The following quaint inscription appears on the tombstone erected in
memory of John Dowler, the blacksmith, in Aston churchyard:--


Sacred to the Memory of
JOHN DOWLER,
Late of Castle Bromwich, who
Departed this life December 6th, 1787,
Aged 42,
Also two of his Sons, JAMES and CHARLES,
Who died infants.


My sledge and hammer lie reclined,
My bellows, too, have lost their wind
My fire's extinct, my forge decayed,
And in the dust my vice is laid;
My coal is spent, my iron gone,
My nails are drove, my work is done.


The latter part of the above, like the next four, has appeared in many
parts of the country, as well as in the local burial grounds, from which
they have been copied:--

From St. Bartholomew's: