Curious Epitaphs, Collected from the Graveyards of Great Britain and Ireland. Andrews William

each statesman’s bust,

       And strew their laurels o’er each warrior’s dust

       Alike immortalise, as good and great,

       Him who enslaved as him who saved the state,

       Surely the muse (a rustic minstrel) may

       Drop one wild flower upon a poor man’s clay;

       This artless tribute to his mem’ry give

       Whose life was such as heroes seldom live.

       In worldly knowledge, poor indeed his store—

       He knew the village and he scarce knew more.

       The worth of heavenly truth he justly knew—

       In faith a Christian, and in practice too.

       Yes, here lies one, excel him ye who can;

       Go! imitate the virtues of that man!”

      First amongst notable sextons is the name of Old Scarlett, who died July 2, 1591, at the good old age of ninety-eight, and occupied for a long time the position as sexton of Peterborough Cathedral. He buried two generations of his fellow-creatures. A portrait of him, placed at the west end of that noble church, has perpetuated his fame, and caused him to be introduced in effigy in various publications. Dr. Robert Chambers in his entertaining work, the “Book of Days,” writes: “And what a lively effigy—short, stout, hardy, and self-complacent, perfectly satisfied, and perhaps even proud, of his profession, and content to be exhibited with all its insignia about him! Two queens had passed through his hands into that bed which gives a lasting rest to queens and to peasants alike. An officer of Death, who had so long defied his principal, could not but have made some impression on the minds of bishop, dean, prebends, and other magnates of the Cathedral, and hence, as we may suppose, the erection of this lively portraiture of the old man, which is believed to have been only once renewed since it was first put up. Dr. Dibdin, who last copied it, tells us that ‘Old Scarlett’s jacket and trunkhose are of a brownish red, his stockings blue, his shoes black, tied with blue ribbons, and the soles of his feet red. The cap upon his head is red, and so also is the ground of the coat armour.’ ”

      The following lines below his portrait are characteristic of his age:—

      You see old Scarlett’s picture stand on hie;

       But at your feet here doth his body lye.

       His gravestone doth his age and death-time show,

       His office by heis token [s] you may know.

       Second to none for strength and sturdy lymm,

       A scare-babe mighty voice, with visage grim;

       He had inter’d two queenes within this place,

       And this townes householders in his life’s space

       Twice over; but at length his own time came

       What he for others did, for him the same

       Was done: no doubt his soule doth live for aye,

       In heaven, though his body clad in clay.

      The first of the queens interred by Scarlett was Catherine, the divorced wife of Henry VIII, who died in 1535, at Kimbolton Castle, in Huntingdonshire. The second was Mary Queen of Scots, who was beheaded at Fotheringay in 1587, and first interred here, though subsequently transported to Westminster Abbey.

      Our next example is from Bingley, Yorkshire:—

      In memory of Hezekiah Briggs, who died August 5th, 1844, in the

       80th year of his age. He was sexton at this church 43 years,

       and interred upwards of 7000 corpses.

      [Here the names of his wife and several children are given.]

      Here lies an old ringer, beneath the cold clay,

       Who has rung many peals both for serious and gay;

       Through Grandsire and Trebles with ease he could range,

       Till death called a Bob, which brought round the last change.

       For all the village came to him

       When they had need to call;

       His counsel free to all was given,

       For he was kind to all.

       Ring on, ring on, sweet Sabbath bell,

       Still kind to me thy matins swell,

       And when from earthly things i part,

       Sigh o’er my grave, and lull my heart.

      An upright stone in the burial ground at Hartwith Chapel, in Nidderdale, Yorkshire, bears the following inscription:—

      In memory of William Darnbrough, who for the last forty

       years of his life was sexton of this chapel. He died

       October 3rd, 1846, in the one hundreth year

       of his age.

       “Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.”—Genesis xv. 15. The graves around for many a year Were dug by him who slumbers here— Till worn with age, he dropped his spade, And in the dust his bones were laid. As he now, mouldering, shares the doom Of those he buried in the tomb; So shall he, too, with them arise, To share the judgment of the skies.

      An examination of Pateley Bridge Church registers proves that Darnbrough was 102 years of age.

      An epitaph from Saddleworth, Yorkshire, tells us:—

      Here was interred the body of John Broadbent, Sexton, who

       departed this life, August 3rd, 1769, in the 73rd year of his age.

       Forty-eight years, strange to tell,

       He bore the bier and toll’d the bell,

       And faithfully discharged his trust,

       In “earth to earth” and “dust to dust.”

       Cease to lament,

       His life is spent,

       The grave is still his element;

       His old friend Death knew ’twas his sphere,

       So kindly laid the sexton here.

      At Rothwell, near Leeds, an old sexton is buried in the church porch. A monumental inscription runs thus:—

      In memory of Thomas Flockton, Sexton 59 years, buried

       23rd day of February, 1783, aged 78 years. Here lies within this porch so calm, Old Thomas. Pray sound his knell, Who thought no song was like a psalm— No music like a bell.

      At Darlington, there is a Latin epitaph over the remains of Richard Preston, which has been freely translated as follows:—

      Under this marble are depos’d

       Poor Preston’s sad remains.

       Alas! too true for light-rob’d jest

       To sing in playful strains.

       Ye dread possessors of the grave,

       Who feed on others’ woe,

       Abstain from Richard’s small remains,

       And grateful pity shew;

       For many a weighty corpse he gave

       To you with liberal hand;

       Then sure his little body may

       Some small respect command.

      The gravestone bears the date of 1765.

      Further examples might be included, but we have given sufficient to show the varied and curious epitaphs placed to the memory of parish clerks and sextons.

TYPOGRAPHICAL EPITAPHS.