Cold Beer

In a corner of the graveyard belonging to the Winchester Cathedral in England is a copy of a copy of a gravestone in memory of Thomas Thetcher.

https://www.atlasobscura.com

The original gravestone from 1764 which was restored in 1781 was later destroyed. A replacement was created and installed by the North Hants Militia in 1802. Hampshire County Council designated it as a Hampshire Treasure of unique cultural meaning, and in 1966 it was moved for safekeeping to the Royal Hampshire Regimental Museum at Serle’s House in Winchester.

Medical professionals have proposed that Thetcher’s death was the result of “deglutition syncope”: a loss of consciousness during or immediately after swallowing which causes heart arrhythmia. This rare syndrome can occur when a particularly cold liquid is consumed on an extremely hot day.

In Memory Of
Thomas Thetcher
A Grenadier In The North Reg.
Of Hants Militia, Who Died Of A
Violent Fever Contracted By Drinking
Small Beer When Hot The 12 May
1764 Aged 26 Years.

In Grateful Remembrance Of Whose Universal
Good Will Towards His Comrades, This Stone
Is Placed Here At Their Expence, As A Small
Testimony Of Their Regard And Concern.

Here Sleeps In Peace A Hampshire Grenadier,
Who Caught His Death By Drinking Cold Small Beer,
Soldiers Be Wise From His Untimely Fall
And When Ye’re Hot Drink Strong Or None At All.

This Memorial Being Decay’d Was Restor’d
By The Officers Of The Garrison A.D. 1781.

An Honest Soldier Never Is Forgot
Whether He Die By Musket Or By Pot.

The Stone Was Replaced By The North Hants
Militia When Disembodied At Winchester,
On 26 April 1802, In Consequence Of
The Original Stone Being Destroyed.

And Again Replaced By
The Royal Hampshire Regiment 1966.

 

Fenian Poet

‘Fenian’ was a fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Christened John Keegan Casey, this Irish poet who adopted ‘Leo’ as a penname, was loved by his people for his inspirational poetry. Born at the height of the 19^th century famine he lived through the starvation and poverty suffered by millions of Irish peasants. The British, who feared the motivational power and inspirational words of his poems which inspired rebellion and patriotism, arrested him and locked him in a prison cell of mental and physical torture. When he was eventually released he was a broken young man and died soon afterward from his ill-treatment (1846 to 1870).

The memorial stone is in Glesnevin Cemetery, County Dublin, Ireland. It was created by monumental builder and sculptor Thomas Dennany and is in the form of a Celtic cross. Within the center is an Agnus Dei (a Christian symbol depicting a lamb standing on the ground, holding by the right forefoot a banner flying on a wooden cross). It represents the risen Christ triumphant over death. Engraved around the circle is the legend, Jesus Mercy Joseph Pray. The pillar of the cross is detailed with a diamond pattern containing a Botonee cross and shamrocks.

The cross is mounted on a base representative of shale rock upon which a dog is resting accompanied by a harp, sunrays and a scroll listing some of his songs including: The Rising Of The Moon / Our Pledge/ The Final Cast / The Convict Lay / A Cretan Song.

On the right side is a sculpture of a ruined tower and windows in the style of Gothic architecture.

In Memory Of John Keegan Casey / Leo / Patriot Poet Novelist / Member Of The Irish Republican Brotherhood / Author Of The Rising Of The Moon / And Many Soul Stirring National Ballads And Songs / Born 22^nd August 1846. Died St. Patrick’s Day 1870 / From His Youth His Life Was Devoted To The Cause Of Irish Freedom / His Last Words Were A Prayer Of Intercession For His Country’s Liberty / And His Soul’s Salvation.

This Cross Is Erected By The Monuments Committee Of The Young Ireland Society / As An Humble Tribute Of Love And To Commemorate His Principles. / His Noblest Monument Is His Works In Which His Spirit Must Ever Live / May He Rest In Peace.

The Flaming Tomb

Josie Arlington (1864-1914) became a prostitute as a teenager, and her great beauty made her wealthy enough to open a bordello in the notorious red light district of Storyville in New Orleans, Louisiana.

As her health deteriorated sometime around 1910, Josie Arlington purchased a cemetery plot at Metairie Cemetery which was an impressive and fashionable graveyard containing giant mausoleums and monuments. This news enraged the city’s elite of which many were regular customers of the bordello. On May 11, 1911, Josie, who had accumulated a lot of money, signed a contract with sculptor Albert Weiblen to create a magnificent final resting place. The tomb features a red granite stone with two flaming stone urns. On the threshold stands a bronze female figure carrying flowers with arm outstretched to open the door.

Creative Commons License. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josie_Arlington

Josie died on 14 February 1914 and was buried at Metairie Cemetery and her family soon began fighting over her money and property. The tomb was eventually sold to Jose Antonio Morales, a New Orleans attorney. Cemetery officials had Josie Arlington’s remains removed to a remote, undisclosed location in the cemetery, and the name at the top of the tomb was changed to J. A. Morales. The name of his wife and four children are also engraved on the tomb.

Source: https://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=663de6ec-af08-44d0-8c51-bed744562e1c

The site has become a curiosity and a tourist attraction. With reports of the stone urns bursting into flames, dancing lights and an eerie red glow, it soon became known as the Flaming Tomb. Rumours continue to flourish with claims that the statue bangs on the door to be let in and leaves its post at the door to walk amongst the other graves. It is thought to symbolize a virginal girl being turned away from the Arlington door, following Arlington’s claim in life that no woman’s innocence was taken on the grounds of her establishment.

Izar Newsstand

Okay, hands up how many of you thought this post was about a newspaper stand? Not so. In architectural terms a newsstand is a small structure that protects an item placed there, or in this case, the framing of a niche created in a wall.

Source: https://monumentale.comune.milano.it/monumenti/edicola-izar

Source: http://www.kunstdame.com/cimitero-monumentale/

Source: https://vincemichael.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/a-few-days-in-milan/

This memorial located in the Cimitero Monumentale, Milan, Italy, overlooks the main avenue of the Cemetery and is known as the Edicola Izar. It was commissioned by Emilia Macchi to honour her deceased husband Federico and her sons Marco and Giovanni Battista who died at ages twenty-one and twenty-two. The bronze composition known as Faith was constructed in 1904 by sculptor Felice Bialetti. When Emilia passed in 1924 she was also placed in the newsstand.

Source: http://www.kunstdame.com/cimitero-monumentale/

The scene shows two emaciated bodies wrapped in shrouds, embracing in death, as they reach out to hold the hand of their mother Emilia. Portraits of Federico, Marco and Giovanni are set into a low arch.

Source: http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/News/032472-2008-04-18-headstones-strange-creepy-and-haunting-homages-to-the-dead.htm