Fraternal and social organizations were very popular and evidence of this popularity can be seen in the number of grave memorials with fraternal symbols. Many of these once popular societies are now almost non-existent.
The all-seeing eye symbol is associated with Freemasonry or the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Also called the Eye of Providence or Eye of God, its origins date back to the Eye of Horus in Egyptian mythology and symbolizes the all-knowing and ever-present God.
Evergreen Cemetery, Milton, ON, Canada
Clasped hands are symbolic of a welcome into the heavenly world from the deceased’s maker.
Evergreen Cemetery, Milton, ON, Canada
The three linked rings (the chains that bind the Fraternity) are synonymous with the Odd Fellows and the letters FLT stand for Friendship, Love and Truth.
Spencer Gorge, Dundas, ON, Canada
The image on this stone shows clasped hands. However, the forefinger of the right hand is pointing, and is most likely a secret handshake as identified in the Album of Unwritten Work, a volume owned by each Grand Lodge which explained the principles and rituals of the I.O.O.F.
Come near my friends and cast and eye Then go your way, prepare to die, Learn your doom, and know you must One day like me be turned to dust. 1876
A loving husband, a dutiful son, an affectionate brother
One of the most painful losses we endure is the loss of a parent. It brings our own mortality to light.
Mother
A wife most true, a mother kind
A friend of sympathizing heart
Forgiving spirit, trusting mind
Who wisely chose the better part.
Mother thou art gone to rest
We will not weep for thee
For thou art now where oft on earth
Thy spirit longed to be.
Evergreen Cemetery, Milton, ON, Canada
Her children rise up and call her blessed.
In death’s cold arms lies sleeping
A tender parent, a companion dear
In love she lived, in peace she died,
Her life was asked but was denied. 1878
Our mother has gone from us forever
There is none on earth to us so dear
May it show to us, dear Redeemer
That our home is not down here.
Tis nature’s part, a mother to deplore
Whose early care, demands that just return
Religion only, can our peace restore
And bring relief to those who cause to mourn.
Father
Farewell dear father, sweet thy rest
Weary with years and worn with pain
Farewell till in some happy place
We shall behold thy face again.
Evergreen Cemetery, Milton, ON, Canada
Hark the sad sound that spirit bright has fled
That once loved form lies numbered with the dead
He was a tender husband, father dear
Come all who knew him drop a social tear. – 1841
The call has come to young and old
To part with friends below
They now our fathers face behold
Nor suffer pain nor woe. – 1918
Husband
Husband thou art gone to rest
Thou has found thine earthly tomb
For God has summoned thee away
Thy Father called thee home.
A faithful friend, a husband dear
A kinder parent lieth here
Great is the loss we will sustain
But hope in Heaven to meet again.
Parent
Weep not for me my children dear
I am not dead but sleeping here
And when my grave you come to see
Prepare the way to follow me.
And parted thus they rest that played against the same green tree
Whose voices mingled as they prayed around one parent knee. 1883
Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, CA, USA
One less at home.
The charmed circle broken.
A dear face missed day by day from its usual place.
But cleansed, saved, perfected by Grace.
One more in Heaven.
A place is vacant in our home that can never be filled.
This monument known as the Martyr’s Stone is set into the north east corner wall of Greyfriar’s Cemetery in Edinburgh.
The tomb was erected in 1706. The original structure contained a triangular pediment and two columns with scroll capitals with a large slab of white marble containing text (documented below), and beneath a carving of an open bible containing text from the book of Revelation ending with these words, ‘This tomb was first erected by James Curie, Merchant in Pentland, and others, 1706, renewed 1771.’
As can be seen in the photograph hundreds of years of neglect and fierce weather has damaged the monument.
Martyr’s Stone
Halt Passenger, take heed, what you do see, This tomb doth shew, for what some men did die, Here lies interred the dust of those who stood Against perjury, resisting unto blood Adhering to the Covenants, and laws Establishing the same, which was the cause Then lives were sacrificed unto the lust Of Prelatists abjured. Though here their dust Lies mixed with murderers, and other crew Whom justice justly did to death pursue But as for them, no cause was to be found Worthy of death, but only they were found. Constant and steadfast, zealous witnessing For the Prerogatives of CHRIST their KING. Which truths were sealed by famous Guthrie’s head And all along to Mr. Renwick’s blood. They did endure the wrath of enemies Reproaches, torments, deaths and injuries But yet they’re those who from such trouble came And now triumph in glory with the LAMB. From May 27th, 1661 that the most noble Marquis Of Argyle was beheaded to the 17th of February 1688 That Mr. James Renwick suffered, were one way Or other Murdered and Destroyed for the same cause, about Eighteen thousand of whom were executed at Edinburgh, about an Hundred of Noblemen, Gentlemen, Ministers and Others, noble Martyrs for Jesus Christ. The most of them lie here. For a particular account of the cause and manner of their Sufferings, see The Cloud of Witnesses, Crookshanks, and Defoe’s histories.
Note: The National Covenant was a protest by Scottish Presbyterians against Charles I’s preference for a High Anglican form of worship which was considered too Catholic. The most fervent and well known protestors being:
Archibald, Marquis of Argyle
James Renwick, a Presbyterian Minister
James Guthrie, a minister at Stirling.
These gravestones have been wiped clean due to weather erosion, or from damage. A life once lived, now even the words of memorium are erased from the stone…
St. Nicholas Church, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
Meek and gentle was her spirit
Prudence did her life adorn
Modest she disclaimed all merit
Tell me am not I forlorn
Yet I must and will resign her
She’s in better hands than mine
But I hope again to join her
In the realms of love divine.
St. Nicholas Church, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
Of such is the kingdom of Heaven
Often I stood as you stand now
To view the dead as you do me
Ere long, and you shall lie as low
And others stand and look on thee.
St. Nicholas Church, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
Tho’ lost to sight
To memory clear.
St. Nicholas Church, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
Tis but a little tear is shed
For one to mem’ry dear
The tribute of my childhood days
Is but a little tear.
Lasswade Cemetery, Lasswade, Midlothian, Scotland
As you were, you will always be
Treasured forever in our memory.
Copps Hill, Boston, MA, USA
Come near my friends and cast and eye
Then go your way, prepare to die,
Learn your doom, and know you must
One day like me be turned to dust. 1876
Chinese & Japanese Gardens, Chinese Garden Road, Singapore
Representing two cultures of contrasting architectures, these gardens are set on adjacent islands in Jurong Lake linked by the Bridge of Double Beauty.
The Japanese Garden embraces classical Zen rock gardens, traditional summer houses, stone lanterns and gilded arched bridges. Plain and serene, it is intended to evoke feeling. Marble-chip paths let you hear your own footsteps and meditate on the sound.
The Chinese Garden features twin pagodas, arched bridges, pavilions, rockeries and a bonsai garden. Brightly colored buildings are integrated with the surroundings.
The statue of Confucius is located in the Chinese Gardens. Parents bring their children to the statue to pray as this is thought to bring filial piety and good grades at school.
Statue of Confucius
The sayings of Confucius: Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.
If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.
Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
Study the past if you would define the future.
We should keep the dead before our eyes, and honor them as though still living.
“The Master said, At fifteen I set my heart upon learning. At thirty, I had planted my feet firm upon the ground. At forty, I no longer suffered from perplexities. At fifty, I knew what were the biddings of Heaven. At sixty, I heard them with docile ear. At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own heart; for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right.”
There is much of interest in Melrose Abbey due to the burial place of the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce (famed King of Scotland in the early 14th century recently documented in the movie, Braveheart.) Although his heart is believed to rest on the abbey’s grounds, the rest of his body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey.
Melrose Abbey
The 1996 summer archeological excavation of the Chapter House floor of Melrose Abbey was undertaken to increase knowledge of this important medieval building. The team from Historic Scotland investigated the lead container said to contain King Robert the Bruce’s heart which had been removed from beneath the Chapter House floor.
Under laboratory conditions in Edinburgh they drilled a small hole into the casket and looked inside with a fibre-optic cable and saw another casket. Opening the larger one carefully they found a small conical lead container and an engraved copper plaque which said;
“The enclosed leaden casket containing a heart was found beneath Chapter House floor, March 1921, by His Majesty’s Office of Works.”
Conical object containing heart
The smaller conical casket is about 10 inches high and 4 inches in diameter at the base tapering to a flat top about one and a half inches in diameter. Despite being pitted with age it was in good condition. Richard Welander, one of the investigators, said that although it was not possible to prove absolutely that it is Bruce’s heart, “We can say that it is reasonable to assume that it is”. There are no records of anyone else’s heart being buried at Melrose.
The casket containing the heart was not opened, and remained in Edinburgh until it was buried again during a private ceremony at Melrose Abbey on 22 June 1998. On the 24th June, coinciding with the anniversary of the victory of Bruce’s army over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Scottish Secretary of State, Donald Dewar, unveiled a plinth over the place in the abbey grounds where the heart is now buried.
Marker for resting place of Robert Bruce’s heart
The inscription reads: A Noble Hart May Have Nane Ease Gif Freedom Failye
Translated this means, A noble heart can have no rest if freedom is lacking.
A frequent feature on gravestones, the skull is a symbol of death, mortality, penitence, and sin. It appears in several formats.
SKULL & CROSSED BONES
Symbolic of crucifixion, death, and mortality.
The fear which this ancient symbol of death inspires led pirates to adopt it as an emblem upon their black flags and chemists to use it to denote poison. The combination when it appears on tombstones means, “He is dead.”
See yonder flower that scents the air How sweet it blooms How swift it fades! Just such is man in youth how fair How chang’d his form when death invades! Yet fades the flower to bloom again And we shall rise with Christ to reign.
St. Nicholas, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
As measured notes of set music we pass in fast or slow marches to the grave.
St. Nicholas, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
Gently this spot in solemn silence tread Let none disturb the relics of these dead Their souls have waft themselves to God on high But here all round this stone their bodies lie.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord They rest from their labours and their works do follow them.
The skull represented here also displays crossed arrows and an hourglass, both of which symbolize mortality.
Lasswade Cemetery, Lasswade, Midlothian, Scotland
I am the Resurrection and the Life He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live.
The badly eroded stone displays a dove flying above a skull and represents the resurrection of the soul.
Campbellville Burying Ground, Campbellville, ON, Canada
SKULL, WINGED
A winged skull symbolizes the ascension into heaven, and the flight of the soul from mortal man.
Sometimes called death’s heads or winged death, it represents the fleeting nature of life and impending death. It was once a common motif on New England tombstones.
80% of the carvings on gravestones in Copps Hill Cemetery, Boston, bear the winged skull symbol.
Copps Hill, Boston, MA, USA
No flat ring marble rules the traveler here The spot is sacred to affections dear He was in life what artful men pretend Companion, parent, neighbour, Christian, friend. 1802
Burial Hill, Plymouth, MA
Hail sweet repose not shall we rest No more with sickness be distressed Here from all sorrows find release Our souls shall dwell in endless peace. 1789
King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Boston, MA
No longer was my life No longer was my breath God called me home in early life Because he thought it best. 1805
King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Boston, MA
Though far from home in distant land My flesh returns to dust In hopes to rise when Jesus calls And dwell among the just. 1808
Old Burial Ground, Brewster, MA
Life’s painful toils are over Its pilgrimage is ended And to a purer happier shore Her spirit hath ascended. 1808
Words on Stone 