Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-10-09
Atistellaneuus 8eaains,
GRAVEYARD LITERATURE.
Notes of Inscriptions That Have Ap
peared on Tombstones.

peared on Iombstones.
| The change which has occurred in
tombstones, from the old custom Of in
scribing them with lengthy epitaphs to
the present fashion Of putting simply
the name of the deceased with the dates
of birth and death, was no doubt large
ly brought about by the very excess to
which the epitaphs formerly ran; the
I eXcessiveness of their eulogiums being
in many cases much more likely to
provoke a smile than to arouse any
feeling Of sorrow or respect. Let
there be no inscription on my tomb, let
no man write my epitaph," was the
wish expressed by the Irish patriot and
martyr, Robert Emmett, on the eve OF
his execution, and the same desire has
often been echoed by eminent men, who
were content to trust their memory to
the gratitude Of their country rather
than to depend upon tombstone to-
keep it bright The very absence of
all Inscriptions on modern stones
makes us read with more interest those
Of a generation or two ago, and 1t must
be confessed that the nature Of many
Of them convinces us that the custom
Of thus perpetuating the memory OF
the dead is one 'more honored in the
breach than in the observance"
| In the days when inscriptions were
regarded as almost obligatory it was
sometimes a matter Of such anxious
| hnt ,orhf he RI Of
whose end was drawing near that they
have been known to offer prizes for the
best epitaph to be used upon their
stones. In one instance this was done
| by a certain Mr.. Oakes, but, the COM
peting eulogiums failing to please him,
he wrote the following and claimed the
prize for it.
Here lies the body of Sternhold
| Oakes,
Who lived and died like other folks"
One is sometimes at a loss to know
whether the absurd inscriptions that
are found in many old graveyards
were attributed to a lack Of feeling or
lack Of humor on the part Of those
| who erected the stones, but when we
read some of the poetical effusions that
at times accompany obituary notices at
the present day we are forced to con-
| clude that genuine sorrow may some
times be expressed in bad poetry and
absurd epitaphs. But, at the same
time, grief must needs be very deep to
blind the mourners to the Righteousness
Of some Of the following inscriptions:
From Bayfield,, Mass, comes this
verse:
Stranger, pause: my tale attend,
And learn the cause Of Hannah's end.
Across the world the wind did blow,
She catched cold that laid her low.
We shed a lot Of tears. it's true,
But life Is short. Aged 81
From another town in the same
state the following is taken
Here lie two grandsons of John
Hancock, first signer of the Declara-
ton Of Independence. Their names
are. respectively, George NJ. and John
H. Hancock, and their eminence hangs
on their having had grandfather"
A New Jersey graveyard furnishes
this stern warning:
Reader, pass on! Don't waste your
time
On bad biography and bitter rhyme;
For what I am, this crumbling clay
insures,
And what I was, is no affairs of
yours"
Much in the same spirit is one from
an old Lincolnshire graveyard in Eng
land:
Under this solitary sod there lies a
man
Whose ways were very odd;
Whatever his faults were, let them
alone.
Let thy utmost care be to mend thine
Let him without sin first cast a
stone"
A certain Mr. James Danner, who
had been married four times, received
the following tribute:
"An excellent husband was this Mr..
Danner,
He lived in a thoroughly honorable
manner.
He may have had troubles,
But they burst like bubbles.
He's at peace now with Mary, Jane.
Susan and Hannah"
A Capt. Hand. Of Sag Harbor, who
had surpassed James Danner in the
matter of matrimony. lies buried in
the midst of the graves of his five
wives, with this verse upon his monu
ment:
ta1 cifon hNyI
How thick the partners Of one nus
band lie;
Vast and unsearchable the ways of
Just. but severe, we feel His chasten-
ing rod
1t hardly seems as though the faults
and failings Of men should render
them subject to ridicule after death,
but the following bunch of epitaphs
show little trace of that delicacy Of
feeling which bids us speak nothing
but good of the dead. On the grave
of miser stand these lines:
Here lies one who for medicines
wouldn't give
4 little gold, and so his life was lost. |
fancy now he'd wish to live,
Could he but know how much his
funeral cost"
Over a gambler is this inscription.
doubtless regarded as very clever by
the composer:
Here Bardwell lies, his game of life
being played.
At length death trumpt him with a |
Sexton'S spade;
Yet two points of the game he still
can show,
For now his soul is high, his body
low" |
Even an inveterate drunkard hardly |
deserved the following sarcastic |
epitaph:
Pray. who lies here? Why, don't you
know?
'Tis stammering. staggering, boozy
Joe.
Whittier he's gone we do not know,
With spirits above or spirits below
But if he former taste inherits.
He's uuaffing in world of spirits.
OF a man who had accidentally led
d, &C - b,rea halonpinp tO some one else, |