The Sailers’ Graveyard

Inverkeithing, North Queensferry, Fife, Scotland

Within a small graveyard in the village of North Queensferry are the ruins of the Chapel of St. James which was already in existence when Robert the Bruce granted the chapel to Dunfermline Abbey in 1320. Abandoned after the Reformation it is believed to have been destroyed by Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarian troops in 1651. The surviving west wall of the nave contains a stone dated 1752.

When the North Queensferry Sailors’ Society became caretakers of the chapel and the burial ground that same year they built a wall around the area as identified on a marker on the exterior; This Is Done By / The Sailers In / North Ferrie / 17 52. This inscription may relate to the fact that some stone markers were imbedded into the chapel wall so that they would not be lost.

It is rumoured that the infamous grave robbers Burke and Hare visited, and that the graveyard is locked because skeletal bones are surfacing.

Rosalia’s Mummy

The Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily, holds 8000 mummified bodies. One of the last corpses to be admitted to the Catacombs is the mummy of Rosalia Lombardo who is believed to have died from a bronchial infection/pneumonia. Born on 13 December 1918 she died on 6 December 1920 shortly before her second birthday. Her father is believed to be Mario Lombardo although there are no official documents to confirm this. According to legend Mario was so distraught that he contracted an embalmer named Alfredo Salafia to preserve Rosalia for eternity. The cadaver was injected with a fluid to kill bacteria and fungi, desiccate the body without over-drying, and give the body rigidity.

There are no known photographs of Rosalia when she was alive. Earlier photos of the mummification show a very lifelike Rosalia. However, her skin tone has become discoloured with each passing decade most likely due to the damaging effects from light sources which has also changed her hair colour to blonde (she was born a brunette).

Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/z56SE/comment/344185950

This tiny sleeping beauty whose hair is adorned with a yellow ribbon rests beneath a faded silk blanket in a glass coffin. The casket which has been hermetically sealed within a glass enclosure filled with nitrogen gas to prevent decay is seated on a marble pedestal in a small chapel. On her chest is a faded talisman showing a cherub holding a lamb which represents purity and innocence.

Source: http://sicilymummystudies.blogspot.com/2016/07/mummy-monday-little-rosalia-lombardo.html

Over the years, speculation was made that the mummy of Rosalia Lombardo had decayed and had been replaced with a wax reproduction. Rosalia’s coffin was x-rayed for a documentary by the History Channel in the 2000s. It revealed a skeletal structure and internal organs that were still intact. Her brain had shrunk 50% due to the mummification process.

Source: https://owlcation.com/humanities/RosaliaLombardo

No one had ever looked beneath the blanket that covers Rosalia’s body since she was sealed inside her coffin. When National Geographic performed an MRI to produce the first 3D images of Rosalia’s mummified body in 2009 it showed her arms resting at her sides. The MRI also confirmed that all her organs were intact.

Source: https://owlcation.com/humanities/RosaliaLombardo

This Grave Is Full

Source: https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/grave-full-bath-england-26990

This chest tomb located in St. Mary’s Churchyard, Bathwick, Bath, Somerset, England is a memorial to the Clark family. Cremation was not legal until 1885 therefore it would appear that four bodies were buried within the tomb. It has inscriptions on the top and all panels.

Sacred to the Memory of JOSEPH CLARK, a native of London, who died 14th December 1842 aged 73 [or5] years

Also of SOPHIA CLARK, niece of the above named and daughter of the late THOMAS CLARK Esq of Broughton near Kettering, Northants, died 25th September 1843 aged 36 years

Also to the Memory of SARAH CLARK, sister to the above SOPHIA CLARK, died 6th March 1846 aged 40 years, beloved by all who knew her.

Also in Memory of SUSAN, wife of JAMES ABBEY of Lubbenham in the County of Leicester, Esq, (and sister of SARAH & SOPHIA CLARK) died 30th April 1866 aged 63 years. She knew that her Redeemer liveth

This grave is full, May 1866