome lives, The good man's quiet; still are both his wives.

On a slab affixed to the east wall of St. Mary's Church, Whitby, is an inscription containing some remarkable coincidences:--

Here lie the bodies of FRANCIS HUNTRODDS and MARY his wife, who were both born on the same day of the week month and year (viz.) Sepr ye 19th 1600 marry'd on the day of their birth and after having had 12 children born to them died aged 80 years on the same day of the year they were born September ye 19th 1680, the one not one above five hours before ye other.

Husband and wife that did twelve children bear, Dy'd the same day; alike both aged were 'Bout eighty years they liv'd, five hours did part (Ev'n on the marriage day) each tender heart So fit a match, surely could never be, Both in their lives, and in their deaths agree.

The following is from St. Julian's Church, Shrewsbury:--

The remains of HENRY CORSER of this parish, Chirurgeon, who Deceased April 11, 1691, and ANNIE his wife, who followed him the next day after:--

We man and wife, Conjoined for Life, Fetched our last breath So near that Death, Who part us would, Yet hardly could.

Wedded againe, In bed of dust, Here we remaine, Till rise we must.

A double prize this grave doth finde, If you are wise keep it in minde.

In the church of Little Driffield, East Yorkshire, were placed in modern times two inscriptions to the memory of Alfred, King of Northumbria. The first states:--

In the chancel of this church lie the remains of ALFRED, King of Northumbria, who departed this life in the year 705.

The present one reads as follows:--

WITHIN THIS CHANCEL LIES INTERRED THE BODY OF ALFRED KING OF NORTHUMBRIA DEPARTED THIS LIFE JANUARY 19TH A.D. 705 IN THE 20TH YEAR OF HIS REIGN STATUTUM EST OMNIBUS SEMIL MORI.

In St. Anne's churchyard, Soho, erected by the Earl of Orford (Walpole), in 1758, these lines were (or are) to be read:--

Near this place is interred THEODORE, King of Corsica, Who died in this Parish December XI., MDCCLVI., Immediately after leaving The _Kings Bench Prison_, By the benefit of the _Act of Insolvency_; In consequence of which He _registered his Kingdom of Corsica For the use of his Creditors_!

The grave--great teacher--to a level brings Heroes and beggars, galley-slaves and kings!

But THEODORE this moral learned, ere dead; Fate pour'd its lessons on his living head, Bestow'd a kingdom, and denied him bread.

In the burial-ground of the Island of Juan Fernandez, a monument states:--

In Memory of ALEXANDER SELKIRK, Mariner, A native of Largo, in the county of Fife, Scotland, Who lived on this island, in complete solitude, for four years and four months.

He was landed from the Cinque Ports galley, 96 tons, 18 guns, A.D. 1704, and was taken off in the Duke, privateer, 12th February, 1709.

He died Lieutenant of H.M.S. Weymouth, A.D. 1723, aged 47 years.

This Tablet is erected near Selkirk's look out, By Commodore Powell and the Officers of H.M.S. Topaze, A.D. 1868.

It is generally believed that the adventures of Selkirk suggested to Daniel Defoe the attractive story of "Robinson Crusoe." In the "Dictionary of English Literature," by William Davenport Adams, will be found important information bearing on this subject.

In _Gloucester Notes and Queries_ we read as follows: "Stout's Hill is the name of a house situated on high ground to the south of the village of Uley, built in the style which, in the last century, was intended for Gothic, but which may be more exactly defined as the 'Strawberry Hill'

style. In a house of earlier date lived the father of Samuel Rudder, the laborious compiler of the 'History of Gloucestershire' (1779). He lies in the churchyard of Uley, on the south side of the chancel, and his gravestone has a bra.s.s-plate inserted, which records a remarkable fact:--

Underneath lies the remains of ROGER RUTTER, _alias_ RUDDER, eldest son of John Rutter, of Uley, who was buried August 30, 1771, aged 84 years, having never eaten flesh, fish, or fowl, during the course of his long life.

Tradition tells us that this vegetarian lived mainly on 'dump,' in various forms. Usually he ate 'plain dump;' when tired of plain dump, he changed his diet to 'hard dump;' and when he was in a special state of exhilaration, he added the variety 'apple dump' to his very moderate fare."