In Search of Gravestones Old and Curious by W.T. (William Thomas) Vincent
page 54 of 137 (39%)
page 54 of 137 (39%)
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"Here lyeth Mary, never was contrary
To me nor her neighbours around her; Like Turtle and Dove we lived in love, And I left her where I may find her. "Also John Smith, husband of the above." (Date sunk underground.) A short walk through the village and by the Cray River brings us to the church of St. Mary Cray, where I secure a new species, in which Death is doubly symbolized by the not infrequent scythe and possibly also by the pierced heart. The latter might refer to the bereaved survivor, but, being a-flame, seems to lend itself more feasibly to the idea of the immortal soul. The trumpet and the opening coffin indicate peradventure the resurrection. FIG. 66.--AT ST. MARY CRAY. "To Thomas Abbott, died May 21, 1773, aged 75 years." [Illustration: FIG. 66. ST. MARY CRAY.] [Illustration: FIG. 67. ST. PAUL'S CRAY.] Only a short distance farther, for the churches are small, we reach St. Paul's Cray, the burial-ground of which shews that the foregoing allegory was immediately duplicated, apparently by another hand, with just a little variation to redeem the piracy. The coffin is quite |
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