Bring Out Your Dead
“When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.”
Graveyards (or kirkyards as they are called in Scotland) are curious places. More often than not, we now choose cremation—and walking through a city littered with headstones, panels, chest tombs, obelisks, mausoleums, etc.—you can’t help but recognize the impracticality of continuing to bury our dead. What follows are some of our more interesting kirkyard finds.
This is a small section of the Old Calton Burial Ground, orphaned to construct Highway A1 through it.
The sectioned circled is where Amanda is standing in the photo above. The remaining photos are from across the street in the main part of the cemetery.
David Hume was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, economist, librarian, and essayist, who is best known today for his highly influential system of philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism.
If it’s hard to tell, the statue next the Hume’s mausoleum is none other than Abraham Lincoln. Built in 1893, the statue commemorates the Scots who fought on behalf of the Union during the American Civil War. The memorial depicts a slave being released from shackles at the feet of Lincoln, and the man holds a book, indicating that he is not only free, he is also now educated. There is also a bronze shield which bears the old US flag, wreathed in thistles to the left and cotton to the right. Two regimental flags lay furled, the battle being over.
We thought this was very sweet: “She was a most amiable and affectionate Wife, kind and loving Mother: whose loss her Husband and five surviving Children will ever deeply regret.”
If you ever feel like your life sucks, check out what this family suffered. Just a hundred or so years ago, life was brutal and so often cut short. These 8 children died at 6 months, 2 years, 5 months, 8 years, 12 years, 4 years, 11 years, and 1 year! Hard lives back then.
We so very fortunate most of us will easily survive childhood. These children died at ages 3, 3, & 7.
This monument marks the spot in Grassmarket Square where so many were hanged outside the castle.
Scull and crossbones on a tomb in the small Duddingston Kirkyard.
Also in the Duddingston Kirkyard.
No mystery how these people died.
Enough of the macabre; off to more peaceful settings!
The peaceful view of Duddingston Loch from Dr. Neil’s Gardens (not Neil the Baby).
Purportedly Scotland’s oldest working pub: established in 1360!!
Comes highly recommended: 4.8 out of 5 crowns.
Time to unwind with two pints of Edinburgh’s own lager: Innis & Gunn. Cheers!
