More about Culter Graveyard

As promised more picture of the Culter Graveyard. As you can see in the background of the above picture the church itself is lovely and has several mausoleums attached to it. These two adjoining table stone graves really grabbed my attention as both were elaborately decorated. One had a shell layng on the top which for some reason unnerved me a bit.

This side decoration on one of them is a bit of a mystery too. There is a ring as well as a hand and there was more, now no longer visible. Is this the hand of God and is the circle a symbol of eternity? Both are possible explanations but whether it's the definitive one I'm far from sure.

Here are the same two table stones taken facing in the opposite direction. The grave furthest away is the normal shape of a table grave. The short ends are closed and decorated while the long sides are open. The stone nearer to us is much more unusual, being completely closed and decorated on all sides. Neither of them is legible. All the text on such graves is on the top and thus very much exposed to wind and weather.

This is an overview of one of the table graves, with quite unusual pillars and the long sides are both decorated, as opposed to the usual tablestones which are only carved at the short sides.

Here is the flying angel seen on the side and on the picture above in detail. It's holding something in it's hand but what exactly is now no longer discernable.

And then there is this detail on the side, of hand shaking and the latin word Fraternitas underneath. The word itself translates as Brotherhood but there have been many of those during the ages, all of them religious. I really wish I could find out more about the meaning of all these signs and symbols but most of the ones on this table gravestone remain a mystery to me. I simply admire them and capture them in a picture both for myself and to show them here. Some of them will no doubt pop up in my art too.

Finally two gateways, neither of them the main gate I used to enter the graveyard. Instead they both lead in different directions and were erected by two different lairds for their own private use to get to the church. Each gate is decorated by an ornate archway with the relevant laird's arms carved on it.

This one took my fancy specially, with an inspirational circular design. When I go again, in better weather, I plan to go through and see where the path takes me.