Curious Epitaphs, Collected from the Graveyards of Great Britain and Ireland.Andrews, William
General
Curious Epitaphs, Collected from the Graveyards of Great Britain and Ireland.
Andrews, William
Epitaphs -- Great Britain
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 short-hand.
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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