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In Search of Gravestones Old and Curious by W.T. (William Thomas) Vincent
page 54 of 137 (39%)
"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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