funny Scottish epitaphs - the Milton Rifle Club Erected in respect of David Dawson By fellow members of the Milton Rifle Club Honorary president for eighteen years 'Always missed' Hamish Brown: A Scottish Graveyard Miscellany. Exploring the Folk Art of Scotland's Gravestones. Birlinn; 2008
morthouse, bell and pelican
morthouse A morthouse (the name implies it) houses the dead, but only for a short period of time. In the days of body-snatcher and resurrectionists (19th century) who would dig up freshly buried courses to sell them for good profit to surgeons for clinical studies, they were a means of protecting the dead. They were... Continue Reading →
Scottish epitaph fail
Erected to the memory of John McFarlane Drown'd in the Water of Leith By a few affectionate friends Hamish Brown: A Scottish Graveyard Miscellany. Exploring the Folk Art of Scotland's Gravestones. Birlinn; 2008
Dunsyre
In an vault underneath Lie several of the Saunderses Late of this parish - particulars The last day will disclose. Amen. Raymond Lamont-Brown: Scottish Epitaphs. Edinburgh, Chambers; 1990
Biggar Chatty Lady
On a cold pillow lies her head Yet it will rise again ‘tis said; So prudently reader how thy walk For if she rise again she’ll talk! Raymond Lamont-Brown: Scottish Epitaphs. Edinburgh, Chambers; 1990
a final moan from the grave
Alexander Grant (Alasdair Mac Iain Bhain) was a poet and a soldier. He grew up near Invermoriston in the small and remote village of Achnaconeran (Achadh nan Conbhairean) to the west of Loch Ness, to be a gifted man of sensitivity and strength, a man of thought as well as action, a bard and a... Continue Reading →
careless early death
The drowning of a young shepherd and his brother at Gripdyke, Lochlee. The first body to be interred in the graveyard of the new church of Lochlee was the Rev Inglis‘ mother in 1808. Many deaths followed, a few still very vividly remembered in the area for their futility and tragic circumstances. It is always... Continue Reading →
John Sim of Peterhead
What lies here? John Sim, ye needna‘ speir. Hullo John, is that you? Ay, ay, but I’m deid noo. Raymond Lamont-Brown: Scottish Epitaphs. Edinburgh, Chambers; 1990
Banchory, N Kincardineshire
John Gray, Messenger-at-Arms, died 1806, wrote this himself: Poor John Gray! Here he lies, Nobody laughs and nobody cries; Where he’s gone, and how he fares, Nobody knows and nobody cares. Raymond Lamont-Brown: Scottish Epitaphs. Edinburgh, Chambers; 1990
grave loss
Strontian, Ardnamurchan, the Parish church built in the 1820s by Thomas Telford, one of 32 churches built in thinly populated areas, but there is more to be found on this graveyard. The gravestone of Roderick and Mary Gordon and their sons Adam and James sits here, quietly telling a sad story. The Gordon family lived... Continue Reading →
Graveyards of Scotland 
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