We bring together under this heading a number of specimens that we could not include in the foregoing chapters of classified epitaphs. An epitaph on a brass in the south aisle of Barton Church, in Norfolk, is notable as being one of the oldest in existence in English, such memorials being usually in Latin at the period from which it dates. The inscription is as follows:— Here are laid under this stone in the cley
Thomas Amys and his wyffe Margery.
Sometime we were, as you now be,
And as we be, after this so shall ye.
Of the good as God had, the said Thomas lent,
Did make this chapel of a good intent.
Wherefore they desire of you that be
To pray for them to the last eternity.
I beseach all people far and ner
To pray for me Thomas Amys heartily,
Which gave a mesbooke and made this chapel here,
And a suit of blew damask also gave I.
Of God 1511 and 5 yere
I the said Thomas deceased verily,
And the 4th day of August was buried here,
On whose soul God have mercy. | In the churchyard of Stanton Harcourt is a gravestone bearing the following inscription:— Near this place lie the bodies of
John Hewet and Mary Drew,
an industrious young Man
and virtuous Maiden of this Parish;
Who, being at Harvest Work
(with several others)
were in one instant killed by Lightning
the last day of July 1718. | Think not, by rig’rous Judgment seiz’d,
A Pair so faithful could expire;
Victims so pure Heav’n saw well pleas’d,
And snatch’d them in celestial fire.
Live well, and fear no sudden fate;
When God calls Virtue to the grave,
Alike ’tis Justice soon or late,
Mercy alike to kill or save.
Virtue unmov’d can hear the call,
And face the flash that melts the ball. | According to a letter from Gay, the poet, to Fenton, relating the death of the pair, who were lovers, this epitaph was written by Pope, and the memorial erected at the cost of Lord Harcourt on the condition that Gay or Pope should write the epitaph. Gay gives the following as the joint production of the two poets:— When Eastern lovers feed the fun’ral fire,
On the same pile the faithful pair expire:
Here pitying Heav’n that virtue mutual found,
And blasted both, that it might neither wound.
Hearts so sincere th’ Almighty saw well pleas’d,
Sent his own lightning, and the victims seiz’d. | “But,” wrote Gay, “my Lord is apprehensive the country people will not understand this; and Mr. Pope says he’ll make one with something of Scripture in it, and with as little of poetry as Hopkins and Sternhold.” Hence the lines which appear on the tomb of the lovers. Our next example is from Bury St. Edmunds churchyard:— Here lies interred the Body of
Mary Haselton,
A young maiden of this town,
Born of Roman Catholic parents,
And virtuously brought up,
Who, being in the act of prayer
Repeating her vespers,
Was instantaneously killed by a
flash of Lightning, August 16th,
1785. Aged 9 years. | Not Siloam’s ruinous tower the victims slew,
Because above the many sinn’d the few,
Nor here the fated lightning wreaked its rage
By vengeance sent for crimes matur’d by age.
For whilst the thunder’s awful voice was heard,
The little suppliant with its hands uprear’d.
Addressed her God in prayers the priest had taught,
His mercy craved, and His protection sought;
Learn reader hence that wisdom to adore,
Thou canst not scan and fear His boundless power;
Safe shalt thou be if thou perform’st His will,
Blest if he spares, and more blest should He kill. | From Bury St. Edmunds is the following inscription which tells a sad story of the low value placed on human life at the close of the eighteenth century:— Reader,
Pause at this humble stone it records
The fall of unguarded youth by the allurements of
vice and treacherous snares of seduction.
Sarah Lloyd
On the 23rd April, 1800, in the 22nd year of her age,
Suffered a just and ignominious death.
For admitting her abandoned seducer in the
dwelling-house of her mistress, on the 3rd of
October, 1799, and becoming the instrument in
his hands of the crime of robbery and
housebreaking.
These were her last words:
“May my example be a warning to thousands.” A lover at York inscribed the following lines to his sweetheart, who was accidentally drowned, December 24th, 1796:— Nigh to the river Ouse, in York’s fair city,
Unto this pretty maid death shew’d no pity;
As soon as she’d her pail with water fill’d
Came sudden death, and life like water spill’d. | In Holy Trinity Church, Hull, is an elegant marble monument by Earle, with figures of a mother and two children. The inscription tells a painful story, and is as follows:— Our John William, In the sixteenth year of his age, on the night of January 19th, 1858, was swept by the fury of a storm, from the pierhead, into the sea. We never found him—he was not, for God took him; the waves bore him to the hollow of the Father’s hand. With hope and joy we cherished our last surviving flower, but the wind passed over it, and it was gone. An infant brother had gone before, October 15th, 1841. In heaven their angel does always behold the face of our Father. To the memory of these We, their parents, John and Louisa Gray erect this monument of human sorrow and Christian hope. “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight!” The record of the death of the parents follows. An accidental death is recorded on a tombstone in Burton Joyce churchyard, placed to the memory of Elizabeth Cliff, who died in 1835:— This monumental stone records the name
Of her who perished in the night by flame
Sudden and awful, for her hoary head;
She was brought here to sleep amongst the dead.
Her loving husband strove to damp the flame
Till he was nearly sacrificed the same,
Her sleeping dust, tho’ by thee rudely trod,
Proclaims aloud, prepare to meet thy God. | A tombstone in Creton churchyard states:— 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. SHORTHAND EPITAPH IN OLD ST. MARY’S CHURCH, SCULCOATES. From a Photo by Wellsted & Son, Hull. 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. | Ao 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 18th 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.
THE PUZZLE. Reproduced from a picture published in 1796. 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
Alfred, King of Northumbria, 179
Aliscombe, 14
Alley, Samuel, 142
Amelia, Princess, 45
Amies, James, 220
Amputation, Death from, 228
Amys, Thomas, 209
Andrews, Sarah, 41
Appleby, H. C., quoted, 167
Architect, 216
Armison, Sarah, 40
Ashford, Mary, 199
Ashover, 77
Atholl, Duke of, 146
Attorney-at-Law, 216
Ault Hucknall, 93
Axon, W. E. A., quoted, 198
Bacchanalian Epitaphs, 105-118
Bagshaw, Samuel, 15
Baily, Mary, 41
Baker, 19
Bakewell, 121-125, 117, 214
Ball, H. W., quoted, 225
Barber-surgeons, 172-173, 177
Bardsley, Rev. C. W., 22
Barker, Christopher, 33
Barnstaple, 139
Barrow-on-Soar, 138
Barton, Norfolk, 209
Barton-on-Humber, 225
Barwick-in-Elmet, 65
Baskerville, 33
Bassoon player, 77
Bath, 80
Battersea, 55
Battle, wager of, 199-201
Beach, Mary, 43
Becke, Rev. J., 136
Beckenham, 42
Beckley, 85
Bede, Cuthbert, quoted, 125
Bedworth, 97
Beefsteak Society, 227
Belbroughton, 126
Bell, Nathaniel, 39
Bellow, J. F., 52
Bellows-maker, 17
Berkeley, 3
Besford, 39
Betts, Sarah, 41
Beverley, 52, 58, 81, 219
Biffin, Sarah, 162
Bill o’ Jacks and Tom o’ Bills, 201
Billinge, Wm., 49
Bingham, 120
Bingley, 130
Birmingham, 33
Birstal, 97
Blackett, Joseph, 17
Blacksmith, 11
Bletchley, 139
Blind Jack, 149-153
Bloomfield, Mary, 228
Boar’s Head, 114-116
Bodger, Samuel, 56
Boles, Richard, 51
Bolsover, 3
Bolton, Lancashire, 158
Bolton, Yorkshire, 153
Bond, Thomas and Mary, 223
“Book of Days,” quoted, 86, 128, 218
Booker, Dr., quoted, 199
Bookseller, 9
Booth, Jno., 75
Booth, Tom, 94-97
Boston, America, 28, 30
Botanist, 22
Bowes, 205
Bradbury, William and Thomas, 201
Bradley, William, 159
Bray, Henrietta M., 80
Bremhill, 50
Brewer, 105
Brickmaker, 14
Bridgeford-on-the-Hill, 5
Briggs, Hezekiah, 130
Brighton, 59
Briscoe, John D., quoted, 158
Briscoe, J. Potter, quoted, 110, 203
Bristol, 19, 222
Broadbent, Jno., 132
Bromsgrove, 6
Brousard, James, 36
Browne, Susan, 221
Buckett, Jno., 107
Builder, 14
Bullen, Rev. H., 7
Bullingham, 14
Bunney, 101
Burbage, 91
Burkitt, Jonathan, 226
Burned to death, 213
Burns, Robert, quoted, 109
Burton, 205
Burton, Edward, 202
Burton, Joyce, 213
Burton-on-Trent, 38
Bury, St. Edmunds, 31, 57, 211, 212
Butler, a, 106
Butler, Samuel, 81, 164-166
Butler, Samuel William, 82
Buttress, J. E., 69
Byfield, Sarah, 111
Byng, John, 67
Byron, Lord, 8, 17
Bywater, Jno., 112
Cadman, 86
Caerlaverock, 174
Campbell, Patrick, 65
Carmichael, Jas., 65
Carpenter, 15
Carrier, 8
Cartwright, Hy., 94
Cary, Rev. H. F., quoted, 183
Castleton, 216
Cave, of Barrow-on-Soar, 138
Cave, Edward, 11
Cave, Jos., 10
Cave, William, 11
Caxton, William, 24
Chambers, Dr. Wm., 24, 25
Chancel door, buried at the, 214
Chapman, Dr. T., 154
Chapman, Wm., 42
Charles I., 51
Charles II., epitaph on, 169
Charlton, Jno., 92
Chatham, 110
Chatsworth, 35
Checkley, 135
Chelsea Hospital veteran, 49
Chepman, William, 24-25
Chepstow, 170
Chester, 13, 57, 228
Clay, Hercules, 168
Clay, Thomas, 117
Cleater, Samuel, 214
Clemetshaw, Hy., 73
Cliff, Elizabeth, 213
Clifton, 80
Clockmakers, 1-5
Cloth-drawer, 17
Coachdriver, 7
Coffin, curious, 166
Coincidences, remarkable, 178
Cole, Dean, 137
Cole, of Lillington, 138
Collison, D., 70
Colton, 14
Cooks, 227
Corby, 20
Corporation cook, 227
Corser, Henry, 178
Coster, Claude, 232-233
Cotton, John, 28
Coventry, 34, 101, 103
Coventry Mercury, 34
Cowper, Wm., 182, 184-185
Crackles, Thos., 70
Crazford, 119
Creton, 213
Crich, Vicar of, 12
Cricketer, 102, 103
Cruikshank, George, 192-194
Cruker, Joseph, 17
Currie, James, 230
Cynical epitaph, 216
Dalamoth, Jane, 215
Dale, John, 177
Dalry, 222
Danish soldiers, 52-55
Darenth, 110
Darfield, 219
Darlington, 132
Darnborough, Wm., 131
Dart, Rose, 139
Dartmouth, 66
Davidson, Alex., 67
Day, Will., 136
Deaf and dumb man, 205
Deakin, Rowland, 157
Deal, 68, 69
Deal boatman, 68
Deans, Jeanie, 173-174
Death from political excitement, 204
Defoe, Daniel, 181
Depledge, Thomas, 219
Dereham, 182
Devonshire, Duke of, 35
Dinsdale, Dr. F., 207
Disley, 36
Dixon, Geo., 93
“Domestic Annals of Scotland,” quoted, 156
Dove, John, 109
Drew, Mary, 210
Drowned, 212-213
Drunkard, 110
Dublin, 30
Duck, S., 87-90
Dunkeld, 156
Dunse, 83
Dunton, 7
Dwarf, Yorkshire, 160
Dyer, 16
Eakring, 94
Early English epitaph, 209
Earthenware, dealer in, 13
Earwaker, J. P., 37
Easton, Wm., 70
Ecclesfield, 94
Edensor, 35, 36
Edinburgh, 24, 32, 186, 229
Edmonds, Jno., 66
Edmonton, 183
Edwalton, 110
“Edwin and Emma,” 206
Eltham, 39
Engine-driver, 6
Engineer, 6
Epitaphs on Soldiers and Sailors, 49-72
Epsom, 41
Eton, 111
Etty, Wm., 190-192
Exciseman, 116
Eyre, Vincent, 203-205
Fairholt, F. W., 190
Families, large, 221-222
Fatal prize-fights, 102
Faulkner, George, 30
Female soldiers, 58
Fiddler, 75
Field, Bishop, 135
Field, Joseph, 134
Fisher, Jno., 39
Flixton, 75
Flockton, Thomas, 132
Folkestone, 112
Fools, 85
Fort William, 65
Franklin, Abiah, 30
Franklin, Benjamin, 26-30
Franklin, Josiah, 30
Freland, Mrs., 110
Garden, burial in, 202
Gardener, 36
Garrick, David, 78;
quoted, 80, 188
Gaskoin, Jenny, 43-45
Gaskoin, Mary, 45
Gay, 210
Gedge, L.,
Lillyard, Maiden, 158
Lincoln, 137
Little Driffield, 179
Liverpool, 105, 162
Lloyd, Sarah, 212
Loddon, 176
Logner Hall, 202
London, 7, 49, 86, 102, 108, 115, 192
Longevity, 37
Longnor, 15, 49
Low value of human life, 212
Ludlow, 7
Luton, 93
Lydford, 1
Lynn, 227
Macbeth, Jno., 76
Macclesfield, 228
Malibran, Madame, 78
Manchester, 22
Manxland Epitaphs, 140-148
Market Weighton, 159
Marrying man, 222
Marten, Henry, 170-172
Martin, John, 20, 147
Martyrs’ monument, 229
Mason, 14
Mason, Mrs. Mary, 222
Mason, Rev. Wm., 222
Master of foxhounds, 92
Mather, Wm., 36
Mauchline, 109
Mawer, Rev. John, 207
Maxton, 158
M’Carrey, P., 142
M’Kay, Alex., 102
Medford, Grace, 139
Melton Mowbray, 112
Merivale, 134
Merrett, Thomas, 172
Metcalf, John, 149-153
Micklehurst, 112
Middleditch, Wm., 57
Middleton Tyas, 207
Miller, 19
Miller, Joe, 86-91
Miscellaneous Epitaphs, 209-233
Mob-Cap, 45
Model publican, 198
Moore, John, 217
Morecambe, 47
Morris, Captain, quoted, 227
Morville, 92
Mottram, 93
Murdered men, 218-220
Musicians and Actors, Epitaphs on, 73-91
Napier, J. M., 57
Napoleon, Emperor, 142
Negro servants, 46, 47-48, 142
Newark, 168
Newcastle-on-Tyne, 120
Newhaven, 105
Newport, Mon., 76
Newton, George, 93
North Scarle, 57
North Wingfield, 117
Norwich, 73, 80, 111, 221
Notable Persons, Epitaphs on, 149-208
Notes and Queries, quoted, 113
Nottingham, 95, 203
Nottingham Date-Book, quoted, 95
Ockham, 16
Okey, John, 158
“Old Mortality,” 174-176
Ollerton, 106
Orange, Prince of, 52
Organ blower, 74
Organist, 73, 74
Oxford, 17
Pady, James, 14
Page, Jno. T., quoted, 187, 189, 194-197
Pannal, 106
Parish Clerks and Sextons, Epitaphs on, 119-133
Parkes, Jno., 101
Park-keeper, 37
Parkyns, Sir Thomas, 101
Parr, Edward, 57
Patcham, 218
Paterson, Robert, 174-176
Patrington, 221
Pearce, Dicky, 85
Peirce, Thomas, 3
Pennecuik, A., 156
Pershore, 40
Peterborough, 128, 138
Petersham, 37
Pettigrew, T. J., quoted, 113, 222
Petworth, 41
Philadelphia, 28
Phillips, John, 35
Phillpot, Geo., 68
Pickering, Robt., 71
Pickford, Rev. Jno., quoted, 52
Piper, Scotch, 76
Piscatorial epitaphs, 104
Pleasant, Toby, 46
Plumber, 16
Pope, 210
Portsmouth, 67, 194
Portugal, King of, 20
Potter, 13
Pounds, John, 194-197
Poynton, 37
Preston, 197
Preston, Richard, 132
Preston, Robt., 116
Prissick, George, 16
Pritchard, Mrs., 79
Protestant, a zealous, 202
Pryme, Abraham de la, 53
Punning Epitaphs, 134-140
Punster, 140
Putney, 67
Puzzle, the, 232
Pyper, Mary, 186-187
Quill-driver, 215
Quin, James, 80
Ragged Schools, founder of, 194-197
Railton, Martha, 206
Ratcliffe-on-Soar, 120
Raw, Frank, 120
Regicide, 170-172
Ridge, Thos., 94
Ridsdale, Jane, 160
Ringer, 130
Roberts, Anne, 80
Robertson, John, 222
“Robinson Crusoe,” 181
Rochester on Charles II., 169
Roe, Philip, 125
Roe, Samuel, 122
Rogers, Dr. Charles, quoted, 174, 176
Rogers, Rebecca, 113
Ross, Frederick, quoted, 160
Rotherham, 19
Rothwell, Leeds, 132
Routleigh, George, 1
Rudder, Samuel, 181
Rugby, 10
Running footman, 46
Saddleworth, 132, 201
Sailors and Soldiers, 49-72
Salisbury, 102
Sambo’s grave, 47-48
Samson, Kentish, 162
Sands, Rev. Samuel, 227
Santon, 148
Sarnesfield, 216
Saving money for a funeral, 228
Scales, Daniel, 218
Scarlett, Old, 128-130
Scatchard, Thomas, 202
Scipio Africanus, 46
Scotland, printing introduced into, 24
Scott, Jno., 105
Scott, Margery, 156
Scott, Sir Walter, 173
Scrivenor, Wm., 227
Scrope, Capt. G., 103
Sculcoates, 215
Seaham, 17
Seizing the dead for debt, 117
Selby, 66, 67, 120
Selkirk, Alexander, 180
Servants, Good and Faithful, 35-43
Sextons and Parish Clerks, 119-133
Shakespeare, Wm., 176
Sheffield, 9
Sherman, Mary, 222
Shoemaker, 17
Shorthand epitaph, 215
Shrewsbury, 86, 157, 178
Sign of the Boar’s Head, 114
Silkstone, 13
Simpson, Jeremiah, 202
Skullcross, Philip, 215
Slaves freed, 46
Slater, Joseph, 2
Sleaford, 17
Smith, Isaac, 56
Smith, Robt., 121
Smoke money, 113
Smuggler, 218-219
Soldiers and Sailors, 49-72
South Cave, 201
Southam, 227
Southill, 67
Southwell, 8
Spalding, Jos., 66
Sparke, Rose, 139
Spectator, quoted, 68
Spofforth, 149
Spong, John, 16
Sportsmen, Epitaphs on, 92-104
Stalham, 220
Stamford, 161
Stanton Harcourt, 210
St. Helena, 142
St. Peter’s, Isle of Thanet, 162
Stockbridge, 107
Stokes, Thomas, 205
Stone, John, 128
Stoney Middleton, 77
Strange farewell sermon, 12
Street, Amos, 97
Straker, Daniel, 52
Stratford-on-Avon, 176
Strutt, Matthew, 214
Strutton, Wm., 221
Suffolk, Earl of, 46
Sunderland Point, 47
Sutton Coldfield, 39, 198
Swain, Charles, quoted, 82
Swair, Edward, 19
Swift, quoted, 85, 90-91
Swift, Geo., 77
“Tales of a Grandfather,” 157
Tappy, Jas., 39
Taunton, 18
Tawton, 139
Taylor, John, 13
Taylor, Jno., quoted, 108
Tear, Daniel, 148
Teetotal, author of the word, 197
Tennis ball, 103
Tewkesbury Abbey, 172
Thackerey, Jos., 106
Theodore, King of Corsica, 180
Thetcher, Thomas, 118
Thompson, Francis, 106
Thompson, Rev. Patrick, 140
Thornton, Abraham, 199
Thorsby Park, 95
Thursday, events on, 214
Tideswell, 177
Tidmington, 40
Tiffey, Jack, 140
Times, quoted, 3
Tipper, Thomas, 105
Tonbridge, 111
Tonson, Jacob, 26
Tradescants, 21-22
Tradesmen, Epitaphs on, 1-23
Trowsdale, T. B., quoted, 170
Turar, T., 19
Turner, Richard, 197
Twickenham, 43
Typographical Epitaphs, 24-34
Uley, 181
Upton-on-Severn, 107
Uttoxeter, 2
Vegetarian, 181
Wager of battle, 199-201
Wakefield, 73
Walcott, 217
Wales, Prince of, 44
Walford, Edward, 3
Walker, Helen, 173
Walker, John, Footnotes: [1] Hooper’s “Notes on the Church of St. Peter of Mancroft, Norwich” (1895). [2] “Annals of Newark-upon-Trent,” by Cornelius Brown, published 1879. [3] London, 1873. [4] Jno. T. Page, in “Bygone Hampshire” (1899). [5] Black’s “Guide to Yorkshire.” |
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