Tombstone Tuesday: St Cuthberts Cemetery Edinburgh

One of my favourite things to do when I visit Edinburgh each year is to wander around the old cemeteries. I try to pick ones I have not yet wandered through so that the history of the cemetery is new to me each time. Although I must admit, a trip to Edinburgh wouldn't feel complete without a wander through Greyfriars. It has become an annual pilgrimage. And my preference now it to take the guided tour offered by Historic Edinburgh Tours where I can learn the stories behind the people interred. 

One cemetery I have wanted to wander through for some years now is St Cuthberts. My initial fascination with St Cuthberts was my first sighting of the guard tower, watching over the burial sites and protecting them from the notorious grave robbers and body snatchers. 

St Cuthberts is on Princes Street at the far end of the West Gardens. It takes in an amazing expanse of land and while situated on the very busy Princes St, it is surprisingly tranquil. 

Like most of the old cemeteries in Edinburgh, St Cuthberts is the final resting place of some of the elite in Scotland's history. 

I am always in awe, as I wander amongst the headstones, of the wealth of genealogical information that can be gleaned from the old headstones. In the days when paying tribute was the most important part of a headstone and estates and families weren't charged per letter or per word:

Tombstone Tuesday - David Hume

This tomb belongs to one of the important Scottish Game Changers:  David Hume

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist known especially for his ph...ilosophical empiricism and scepticism. 

 David Hume's aim was to found the 'Science of Man' - the study of human nature by scientific means. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment.

A statue of Hume stands on the Royal Mile.

 

His tomb, which is quite grand, is in the Old Calton Cemetery in Edinburgh

 

Tombstone Tuesday - William Miller - "Wee Willie Winkie"

This monument stands atop a hill in the Glasgow Necropolis.

 

William Miller is perhaps best known for his children's nursery rhyme:

 

Wee Willie Winkie rins through the toon,
Up stairs an' doon stairs in his nicht-gown,
Chappin' at the window, crying thru the lock,
"Are the we'ans in their bed, for it's now ten o'clock?"

Tombstone Tuesday - I Am a Taphophile

I am a Taphophile. Perhaps even at a certifiable level. And as I look back on my life, I'm pretty certain this addiction was passed down from my dad. 

What is a Taphophile?

•A Taphophile is someone with a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries.

•Taphophilia involves epitaphs, photography, brass rubbing, art, and history of deaths.

•A Taphophile describes someone who travels to visit cemeteries for the enjoyment of looking at old and unusual stones.

•Taphophiles are usually more interested in the historical aspects of cemeteries or graves than they are in the people who are buried within.

Most Sunday afternoons, my dad and I hiked the woods along the base of the escarpment and always ended up in the  local cemetery. We would walk the rows of headstones and grave markers, take note of newly laid graves or large amounts of flowers that had been laid, usually signalling that a funeral had taken place in recent days. That was the start of a lifelong addiction.  

And I find as my interest in genealogy grows, my addiction deepens. One of my favourite indulgences when I go to Scotland each year is to take in different cemeteries. To some people, these cemeteries are creepy wee places. Full of horror, ghosts and maybe even the odd poltergeist. As I wander around them, I am in awe at the history laying beneath the earth. The names of major players in Scotland's history. Top scholars, fathers of free thinking, inventors, famous physicians, philosophers, poets, authors. Each cemetery is a history book.  

My addiction has expanded. I am not just using the gateway fixes of cemeteries anymore, but now include battlefields, memorials and even pre-historic cairns. The richer the history, the deeper I am hooked.

Any other taphophiles out there?  I have thought of starting a self help group. But how would we meet? In a cemetery? With a pen and scribbler? Cameras at the ready?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tombstone Tuesday - Cemetery for Soldier's Dogs Edinburgh Castle

A small garden past the parapets at Edinburgh Castle is the final resting place of the canine companions of the regimental officers. This garden is out of reach for visitors so is serene and well maintained. It can be viewed from above. The cemetery has been in place since the time of Queen Victoria in 1840.

Tombstone Tuesday - Protecting the Dead

In the early 1800s in Edinburgh, learning to be a surgeon or physician was a difficult task. These were the days long before x-rays, CT scans or MRIs, so the only way to know the internal anatomy of the human body was through dissection.

Permission was granted to the anatomy department of the University of Edinburgh to be allowed to use the bodies of criminals who had been hanged or otherwise executed for the purposes of learning about anatomy. This part of the death sentence was known as "anatomising"

In addition, the homeless who had no one claim their bodies and who then became the property of the Council were also given over to the anatomy department.

However, it was quickly learned that this could be a lucrative business adventure as the Anatomy Dept would pay rather princely sums for a freshly deceased cadaver. This of course gave rise to grave-robbing or body snatching. Late at night, under the guise of darkness, the seedier side of the overcrowded populace of Edinburgh would enter the local graveyards and dig up the newly interred bodies. They would then drag them off to the Anatomy Dept at the University of Edinburgh's Medical School where they would be paid in cash, apparently no questions asked. 

To prevent their loved ones from being disinterred, family members of the poorer of the city's populace would take turns sitting vigil at the graveside of their dearly departed for three to five days, thinking that after this length of time, the bodies would be of no value to the grave-robbers.

The more well-heeled would pay for mortsafes to keep their loved ones safely in the ground. These two are at Greyfriar's Cemetery in Edinburgh's Old Town:

 

and in some cemeteries, such as St Cuthberts they had guards posted to ward off the resurrectionists. This is the guard tower at St Cuthberts:

 

 



I love these old remnants which serve as visual reminders of a very sinister piece of Scottish history.

Tombstone Tuesday - Bloody MacKenzie

 

Tomb of George "Bloody" MacKenzie. MacKenzie was Lord Advocate and member of the Privy Council of Scotland. He was charged with persecution of those opposed to Charles II and as such was notorious for rounding up, imprisoning and or executi...ng the Covenanters. He threw them in a mock jail on the grounds of Greyfriars Kirkyard. It was open to the elements. The prisoners were routinely beaten, starved and many died of starvation or exposure, all at the say-so of MacKenzie. Due to his nasty treatment of the Covenanter Prisoners, he was given the nick name of "Bloody MacKenzie" In a twist of irony, his mausoleum/tomb is adjacent to the prison he ruled with an iron fist. It is said that his ghost is unsettled at this juxtapostion and so he regularly roams the graveyard as a poltergeist.

Tombstone Tuesday for Wordless Wednesday

Tombstone Tuesday

My annual trips to Scotland to conduct family history research also allow me to tap into my taphophilia. I generally try to pick two or three new (to me) cemeteries to visit and learn about. This year was no exception. I was able to visit four cemeteries:

• Old Calton in Glasgow aka the Weaver's Cemetery
• Old Calton in Edinburgh
• Carlisle Cemetery
• and my old standby, Greyfriars

I am always amazed at the age of the stones and the history of some of the people interred in each cemetery. Many of them key figures in Scottish history. Of particular interest this year was Carlisle Cemetery in Northern England. A cemetery where some of my Lindsley ancestors are buried. The stones were quite ornate. In many ways, they were reminiscent of the stones in the Glasgow Necropolis.

Tombstone Tuesday - St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh

Tombstone Tuesday - Memorial, Obituary, Family Tree

Tombstone Tuesday - Ramshorn Cemetery Glasgow

Many of the City's merchants are buried in Ramshorn Cemetery. In spite of their wealth, their tombstones are incredibly simple:

Tombstone Tuesday - Indulgence of a Taphophile

This week's cemetery jaunt was the Ramshorn Cemetery in Glasgow's Merchant City. Many of the well to do merchants are entombed here.