(Vol. vii. _passim._)
A goodly collection of singular epitaphs has appeared in "N. & Q."; but I
believe it yet lacks {274} a specimen of the following tomfoolery--an
initial epitaph. Green, in his _History of Worcester_, gives the following
inscription from a monument under the north-west window of St. Andrew's
Church in that city:
"Short of Weight.
H L T B O
R W
I H O A J R
A D 1780 A 63."
Green adds the following explanation of this riddle:
"In _full measure_ it would have stood thus: 'Here Lieth The Body Of
Richard Weston, In Hopes Of A Joyful Resurrection. Anno Domini 1780.
Aged 63.'"
Richard Weston was a baker, and the "Short of weight" gives the clue to the
nature of his dealings, and also to the right reading of the epitaph.
The following is from Ombersley Churchyard, Worcestershire:
"Sharp was her wit,
Mild was her nature;
A tender wife,
A good humoured creature."
From the churchyard of St. John, Worcester:
"Honest John's
Dead and gone."
From the churchyard of Cofton Hackett, Worcestershire, are the two
following:
"Here lieth the body of John Galey, sen., in expectation of the Last
Day. What sort of man he was that day will discover. He was clerk of
this parish fifty-five years. He died in 1756, aged 75."
The next is also to a Galey. Your correspondent PICTOR (Vol. viii., p. 98.)
gives the same epitaph, slightly altered, as being at Wingfield, Suffolk:
"Pope boldly asserts (some think the maxim odd),
An honest man's the noblest work of GOD.
If this assertion is from error clear,
One of the noblest works of GOD lies here."
From Alvechurch, Worcestershire; to a man and wife:
"He, an honest, good-natured, worthy man; she, as eminent for conjugal
and maternal virtues during her marriage and widowhood, as she had been
before for amiable delicacy of person and manners."
The following, which is probably not to be surpassed, appeared in one of
the earliest numbers of _Household Words_. It is from the churchyard of
Pewsey, Wiltshire:
"Here lies the body of Lady O'Looney, great-niece of Burke, commonly
called the Sublime. She was bland, passionate, and deeply religious:
also, she painted in water-colours, and sent several pictures to the
Exhibition. She was first cousin to Lady Jones: and of such is the
kingdom of heaven."