Moffat’s Old Cemetery

The town of Moffat in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, hosts an old cemetery at the south end of the High Street with gravestones almost solely created from local red sandstone extracted from the River Annan basin.

It includes the remains of the gable end of a Pre-Reformation church

John Graham, of Claverhouse, was sent to Scotland with orders to enforce conformity to the Established Church. In 1685, Claverhouse stood in the churchyard and ordered the people of Moffat to take the Test Oath (swearing loyalty to the English king.) Anyone refusing was labelled a “Covenanter” and was likely to be persecuted, tortured and banished. It was through his relentless repression of the Covenanters that Claverhouse earned the name “Bluidy Clavers.”

In 1747 the original graveyard was covered over with four feet of soil to accommodate future burials. It contains several famed occupants including:

• Francis Moffat the Clan Chief of the Moffats was buried in 1992
• The graves of two postmen who perished in the snow near the Beeftub (a deep, dramatic hollow in the hills north of the Scottish town of Moffat) when they were attempting to deliver mail in treacherous conditions.
• John Loudon Mcadam inventor of tarmacadam (a smooth road surface)

In Memory / Of / John Loudon Mcadam / Born At Ayr 21^st September 1756 / Died At Moffat 26^th November 1836 / In The 81^st Year Of His Age./ Son Of / James Mcadam Of Waterhead / Who Lies Buried At Straiton / And Of Anne Charlotte Delancey / Second Wife Of The Above John Loudon Mcadam / Born At Bath 17^th September 1786 Died At / Hoddesdon Hertfordshire 29^th May 1852 / 1836

The headstone above is engraved with flowers, a rose represents love and purity and the brevity of life on earth. Life, like a blooming flower, is never meant to be permanent.

 
In Memory Of / Mr. / Samuel Billing / Who Died Suddenly / By Falling From A / Bridge Into The / River On The 21^st Of / Decr. 1785 / In The 80 / Year Of His Age. / Ye Living Men / Come View The Ground / Where You / Will Someday Lie
The effigy with wings represents the soul in flight. The crown represents the glory of life after death.

NOTE: The above gravestone of Samuel Billings is  listed twice in FindaGrave. However, the listing for the cemetery in Moffat contains no photograph. The image is attached to a memorial in West Cemetery in Somers, Tolland County, Connecticut, USA.  and closely resembles gravestone designs in New England, USA . The gravestone of Samuel Billings will therefore  not be found in Moffat. I am leaving the item in this post as it is a good representation and clear image of gravestones of that period albeit a different continent.

Near This Spot / Is / Interred The Remains / Of / John Pagan / Late Cattle Salesman / Liverpool / And Tenant Of Breconside / In This Parish: / Who Died At Inverness / 16th July 1851 / Aged 60 Years / This Monument / Is Erected / By His Numerous Friends / In Testimony / Of Their High Respect / For His Public / And Private Character.
The rose represents love and purity and the brevity of life on earth. Life, like a blooming flower, is never meant to be permanent.

In Memory Of / James Proudfoot / Who Died At Ashmount / 22^nd Feb 1858 Aged 88 Years / His Wife Janet Fyfe / Who Died At Ashmount, 27^th April 1908 / Aged illegible Years / Their Daughter / Mary Maxwell / Who Died 2^1st May illegible Aged 13 Years

Sacred / To The Memory Of/ William Johnstone, Who Died / At Achtrictan Glenco, / 4^th Novr / 1790, Aged 62 Years. / Also Thomas Johnstone His Son / Who Died 21^st May 1793 Aged 16 Years / Also Helen Little, Spouse To The / Above William Johnstone, Who Died / The 3^rd April 1813. Aged 70 Years / Also Margaret Johnstone Their / Daughter, Who Died 7^th Sepr 1842. / Aged 62 Years/ And Jane Also Their Daughter/ Who Died The 24^th June 1856, Aged 76
The grave is terminated with an urn, one of the most common of monuments representing the body as a vessel of the soul and its return to dust while the spirit of the departed eternally rests with God.

Also / Sacred To The Memory Of / Paul Robert Forrester / The Beloved Husband Of / Margaret Johnstone, Who Died 30^th March 1854 / Aged 32 Years / And His Beloved Wife / Margaret Johnstone / Who Died 6^th Nov 1904 / Aged 84 Years / Also Their Beloved Son / Robert Paul Alexander / Who Died 22^nd July 1897 / Aged 45 Years / Also / Margaret Elizabeth / Forrester / Daughter Of The Above, Who Went / Home To Her Blessed Saviour / 11^th December 1932 / Aged 83 Years

In / Memory Of / William Brown / Builder In Moffat / Who Died At Glasgow 15^th June 1865 / Aged 63 Years / And His Sons / James, Who Died 5^th April 1831 / Aged 13 Months / And / Adam, Who Died 16^th Feby 1874 / Aged illegible Years / Also / Jane Kennedy, His Spouse Who / Died At Moffat July 27 1874 Aged / 74 Years, And John, Their Son / Who Died May 13, 1875 Aged 39 Years / Their Daughters / Isabella, Who Died Oct 2 1875 / Aged 17 And Agnes, Oct 6 1875 / Aged 4? Years / Are Interred In The Burying / Ground illegible Their Uncle / Alex Kennedy