This is without doubt one of the most interesting gravestones in West Linton Graveyard. It portrays a man dressed in wonderful costume and cloak. The writing must once have been on the other side of the stone
as seen above but it has now entirely disappeared. In Sheila A. Scott's book Peeblesshire Monumental Inscriptions - pre 1850, it merely stated that it belongs to Archibald Wilson and as can still be seen, just underneath the crossbones, it dates back to 1705. I think the costume was contemporary to that time. Also note the splendid skull and spirals at the top and the very ornately carved pillars and garland. Whoever he might have been Archibald Wilson must have been very well-to-do. This gravestone required an expert mason who no doubt charged a pretty penny.
I'm almost sure he was the Archibald Wilson who was born in 1651 and had a wife called Margaret Hope (born in 1655) who are mentioned in archives
here . The gravestone also get a mention
on the ancient monuments Scotland site under West Linton. Can we see his face above? Sadly it has received a few dents over time but his wig still looks very impressive. This became
my blip for today.
The details of the carving are beautiful such as the shoe buckle above
and his fabulous costume down to the last button. He seems quite at peace with his folded hands. I wish I knew more about him but sadly this is not to be. However his amazing gravestone means that he won't be forgotten!
This is a duplicate of my blog post on the
West Linton Graveyard site today. I wanted to share this magnificent stone more widely so blogged it here too.
3 comments:
Incredible grave stone, thank you for telling us about it.
That certainly is an amazingly detailed stone Frieda. I'm so taken by the early and ancient works of art whether carved from stone or wood etc. as these truly were the masters who worked their magic mostly by hand.
Great photographs of the stone details. As always interesting history.
Post a Comment