Here I lie, at the chancel door,
Here I lie, because I'm poor;
The farther in, the more you pay,
Here I lie as warm as they.
In the churchyard of Kirk Hallam, Derbyshire, a good specimen of a true
Englishman is buried, named Samuel Cleater, who died May 1st, 1811, aged
65 years. The two-lined epitaph has such a genuine, sturdy ring about it,
that it deserves to be rescued from oblivion:--
True to his King, his country was his glory,
When Bony won, he said it was a story.
A monument in Bakewell church, Derbyshire is a curiosity, blending as it
does in a remarkable manner, business, loyalty, and religion:--
To the memory of MATTHEW STRUTT, of this town, farrier, long famed in
these parts for veterinary skill. A good neighbour, and a staunch
friend to Church and King. Being Churchwarden at the time the present
peal of bells were hung, through zeal for the house of God, and
unremitting attention to the airy business of the belfry, he caught a
cold, which terminated his existence May 25, 1798, in the 68th year of
his age.
In Tideswell churchyard, among several other singular gravestone
inscriptions, the following occurs, and is worth reprinting:--
In Memory of
BRIAN, Son of JOHN and MARTHA HAIGH,
who died 22nd December, 1795,
Aged 17 years.
Come honest sexton, with thy spade,
And let my grave be quickly made;
Make my cold bed secure and deep,
That, undisturbed, my bones may sleep,
Until that great tremendous day,
When from above a voice shall say,--
"Awake, ye dead, lift up your eyes,
Your great Creator bids you rise!"
Then, free from this polluted dust,
I hope to be amongst the just.
[Illustration]
The old church of St. Mary's, Sculcoates, Hull, contains several
interesting monuments, and we give a sketch of one, a quaint-looking mural
memorial, having on it an inscription in short-hand. In Sheahan's "History
of Hull," the following translation is given:--
In the vault beneath this stone lies the body of Mrs. JANE DELAMOTH,
who departed this life, 10th January, 1761. She was a poor sinner, but
not wicked without holiness, departing from good works, and departed
in the Faith of the Catholic Church, in full assurance of eternal
happiness, by the agony and bloody sweat, by the cross and passion, by
the precious death and burial, by the glorious resurrection and
ascension of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.
We believe that the foregoing is a unique epitaph, at all events we have
not heard of or seen any other monumental inscription in short-hand.