What Can We Learn from a Gravestone?
Charles Dickens could’ve chosen many places to begin his classic novel Great Expectations, yet he starts by introducing two characters the reader will never properly meet. Pip’s father and mother, deceased before his narrative begins, are brought to us the same way they are brought to Pip, from their tombstones. Following along as he scans the shapes of the letters and lengths of the lozenges, I wondered just how much a tombstone could tell us about a life.
Carvings have long been a way to leave a personal symbolic imprint for a loved one, whether it be a weeping willow to represent hope for immortality, an hourglass for the unfair passage of time, or any number of coded messages that showcase a family's sentiment to the afterlife. A tombstone is a way to leave one final message for the world: who you are and how you’d like to be remembered. But that message isn’t just for loved ones. That final impression on the world can still be a first for the next generation that has inherited the world you left behind.
St Andrews is a constant bridge between the past and present, annually honouring its history through traditions like the Spring Procession and Gaudie. With burial grounds dating back to medieval times and the town's long-standing impact on students, locals, and golfers alike, it’s no surprise that St Andrews is home to a wide range of intriguing graves.
Notably, the Morris family, Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, a Scottish father-son golf duo who were instrumental in shaping modern golf, have their remains laid at the St Andrews Cathedral Churchyard. Regardless of your familiarity with their historical impact, you can understand them through the uniquely personal tombstones they’ve left behind. Young Tom Morris, who passed away at only twenty years old, has a statue of a golfer standing above his epitaph, allowing a piece of him to remain gracing St Andrews for years to come. Superstitious golfers who want to improve their games on the Old Course have been known to keep his legacy alive by leaving golf balls as an offering at his grave for good luck on the course.
Whether it be through rarer large displays like that of Young Tom Morris or more common minimalistic carvings, each tomb leaves behind its own immortalised legacy of a unique life. This autumn, take a look beyond the prop Halloween tombstones, and give your local graveyard a visit. It’s not as scary as you think, I promise, and you just might leave with a newfound understanding of your home and former neighbours.
Image from Artvee
Comments