I suppose you could say the two people mentioned in the following epitaphs were either long suffering or had a lot of stamina. The first concerns Nicholas Toke who lies buried at Great Chart in Kent. His stone has the words:
'He married five wives whom he survived
At the age of 93 he walked to London
To seek a sixth
But died before he found her'
This one at Birdbrook in Essex goes four better.
'Martha Blewitt - the wife of nine husbands successively
Buried ei
ght of them
But last of all the woman died also
And was buried May 7th 1681'
Here is a sendoff to an engine driver, a William Pickering and his fireman, Rchard Edger, the latter dying on Christmas Eve in 1845. It is titled 'The Spiritual Railway'.
'The line to heaven by Christ was made
With heavenly truth the lines are laid
From earth to heaven the line extends
To life eternal where it ends
Repentance is the station then
Where passengers are taken in
No fee is there for them to pay
For Jesus is himself the way
God's word is the first engineer
He points the way to heaven so dear
Through tunnels dark and dreary here
It does the way to glory steer
God's love the fire, His truth the steam
Which drives the engine and the train
All you who would to glory ride
Must come to Christ, in Him abide.
Well, you could say that that one has a real old fashioned gospel message, but now for something completely different from Boston, Massachusetts.
'Here I lie bereft of breath
Because a cough carried me off
Then a coffin they carried me of in'
On the grave of a Cornish music teacher are the words:
'Stephen and Time are both even
Stephen beats Time and now Time's beaten Stephen'
In Cumbria we read:
'This tombstone is a milestone
Hah! How so?
Because beneath lies Miles, who's
Miles below'
The use of the pun is widespread amongst old epitaphs and in this series we have come across them before. Here are further examples, the first from Peterborough Cathedral to Sir Richard Worme.
'Does worm eat Worme? Knight Worme this truth confirm
For here, with worms, lies Worme a dish for worms
Does worm eat Worme? Sure Worme will this deny
For Worme with worms, a dish for worms don't lie
'Tis so and 'tis not so, for free from worms
'Tis certain Worme is blest without his worms'
And in Melton Mowbray churchyard there is a grave for Mrs Stone reading:
'Curious enough, we all must say
That what was stone must now be clay
Most curious still, to own we must
That what was stone must soon be dust'
Doctor Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1736, has this said of him:
'Alack and well a-day
Potter himself is turned to clay'
A Devon epitaph goes:
'The wedding day appointed was
The wedding clothes provided
Bur ere the day did come, alas
He sickened and he dieded (sic)
In County Durham we have:
'Here lies John Hill
A man of skill
Whose age was five times ten
He never did good
And never would
If he lived as long again'
A grave in Kent has the words:
'Fear God keep the commandments and
Don't attempt to climb a tree
For that's what caused the death of me'
Next week in Part 16 - A Famous South Seas Epitaph. 