To be remembered is its major purpose; a graveyard has one central aim: to preserve the memory of loved ones gone. Its nucleus, heart or core or whatever you want to call it, is memory. If the last trace of those buried there is gone, a graveyard has lost its innermost purpose. Forgotten graves! It... Continue Reading →
The sun shines bright on the grey headstones of Old Kilmore graveyard in Drumnadrochit. It is an early morning on a hot summer’s day on the shores of Loch Ness. The old graveyard at the back of the little Highland village is just a ten minute walk from the main road that runs along the... Continue Reading →
Movement is essential to man, has been throughout history. On the ground, efficient movement, transport and travel, requires roads or paths, connecting and distancing people and places. The Romans zigzagged England with their roads, changing a people by changing its lifestyle. Scotland is very different in that respect. Even to this day roads are few... Continue Reading →
Urns were en vogue in the 19th century, not only in Scottish graveyards. It was common in the United States to decorate the grave with an urn. These urns were quite independent from the crematory aspect as they rarely contained ashes but were used as symbols only. An urn is reverential, sombre, elegant and has... Continue Reading →
I close my eyes and a smile lights my face. Light lights my face and warms my skin. This is bliss. A blackbird is singing, the air is full of chirp and twitter, I can hear the burn nearby gurgling happily towards the sea that sends a warm salty smell from the bay. After so... Continue Reading →
The cross might have been the very first symbol man used. A line and another line crossing it – a saltire (the Scottish flag to this day); like a cross to mark a spot or to draw attention to something. The cross must have been the first stage of written communication man has developed. A... Continue Reading →
We all take it one day or the other: the last road. Some go fast, some slow: for some it winds and meanders through time, for others it ends in a short and straight line. Whatever the last road looks like, to each and one of us, we all take it in the end -... Continue Reading →
Funeral rites are sombre, grave and placid; at least in most European countries they are. Scotland can be a very different matter when it comes to burying the dead. Funerals are sometimes full of humour, drink and the sharing of reminiscences with a smile. In Petty, just about 7 miles outside Inverness, the mourners would... Continue Reading →
Entering Inverness from the South, the traveller passes a small, wooded hill with a peculiar shape that rises steep behind the Caledonian Canal: Tomnahurich. A large burial ground with old graves on the hill and newer ones circling it. Nothing spectacular seems to hide behind the high gates of Tomnahurich. For those who do not... Continue Reading →
The words moss and lichen made it very early into my vocabulary, I am not a native English speaker and moss and lichen seem rather unusual words for a foreigner to know. But then again, for a foreigner who delights in Scottish cemeteries, it is not such an unusual vocabulary after all, because moss and... Continue Reading →
In the heart of Rastatt lies a quiet green space beside the modern clinic. At first glance, the Alter Friedhof Rastatt – the Old Cemetery of Rastatt – appears to be little more than a peaceful park. Yet beneath its trees rests one of the most politically charged memorial sites in Baden. Here, the stories […]
Lindisfarne graveyard on Holy Island, Northumberland, symbolizes centuries of faith and history, overlooking Lindisfarne Priory’s ruins. A significant site since the 7th century, it holds the remains of islanders and clergy. The graveyard fosters reflection and connection to St Cuthbert, attracting visitors seeking inspiration and tranquility amid a sacred legacy.
Bamburgh, with its dramatic coastal setting and rich history, has revealed yet another fascinating chapter of its past. Decades of dedicated research by the Bamburgh Research Project and Durham University, in collaboration with the Bamburgh Castle Estate, have shed light on the lives of Anglo-Saxons who inhabited this area over a thousand years ago. The […]
Graveyards of Scotland 
Recent Comments