Tuesday 23 February 2021

Skulferatu #20 - Greyfriars Kirkyard, Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh

 

Another day and another graveyard.  Greyfriars Kirkyard is probably the most famous graveyard in Edinburgh.  This was once due to the enduring story of Greyfriars Bobby, the little dog who sat on his master’s grave for years after he had died.  Now it is the Harry Potter franchise that attracts visitor after visitor to this wonderfully gothic place.

 

Detail of Gravestone at Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Detail of Gravestone at Greyfriars Kirkyard

 

Gravestone at Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Gravestone at Greyfriars Kirkyard

 

I used to work near to Greyfriars and at lunchtimes would often wander around the graveyard to clear my head.  Many of the graves and tombs here are steeped in the history of Edinburgh, and page after page could, and has, been written about their occupants.  There is the tomb of George ‘Bloody’ Mackenzie, the Lord Advocate who in the late 17th Century was responsible for the prosecution and execution of many of the Covenanters.  There is the grave of Captain John Porteous, who was lynched by an angry mob after ordering his men in the City Guard to shoot into a crowd of townsfolk rioting after a public hanging.  Then there is the grave of William McGonagall, the poet who wrote some of the worst poetry known to man.  Here is a little extract from his best known work, ‘The Tay Bridge Disaster’ -

 

‘…Twas about seven o’clock at night,

And the wind it blew with all its might,

And the rain came pouring down,

And the dark clouds seem’d to frown,

And the Demon of the air seem’d to say –

I’ll blow down the Bridge of Tay…’

 

Great stuff! 

 

However, the gravestone that drew my attention on one of my previous wanderings here was a simple and unadorned one for another poet and author, Franz Hedrich.  I had never heard of him, so did a little research and found that in the 1880s he was involved in a scandal that shocked the literary world.  His story is as follows…

 

Grave of Franz Hedrich, Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Grave of Franz Hedrich

 

Franz Hedrich was born in Bohemia (present day Czech Republic) in 1823.  As an aspiring poet and author in his youth, he moved in various literary circles and in the 1840s became a close friend of the poet and author Alfred Meissner.   Hedrich also dabbled in politics and was at one point elected to the Frankfurt National Assembly as the leader of one of the parties on the extreme left.  He was then arrested and exiled for his political views.

 

In the 1850s Hedrich moved to Munich and would often spend his summers with Meissner.  During this time, according to Hedrich, Meissner came to rely on him to review and rewrite much of his new work and this eventually culminated in Hedrich writing several of Meissner’s novels for him, as his ghost-writer.  It would, however, appear that Hedrich was unhappy with this as Meissner had promised that the work would appear in their joint names.  He also felt that Meissner was pocketing most of the money and ‘awarding him only a trifle.’

 

In 1871, in Switzerland, Hedrich married Janet Barron of Edinburgh.  He then lived with her in Switzerland, France and in Scotland.  Janet appears to have been quite wealthy, having inherited a large amount of money after the death of her parents.  Whether this played any part in Hedrich falling for her we will never know, however being a man who enjoyed the finer things in life he quickly squandered much of her fortune.  Running low on money, he then began to blackmail Meissner threatening to let the world know that he had written the novels.  It would seem that through this he obtained substantial sums of money from Meissner for several years.  Then in 1885, Meissner could take no more and made a suicide attempt by slashing his own throat.  He survived this but died shortly afterwards of sepsis.  On his death bed he told his brother in law, Robert Byr, that Hedrich ‘was hunting me like a tiger.  He claimed the fortune of my children.  He was my evil genius during all my life, and I was his prisoner, so that nothing but death remains for me to escape his bondage.’

 

A few years after Meissner’s death, a collection of his works was published and included various novels that Hedrich had written.  This seems to have annoyed Hedrich and resulted in him writing a pamphlet that was then published by the Berlin firm O. Janke.  The same firm who had published Meissner’s work.  In this pamphlet Hedrich claimed authorship of most of Meissner’s novels and stated that for almost thirty years Meissner had been claiming to be the author of books that he, Hedrich, had written.  To provide proof of his claims he included copies of letters from Meissner and these showed beyond doubt that Hedrich had indeed written several novels attributed to Meissner.  Hedrich also pointed out that in several of the novels he had used a simple type of cryptogram to encode the words ‘Autor Hedrich’ to show he was the author of the work.

 

Robert Byr, Meissner’s brother in law, then made a reply to Hedrich’s accusations.  He stated that Meissner had claimed authorship and tried to sell a single novel written by Hedrich. This deed had caused him such remorse that he had then committed suicide.  Byr also claimed that Hedrich was only a collaborator in some of Meissner’s novels.  The two men had arranged this collaboration as Meissner’s name was well known, and novels appearing under his name would command a greater price than those appearing under Hedrich’s.

 

On viewing the evidence that Hedrich produced, it was accepted by the literary world that he had indeed written several of the novels appearing under Meissner’s name, and had collaborated on others.  However, it was also found that he had overstated his case and claimed authorship of some novels that were purely Meissner’s work.  

 

Hedrich did not fare well in this scandal.  He was seen by many as being dishonourable, and too ready to denounce someone who had been his close friend in order to make money.  A leading literary magazine of the time wrote of him that - ‘Hedrich had dragged Meissner in the mire…but he has degraded himself beneath the notice of respectable men in doing it.’

 

Hedrich spent his later years living in the West End of Edinburgh with his wife.  He died on 31 October 1895.

 

Well, back to my walk around Greyfriars on what was a miserable and cold February day.  A day so grey that the sun seemed to have lost its way.  A day so damp that even the stone of the tombs around me seemed to ooze out dark, cold water.  A perfect day for a walk around the graveyard, as there was no-one else stupid enough to come out in this weather.  A perfect day for being unobserved in leaving a Skulferatu in a tree just across from the grave of Franz Hedrich.

 

Skulferatu #20 at Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #20

 

Skulferatu #20 in tree at Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #20 in tree at Greyfriars Kirkyard

 

Skulferatu #20 in tree at Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #20 in tree at Greyfriars Kirkyard

  

Google Map showing location of Skulferatu #20.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Google Map showing location of Skulferatu #20

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

Latitude 55.946205

Longitude -3.192669

 

I used the following sources for information on the Hedrich & Meissner scandal –

 

Renfrewshire Independent (Births, Marriages and Deaths)

Published 14 January 1871

 

The Scotsman (Alfred Meissner and Franz Hedrich)

Published 22 November 1889

 

The New York Times (A Literary Scandal)

Published 18 December 1889

 

The Publisher’s Weekly (Page 27)

New York

Published 12 July 1890.

 

Wikipedia articles on Franz Hedrich & Alfred Meissner

Tuesday 16 February 2021

Skulferatu #19 - St Andrew's Kirk, Kirk Ports, North Berwick

 


St Andrew's Kirk, Kirk Ports, North Berwick by Kervin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
St Andrew’s Kirk, Kirk Ports, North Berwick

 

Just off North Berwick High Street stands the rather quaint ruin of St Andrew’s Kirk.  This church was built in the 17th Century and opened on 5 June 1664.  It was built to replace St Andrew’s Old Kirk, which stood near to the sea and had been so severely damaged by a storm that it had to be abandoned.  The ruins of the Old Kirk lie near to the Scottish Seabird Centre.   

 

With the arrival of the railway in North Berwick in 1850, the town’s population grew substantially.  By 1873 the congregation was too large for St Andrew’s Kirk and in 1882 a new and larger church opened nearby. 

 

On 3 June 1883, the last service was held in St Andrew’s Kirk and shortly after this it was partly dismantled, with various fixtures and fittings being auctioned off.  However, it was decided by the church authorities to ‘allow the walls of the church to stand in order to form a picturesque ruin…’

 

Interior of the ruins of St Andrew’s Kirk, Kirk Ports, North Berwick by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Interior of the ruins of St Andrew’s Kirk


A view of the graveyard at Kirk Ports and the ruins of St Andrew’s Kirk by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
A view of the graveyard at Kirk Ports and the ruins of St Andrew’s Kirk


Old Gravestone at Kirk Ports Graveyard, North Berwick by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Old Gravestone at Kirk Ports Graveyard

 

Carved skull on one of the old graves at Kirk Ports Graveyard, North Berwick by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Carved skull on one of the old graves

 

I placed the Skulferatu that accompanied me on today’s walk around North Berwick in a gap in the wall at the church.

 

Skulferatu #19 at St Andrew's Kirk, Kirk Ports, North Berwick by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #19

 

Skulferatu #19 in wall at St Andrew’s Kirk, Kirk Ports, North Berwick by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #19 in wall at St Andrew’s Kirk

 

Google Map showing location of Skulferatu #19
Google Map showing location of Skulferatu #19

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

Latitude 56.057800

Longitude -2.718484

Tuesday 9 February 2021

Skulferatu #18 - The Site of Major Thomas Weir's House, Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh

 

On a cold, damp, and dreich day I trudged around the empty streets of Edinburgh’s old town.  Well, when I say empty, what I mean is there was hardly anyone else out walking the streets, but there were workmen everywhere.  At the moment every second building seems to be shrouded in scaffolding and protective sheets of polythene.  When the Covid is over it looks like we’re going to have a shiny, newly refurbished city to run around in. 

 

So anyway, today I walked up the Canongate into the High Street and onto the Lawnmarket where I turned into Riddles Court.  This place is one of the architectural gems of old Edinburgh, however I wasn’t here to see quaint old buildings, but rather the dull back wall of the Quaker Meeting House.  A dull back wall steeped in the history of a notorious figure in Edinburgh- Major Thomas Weir.  His is a story of hypocrisy, cruelty, bigotry, sexual depravity, and supposedly black magic and pacts with the Devil.

 

The Site of Major Thomas Weir's House, Edinburgh.  Entrance into Riddle’s Court, Edinburgh by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Entrance into Riddle’s Court, Edinburgh

 

The Site of Major Thomas Weir's House, Edinburgh. Riddle’s Court – the lower building in background is reputed to be the remains of Major Weirs House. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Riddle’s Court – the lower building in background is reputed to be the remains of Major Weirs House.

 

Thomas Weir was born in 1599 in Lanarkshire.  He was the son of Thomas Weir, the Laird of Kirkton and his wife, Lady Jean Somerville.  His mother was reputed to have clairvoyant powers and was said to have taught her son the art of sorcery.  As a young man, Thomas joined the Scottish Army and in 1641 served in Ulster protecting the Scottish settlers there.  Before returning to Edinburgh, he is believed to have fought at the Battle of Benburb in 1646 when the Scots were defeated by the Irish Confederate army. 

 

Thomas was described as being a tall, thin man with a big nose who always looked severe and gloomy.  He dressed in black and wore a long, black cloak.  He always carried a staff with him wherever he went. He was a Covenanter, a strict Presbyterian and anti-Royalist and by all accounts was a humourless zealot, and a religious bigot, who was given to preaching and praying.  Amongst the other Covenanters he gained a reputation for being very pious and many gathered around him for private prayer meetings.  It is written of him that - ‘He had acquir’d a particular Gracefulness in Whining and Sighing, above any of the sacred Clan; and had learn’d to deliver himself upon all serious occasions, in a far more ravishing Accent than any of their ministers could attain unto.’   Amongst some of those who attended his prayer meetings Thomas was known as ‘Angelical Thomas’, as he seemed to them to be more angel than man.  Locally, he and those he met with were referred to somewhat sarcastically as the ‘Bow-Head Saints.’   The name coming from their perceived piety and that they usually met in the home Thomas shared with his sister Jane, near the top of the West Bow in Edinburgh. 

 

In 1650 Thomas was appointed to the rank of Major in the Edinburgh Town Guard.  During this time there he was very active in seeking out and imprisoning Royalists and gained a reputation for cruelty in the way he treated his prisoners.  It was said that he would insult and ‘triumph over’ those sentenced to death and would laugh and make sarcastic remarks to those on their way to the gallows.

 

After retiring from the Edinburgh Town Guard, Thomas fell ill with a severe sickness.  In 1670, from his sick bed, he began to make a series of confessions.  These were that he had been for many years in an incestuous relationship with his sister Jane, that he had committed adultery with many women, fornicated with beasts and had made a pact with the devil to be kept safe from harm. Those in his church were very worried by these confessions, and fearing the scandal they would cause, sought to keep them quiet.  However, rumours about Thomas were soon circulating around Edinburgh.  One of the ministers of his church then informed the Lord Provost, Sir Andrew Ramsay of Abbotshall, of Weir’s confessions.

 

On hearing of the horrendous crimes that Thomas had accused himself of, the Lord Provost at first refused to believe it could be possible and assumed him to be mad.  He asked two doctors to attend Thomas and see what mental ailment he was suffering from, however after examining him they concluded he was not mentally ill, but rather suffering from a guilty conscience.  This was then confirmed to the Lord Provost by several of the ministers from the church in which Thomas had preached, who stated that he was suffering from ‘the terrors of God, which were upon his soul.’

 

Given what he had been told, the Lord Provost ordered that Thomas, and his sister Jane be taken to the public gaol at the Tolbooth.  When the guards seized them at their home, Jane told the guards not to let Thomas get hold of his staff, as it was given to him by the Devil and had certain powers.  The brother, sister and the staff were all then taken to the Tolbooth.

 

While in prison Thomas confessed to committing adultery with some of the most devout women from his church and told how he had persuaded and seduced them.  He then told of one devout woman who had refused his advances, with help from the Devil he had entered her home and found her in bed.  She had then awoken and caused a great scene so, again with the help of the Devil, he had fled.  This woman had then fallen into a great melancholy and depression and died a few weeks later.  Thomas went on to confess that the Devil appeared to him as a beautiful woman and that his staff, a gift from the Devil, was what gave him the power to be so eloquent in prayer.

 

In prison Jane confessed that she had been an accomplice to her brother’s crimes and went on to tell a tale that in September 1648, she and her brother had been transported from Edinburgh to Musselburgh and back again in a flaming coach pulled by six horses.  In Musselburgh they had met with the Devil who told Thomas that the Royalist and Scots army had been defeated in Preston (Battle of Preston – 17 to 19 August 1648, when the Royalists and Scots, commanded by the Duke of Hamilton, were defeated by the New Model Army under the command of Oliver Cromwell).  This meant that Weir was aware of this event several days before the news arrived back in Edinburgh.  He used this knowledge to make people believe he had the spirit of prophesy. Jane said that she had gained little from their dalliances with the Devil, but she did have a familiar spirit who had spun her enormous quantities of yarn, more yarn than four women together could have spun.

 

On 9 April 1670 Thomas and Jane appeared for trial.  The charges against Thomas all related to incest, adultery, and bestiality.  The charges against Jane related to incest with her brother, committing sorcery and witchcraft and consulting with witches, necromancers, and devils.  Various witnesses were called, and they mainly confirmed the admissions that Thomas had made to them.  However, another of Thomas’s sisters was called as a witness and she stated that when Thomas was around 27 years of age, she had found him and her sister Jane naked together in bed and that the ‘bed did shake’, and she heard some ‘scandalous language between them’.  Evidence was also given that Thomas had committed incest with the daughter of his first wife, now deceased.   It was then declared to the court that in the year 1651 or 1652 there had been a report that Thomas had committed bestiality with a mare and had been seen by a witness to do this.

 

Thomas then spoke to the court and admitted to the charges against him.  In regard to the act of bestiality with the Mare, he admitted to this and said that the matter had been reported, as a woman had seen him and gone to tell a local minister.  He had later been seized by some soldiers but was freed, as they could find no evidence against him.  The woman who had made the allegation was then whipped as a punishment for slandering him.

 

Thomas was found guilty of all the charges against him and was sentenced to death.  The Judge ordered that on the 11 April 1670 he be taken and strangled at the stake and his body then burnt to ashes.  His staff was to be burned with him.  Jane was found guilty of the charge of incest and was also sentenced to death.  The Judge ordered that she be hanged at the Grassmarket the day after her brother was executed.

 

On 11 April 1670 Thomas was taken to Gallowlee, between Edinburgh and Leith.  There, before the sentence was carried out, he was asked to request God’s mercy.  To this Thomas replied – ‘Let me alone.  I will not.  I have lived as a beast, and I must die as a beast.’  He was then strangled, and his body burnt along with his staff.

 

Jane was hanged in the Grassmarket the next day.  As the rope was placed around her neck, she tried to strip off her clothing.  One of the presiding officials was so scandalised by this that he told the hangman to hurry up and get the job done.  For this Jane slapped him about the face, before being ‘thrown over’ and hanged. 

 

For years after, the house the Weirs had lived in was used during the day by various businesses, but no-one would stay the night in it.  It was believed to be haunted by Thomas and the devils and spirits he had summoned.  Those who lived nearby said that at night terrible noises came through the walls of the house and anyone passing by would hear what sounded like a crowd of ghouls and demons howling and spinning and dancing.  Some even told tales of seeing Thomas, in the dead of night, leaving the house to mount a headless black horse and ride off into the darkness.  One couple were enticed to stay the night in the house, but fled in terror after a demonic calf entered their bedroom and stood by their bed staring at them.

 

Scary stuff or what!!! 

 

The house was eventually torn down to make way for a new building and the Quaker Meeting House on Victoria Terrace, by Upper Bow now stands upon part of the land where the house once was.

 

View up Victoria Street, Edinburgh to Quaker Meeting HousePhoto by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
View up Victoria Street to Quaker Meeting House

 

Quaker Meeting House – encompasses part of land that Major Weir’s House stood on.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Quaker Meeting House – encompasses part of land that Major Weir’s House stood on


View of Quaker Meeting House from Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
View of Quaker Meeting House from Victoria Terrace

 

As there was no access to the back wall of the Weir’s house, I walked round to Victoria Street and up the steps to Victoria Terrace.  There I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on today’s walk on a ledge above a pillar at the front of the building.  Its silent scream can join in with those from the demons who reside here at night.


Skulferatu #18 at Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #18

 

Skulferatu #18 on stone ledge at site of Major Weir’s house, Edinburgh.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #18 on stone ledge at site of Major Weir’s house


Skulferatu #18 on stone ledge at site of Major Weir’s house, Edinburgh.Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #18 on stone ledge at site of Major Weir’s house

 

Google Map - site of Major Weir’s house, Edinburgh
Google Map showing location of Skulferatu

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are:

 

Latitude 55.948816

Longitude -3.193375

 

I used the following sources for the tale of Major Weir – 

 

The Spirit of Fanaticism exemplified in the trials of Mr James Mitchell (a Presbyterian Minister, who was Hang’d at Edinburgh, for an Attempt made upon the Archbishop of St. Andrews) and Major Thomas Weir (a Gifted Brother at the Knack of Extempore Prayer) who was Burnt between Edinburgh and Leith April 11th, 1670 for Adultery, Bestiality with a Mare and a Cow, and Incest with his own Sister, who was likewise Hang’d the next Day after him.

Published, London 1710

Available on Google Books

Note: Reading this document does make one see the story of Major Weir in a different light from the tale normally told.  If the Devil and witchcraft aspects are put to one side, then the tale of Major Weir is one of a sexual predator who has sexually abused and taken advantage of those around him, including his young stepdaughter.  He has used his position within his faith to badger and harass women to have sex with him and his actions appear to have caused the death of one of the female followers of his faith.  Also, his sister Jane can be seen as someone who has been destroyed by years of abuse, someone driven mad by her brother’s lusts.  It is interesting how in the main she is the one who when questioned talks of witchcraft and devils, almost as a way of explaining her brother.  Or could it be that Thomas used stories of his pact with the Devil to control her and keep her silence about his sexual proclivities?  It is something we will never know.  It does appear that the pacts with the Devil, the witchcraft and other magical elements of this tale have been embellished over the years, especially by later writers who have removed or lessened the sexual aspects to Weir’s crimes.)

 

Satan’s Invisible World Discovered

by George Sinclair 

Published, Edinburgh 1779

Available on Google Books

 

Old and New Edinburgh, Volume 1

Published 1883

by James Grant

 

Edinburgh and the Lothians (Chapter XVI)

By Francis Watt

Published 1912

Available at https://electricscotland.com

 

Wikipedia article on Major Thomas Weir



Article and photographs are copyright of © Kevin Nosferatu, unless otherwise specified.



Tuesday 2 February 2021

Skulferatu #17 - New Calton Burial Ground, Edinburgh

 


I think I’ve previously mentioned that I do love a good walk around a graveyard, especially a graveyard with a bit of character.  New Calton Burial Ground is just such a graveyard.  Built on the slope of a hill with tiered graves and a watchtower overlooking it all, this graveyard has some spectacular views over Edinburgh.  So, what better place to go on a grey, dull day to take in some of Edinburgh’s unique scenery while contemplating one’s own mortality? 

 

Graves at New Calton Burial Ground, overlooked by the Watchtower by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Graves at New Calton Burial Ground, overlooked by the Watchtower

 

A view of New Calton Burial Ground Watchtower by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
A view of the Watchtower

 

Near the main entrance stands the Watchtower.  This was built so that in 1820, when the cemetery opened, guard could be kept against graverobbers, or resurrectionists as they were known.  Recently buried corpses were regularly stolen from their graves to feed the need for bodies at Edinburgh’s medical schools.  The only bodies legally available to them at that time were those of executed criminals, and there just weren’t enough of those to go round.  So, a trade in illegally acquired bodies developed.  Fearing that their relatives, or indeed their own bodies when they died, may end up on the dissection table, people went to extraordinary lengths to prevent this.  These included extra deep burial, iron cages built over the grave and guards watching over the graveyard. 

 

The Watchtower was later used as a house and was occupied as such until around 1955.  Despite it being tiny, at one time it was occupied by a family of ten.  The building is now derelict and in a state of disrepair.  It is on the Buildings at Risk Register.

 

A view over New Calton Burial Ground by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
A view over New Calton Burial Ground

 

View from New Calton Burial Ground over Edinburgh to Arthur’s Seat by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
View from New Calton Burial Ground over Edinburgh to Arthur’s Seat

 

There are several notable people buried in the graveyard, such as a couple of the Lighthouse Stevensons and William Dick, the founder of the Dick Vet College in Edinburgh.  Another of the worthies whose bones lie mouldering here is the poet William Knox.  Little known nowadays, he wrote one of Abraham Lincoln’s favourite poems – Mortality.  Knox, who was seemingly related to the Presbyterian killjoy preacher John Knox, was quite unlike his austere relative and led a rather intemperate life.  He was seemingly a very jovial and much liked bloke, with many friends.  However, he was a heavy drinker who like many alcoholics found it difficult to manage his money and his day to day life.  His drinking destroyed his health and he died of a ‘paralytic stroke’ at the age of 36 on 12 November 1825.    

 

Gravestone of William Knox by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Gravestone of William Knox

 

For your delectation here is Knox’s poem Mortality in full.  It’s a lovely piece of over the top morbidity – perfect for an old Goth like me.  Enjoy –

 

MORTALITY

 

O why should the spirit of mortal be proud!
Like a fast flitting meteor, a fast flying cloud,
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave –
He passes from life to his rest in the grave.

The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,
Be scattered around and together be laid;
As the young and the old, and the low and the high,
Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie.

The child that a mother attended and loved,
The mother that infant’s affection that proved,
The husband that mother and infant that blest,
Each – all are away to their dwelling of rest.

The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye,
Shone beauty and pleasure – her triumphs are by:
And the memory of those that beloved her and praised,
And alike from the minds of the living erased.

The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne,
The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn,
The eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave,
Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.

The peasant whose lot was to sow and to reap,
The herdsman who climbed with his goats to the steep,
The beggar that wandered in search of his bread,
Have faded away like the grass that we tread.

The saint that enjoyed the communion of Heaven,
The sinner that dared to remain unforgiven,
The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,
Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.

So the multitude goes – like the flower and the weed
That wither away to let others succeed;
So the multitude comes – even those we behold,
To repeat every tale that hath often been told.

For we are the same things that our fathers have been,
We see the same sights that our fathers have seen,
We drink the same stream, and we feel the same sun,
And we run the same course that our fathers have run.

The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think,
From the death we are shrinking from they too would shrink,
To the life we are clinging to, they too would cling –
But it speeds from the earth like a bird on the wing.

They loved – but their story we cannot unfold;
They scorned – but the heart of the haughty is cold;
They grieved – but no wail from their slumbers may come;
They joyed – but the voice of their gladness is dumb.

They died – ay, they died! and we, things that are now,
Who walk on the turf that lies over their brow,
Who make in their dwellings a transient abode,
Meet the changes they met on their pilgrimage road.

Yea, hope and despondence, and pleasure and pain,
Are mingled together like sunshine and rain:
And the smile and the tear, and the song and the dirge,
Still follow each other like surge upon surge.

‘Tis the twink of an eye, ’tis the draught of a breath,
From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,
From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud –
O why should the spirit of mortal be proud!

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on today’s walk in a hollow in a tree near the top of the graveyard.

 

Skulferatu #17 at New Calton Burial Ground by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #17

 

Skulferatu #17 in tree hollow at New Calton Burial Ground by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Skulferatu #17 in tree hollow at New Calton Burial Ground

 

Google Map showing location of Skulferatu
Google Map showing location of Skulferatu

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are:

 

Latitude 55.953664

Longitude -3.177293