HUNDRED YEARS AS A MAUSOLEUM.]
Another well-known case of eccentric burial is that of the Rev.
Langton Freeman, of Whilton, Northamptonshire. This gentleman, by his
will, dated September 16, 1783, left the following singular directions
for his interment. Five days after death his body was to be wrapped in
a strong, double winding-sheet, and to be conveyed to a summer-house
in his garden, where it was to be laid in the bed he had slept in
during life. This being carried out, the doors and windows of the
fragile mausoleum were to be locked up and bolted, and the building
planted around with evergreen plants, and fenced off with oak pales,
painted a dark blue colour.
His wishes were fulfilled to the letter, and only twenty years ago,
when the property, owing to litigation, was without a rightful owner,
and consequently much neglected, it was said that the remains in the
derelict summer-house were plainly visible. The body is still there,
but a large stone slab has been placed over the remains in the
bedstead, as some time ago several vandals forced their way in and
disturbed them. There is now some talk of removing the bones to the
churchyard.
Before railroads swept away the mail-coaches, the coachmen on the
London and York stage, as they clattered through Stevenage, used to
point out the barn containing within its rafters the body of a farmer
named Trigg. This worthy, who died in 1805, ordered that his remains,
in a leaden coffin, should rest in this curious position for a period
of thirty years. As a considerable sum of money depended upon the
fulfilment of this caprice, the heirs were careful to see that it was
duly carried out.
[Illustration: CHURCH TOWER AT PINNER WITH A PROJECTING COFFIN.]
Another and somewhat similar case may be seen in Pinner churchyard at
the present day, where a mausoleum, raised on arches above the ground,
has a stone coffin inserted through it, one end of which--utilised as
a tablet for the inscription--projects through. The story goes that
the descendants of the occupant, a Scotch merchant named Loudoun, who
died in 1804, enjoy a large property so long as it remains in this
position, plainly above ground. There are even gratings at the foot of
the edifice, probably in order to prove that there is no deception.
Sepulchral vagaries--of far commoner occurrence than might generally
be supposed--vary considerably both in character and degree. Some are
whimsical and fantastical in the extreme; others apparently consist
only in shunning the usual and appointed places of interment, while
the peculiarity of others appears, not in the place, but in the mode
of burial. In the majority of instances where outlandish places have
been chosen for sepulture, the individuals who selected them have been
marked by some peculiarities worthy of observation.
For instance, Baskerville, the celebrated printer, whose infidel
opinions shocked even the hardened Wilkes, directed that his body
should be buried in a tomb of masonry on the site of an old windmill
in the garden of his Birmingham residence. This direction proceeded
from some curious disbelief in the "Revelation," but his wish was duly
carried out on his death in 1775.
More extraordinary still is the case of Major Peter Labellere, the
religious fanatic, who, in the year 1800, was interred upon the summit
of Box Hill as follows:--The place appointed to receive his remains
was about ten feet deep, more in the form of a well than a grave. The
coffin was let down and placed on its head, with the feet upright, in
that situation. The eccentric Major was firmly convinced that at the
resurrection the world will be turned topsy-turvy, and he took this
precaution in order that he might then find himself on his feet!
But queer burials are things of the past. For county councils and
parish councils now prevent these eccentric interments in cellars,
haylofts, and summer-houses.
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Transcriber's Note:
- - signifies italic text. Some words appear both hyphenated and
unhyphenated. This is as printed in the various articles, by various
authors, or according to the meaning of the text.
There is some 17th century spelling in this book; there were no
spelling rules in the 17th century. There is also some dialect.
Line 236: 'oyxgen' corrected to 'oxygen'.
"Without iron, for instance, the blood could not carry oxygen,..."
The first part-sentence on page 359 has been removed, and added to the
last part-sentence on page 357, as the sentence had been interrupted
by a page of illustrations.
Page 371: 'illconception' is as printed. Pepys was writing in the 17th
century. There were no spelling rules until the second half of the
19th century.