Monday Mourning ~ Winter Sun

Monday Mourning ~ Mausoleum Windows

Very often the delicate stained glass windows in mausoleums are damaged or missing altogether, this may be due to the elements, vandals or just the ravages of time. So it was a joy to find many of these works of art in tact and still looking beautiful more than a century later in the Cemeteries of Paris. Here are a selection of those to be found in Montmatre. 

Monday Mourning ~ Horticulture

Famille Iches Arnautas

The canopies that cover and protect the tombs in Cahors Cemetery ~ France, are perhaps a more affordable option than the more expensive brick built mausoleums that they stand side by side with.

Although I have to admit that at first glance, they reminded me of garden greenhouses and this one was no exception. However on closer inspection I noticed the rake and spade and watering can, the fruit and vegetables and abundance of flowers. I wonder if the medal had anything to do with this obvious passion for gardening ?   

Monday Mourning ~ Mausoleum Meltdown

Roughly translated this notice announces: 

Not withstanding the ravages of time, this Sepulchre has deteriorated. Which appears to be left abandoned. A procedure of reprise is engaged. If you wish to preserve it, please present the Town Hall for action to be taken.

I sure hope that someone does present a petition to save this mausoleum.

Monday Mourning ~ Uprooted

In Affectionate Rememberance of

Louisa Ann the Beloved Wife of Frank Palmerstone Ellis

of Thorley Bourne

Who died 21st October 1885 Aged 32 Years

'Not Lost but Gone Before'

I love the mature trees of the older well established Cemeteries, it's what makes them such places of serenity. They stand like protective sentinels over the resting places of loved ones, sometimes however their growing habits can take over the spaces they shelter.........

   

Monday Mourning ~ Beheaded

I found these two intricately carved, but unfortunately beheaded figures, in the children's section of the New Cemetery in Ipswich. They were under some trees and close by one another, so they may have been decapitated by the same falling branch or vandal. They appear to be rather unusual monuments for childrens graves and so it is intriguing to know what their true history was. I also wonder what their faces would have looked like.  

Monday Mourning ~ Spires of Ipswich

All of these Spire monuments are to be found in the Old Ipswich Cemetery, where the number of them, seem to have made them a very popular choice.  

The word 'Spire' is derived from the Old English word 'Spir', meaning a sprout, or shoot of grass.

Symbolically, Spires served two functions. Firstly, a Spire proclaimed a martial power, with it's spear like point giving the impression of strength. Secondly, was is it's connection with the celestial, as it reached up toward the skies and declared its connection with heaven.

The Spire was seen as a symbol of piety, as well as a symbol of wealth and prestige.

Monday Mourning ~ Tomb Styles

Temple Tombs

Brompton Cemetery

Temple Tombs have a low pitched roof that is supported on columns as shown above or with a similar roof supported by pillars at the front and with a solid wall at the rear, resembling a porticoed facade in the style of a Grecian Temple.

The Greek Revival style was a popular architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States.

Monday Mourning ~ Tomb Styles

Sarcophagus Tomb

Llandudno, Wales

The Sarcophagus tomb has the appearance that it contains the actual body of the departed, however the is not the case, as the body would be interred in a vault below ground. The Sarcophagus style may be simple as these examples here, or very ornate indeed, a common main feature is that the main body of the tomb is tapered towards the bottom and that it stands upon feet, which can often appear to be those of a lion. 

Brompton Cemetery, London

Bunhill Field, London

Monday Mourning ~ Tomb Styles

Table Tombs

Runcorn Cemetery, Cheshire

Brompton Cemetery, London

Table tombs usually consist of a flat stone onto which the details of the departed are often inscribed. This is supported on four or more legs or supports similar to the first picture above.

Also a sarcophagus may be found underneath the table top.

Brompton Cemetery, London

    

 



Monday Mourning ~ Tomb Styles

Altar Tomb

 

An Altar Tomb like the one above in St.Peter and St. Pauls Churchyard is similar in shape to the plain, rectangular box of the Chest Tomb. However the Altar Tomb, which may be raised on a stepped plinth is more ornamental and often decorated with foliage and family crests on its sides and lid, it may even bear the sleeping effigy of the deceased and have an architecural canopy above it.

On Lid:

In Loving Memory of

Henry Pearle

who died at Dane House January 19th 1911

aged 93 years

His end was Peace, Peace Perfect Peace

On front:

Here Rests

The body of Ann Pearle

the beloved and loving wife of

Henry Pearle of Blunts Hall

who died Feb. 23rd 1892

Unfortunately I did not discover much about the Pearles, but found out something interesting about Blunt Hall, where the Pearles had lived.

   Frank Sainsbury 

Frank was not cut out for shop work and was dismissed as branch manger when his father caught him riding a bicycle around the shop. He was then sent to work on the farm of a family friend where he became successful. Blunt Hall Farm was purchased in 1902 and it was from here that he began suppling Eggs and Poultry to the family shop. Sainsburys is now one of the largest chains of Supermarkets in this country. 

Click on Frank's name under the photograph for more information on the Sainsbury Family.

Monday Morning's ~ Mausoleum

The Ongley Family purchased the Old Warden Estate in 1700 from the Bolingbroke Family. They owned Old Warden Park until 1872 when it was sold to Joseph Shuttleworth. This family's mausoleum was built in 1790 with space for 42, however from 1790 to 1877, only 10 were interred here. Family memorials are in St. Leonards Church.

This monument rests on the plinth with dedication shown below

Near this place is desposited the remains of

Sr. Samuel Ongley Kt.

Who by his indefatigable Industy acquir'd a very plentifull Estate,

was charitable to the Poor, and very bountifull

to his Relations, was free from Pride and Ostentation,

always easy of Access, a kind Neighbour, a sincere Friend

and delighted in doing good offices to all Mankind.

he was formerly a director of the East India and the first

Deputy Govenour of the South Sea Companys, and at his

death being Govenour to three Hospitals, was a Liberall

Benefactor to each: he serv'd his Country impartially as

member of Parliment for Maidstone in the County of Kent 

(his native place) Who for his good Services received the

Honour of Knighthood.

He departed this life the 25th day of August 1726

in the 80th year of his Age

Monday Mourning's Mausoleum

There were only a few headstones remaining in the Churchyard of St. Nicholas's Church, Loughton, Essex. But there was also this beautiful little Gothic Mausoleum, belonging to Mary French.

  

Here rests

the body of

MARY

wife of

Jos. FRENCH of

Little Burstead

in this County Est.

? Feb. 11th 1860

? 77 

I did take a peek into the window at the back, but there were only a few old LP album covers from the '60's in there and nothing else, so it looks as though someone had sadly used it as a litter bin.

Monday Mourning ~ Symbolism

This amazing pillar is full of symbolic funerary images and was one of four that stood at the corners of a memorial in the Zorgflied cemetery in Amsterdam.

The inverted Torch is a purely funerary symbol and it comes in two forms. The first one, shows a torch that is alight, indicating that even in death, the soul ~ the flames of fire ~ continue to burn brightly in another realm of existence. The second inverted torch, that which bears no flame, simply shows a life that is extinguished.

At the top of the column, the winged hourglass reminds us that time is fleeting, as the sands of time ceaselessly ebb away from one sphere of life to another. The wings further remind us of 'how time flies'.

Inside the circular carvings on the scrolls, are Butterflies that relate to it's three stages of life. With the caterpillar representing 'life', the chrysalis is for 'death' and the butterfly is ultimately 'resurrection'.

The Ouroboros ~ a snake biting or eating it's own tail ~ is a symbol of eternity, immortality and rejuvenation.

The Scallop Shell symbolises a journey or pilgrimage and is also a symbol of baptism, specifically the Baptism of Christ.

The Shell's association with the element of water, is seen as a female/goddess energy in some cultures and because the shell many contain a pearl, is considered as lucky and a sign of prosperity. 

I shall be featuring a blog on this splendid monument in the near future.

Monday Mourning ~ The Vacant Chair

New Pinner Cemetery, Middlesex

Susan Sophia Dunsford

May 10th 1899

Left her chair vacant

January 30th 1954

Our wedding day was bright with hopes,

Sweet dreams, anticipations.

Walk softly, for you are treading on my dreams.

To the loving memory I keep of you - Fred.

The vacant chair is a symbol that is often used to remind us that a loved one has now departed and has therefore left a space behind them.
It was especially used to mark the passing of young people and children, but as seen here, is also used for adults as well.

The Vacant Chair

When we gather round our hearth,

Consecrated by the birth,

Of our eldest, darling boy,

Only one thing mars our joy,

Tis the dreary corner, where,

Stands, unfilled, the vacant chair!

Little Mary, bright and blest,

Early sought her heavenly rest,

Oft we see her in our dreams-

Then an angel one he seems!

But we oftner see her, where

Stands, unfilled, the vacant chair

But 'twere sinful to repine,

Much of joy to me and mine,

Has the gentle Sheperd given,

Little Mary is in heaven!

Blessed thought! while gazing where

Stands, unfilled, the vacant chair.

Many parents, kind and good,

Lost to them their little brood,

Bless their Maker night and day,

Thiugh he took their all away!

Shall we, therefore, murmur, where

Stands, unfilled, one vacant chair!

Little Mary! angel blest,

From thy blissful place of rest,

Look upon us! angel child,

Fill us with thy spirit mild,

Keep o'er us thy watchful care,

Often fill the vacant chair.

Richard Coe Jr.

  

An American Civil War Tribute Song

The Vacant Chair 

We shall meet but we shall miss him,
There will be one vacant chair;

We will linger to caress him

While we breathe our evening prayer;

When a year ago we gathered,

Joy was in his mild blue eye,

Now a golden chord is severed,

And our hopes in ruin lie.

At our fireside, sad and lonely,

Often will the bosom swell

At remembrance of the story,

How our noble father fell;

How he strove to bear our banner

Through the thickest of the fight;

And uphold our country’s honor,

In the strength of manhood’s fight.

True, they tell us wreaths of glory

Ever more will deck his brow,

But this soothes the anguish only,

Sweeping o’er our heartstrings now.

Sleep today, Oh early fallen,

In thy green and narrow bed.

Dirges from the pine and cypress

Mingle with the tears we shed.

The Battle of Balls Bluff, Virginia, 21st October 1861, in which General McClellan was defeated.

John William 'Willie' Grout of the 15th Massachusetts, was an i8 year old lieutenant who fought with valor and courage. He was killed in aiding the retreat.

Four weeks later Henry S. Washburn, who knew the young lieutenant, thought with with deep emotion of the chair that would be vacant at Thanksgiving and wrote the words of the song in a moment of inspiration. A few weeks after the lines were written, Dr. Root set them to music.

Monday Mourning ~ Deadly Supersitious

Deadly Supersitious

In every culture around the world there are supersitious signs and omens surrounding death and dying and the foretelling of this event. Some you may have already heard of before and others are a variation of a theme........
Here are just a few: 

If the deceased has lived a good life, flowers would bloom on their grave; but if they have been bad, only weeds will grow upon it.


If several deaths occur in the same family, tying a black ribbon to everything left alive that enters the house, even animals, will protect against more deaths spreading further.

Bad Luck will follow you if you wear anything new to a funeral, especially shoes.

Always cover your mouth while yawning so your spirit doesn’t escape and the devil could enter your body instead.

It is bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on. If you see one approching, turn around. If this is unavoidable, hold on to your collar until the funeral cortege passes.

Large drops of rain warn that there has just been a death.

Stop the clock in a death room or you will have bad luck.

To lock the door of your home after a funeral procession has left the house is bad luck.

If rain falls on a funeral procession, the deceased will go to heaven.

If you hear a clap of thunder following a burial it indicates that the soul of the departed has reached heaven.

If you hear 3 knocks and no one is there, it usually means someone close to you has died. The superstitious call this the 3 knocks of death.

If you leave something that belongs to you to the deceased, that means the person will come back to get you.

If a wild bird enters your house it is a portent of someone living there, dying soon.


If you smell roses or lillies when none are present, someone is going to die.

If you don’t hold your breath while going by a graveyard you will not be buried.

If you see yourself in a dream, your death will follow.

If you see an owl in the daytime, a death will follow.

If you dream about a birth, someone you know will die.

If it rains in an open grave then someone in the family will die within the year.

If a picture falls off the wall, there will be a death of someone you know.


If you spill salt, throw a pinch of the spilt salt over your shoulder to prevent a death from happening in the family.

Never speak ill of the dead because they will come back to haunt you or you will suffer misfortune.

Two deaths in the family means that a third is sure to follow.

The cry of a curlew or the hoot of an owl foretells a death.

A single snowdrop growing in the garden foretells a death.

Having only red and white flowers together in a vase (especially in hospital) means a death will soon follow.

Dropping an umbrella on the floor or opening one in the house means that there will be a death in the house.

A diamond-shaped fold in clean linen portends death.

A dog howling at night when someone in the house is sick is a bad omen. It can be reversed by reaching under the bed and turning over a shoe.

Monday Mourning ~ Wooden Headboard

Another Wooden Headboard,

this time from St. Peter's Church, Arlesley, Bedfordshire 

In Memory of Mary the wife of Joseph Newbury

who died Februaury 13th 1872 Aged 50 Years

Remember me when you pass by. As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, so you must be, Prepare yourself to follow me.

After reading an epitaph like this, life sounds all downhill from now on. 

St. Peter's, Arlesley, Bedfordshire