Derelection

It's Thursday and that means the ThursdayDereliction challenge for the Blipfoto site. As we needed to to into West Linton I decided to pay a visit to my old haunts in the graveyard. It's been a very long time (more than a year) since I last updated this blog although I have been in the graveyard since then. I usually pop in whenever I have a spare minute when I'm in the village. Most of the gravestones have now been documented but I must make sure I haven't missed any, one of these days.

Sadly dereliction is easy to find as the gravestones have deteriorated a lot since my first visit many years ago. Above the entrance to the Douglas mausoleum.

And I feel it won't be too much longer before this lovely monument will topple over. It was erected by William C. Oliver in memory of his daughter Isabella Oliver who died 12 July 1856 aged 40. You can read about it on the West Linton graveyard blog here.  This will become my blip today after I have converted it digitally into a black and white image.

 This gravestone has already bitten the dust in more ways than one. 

And sadly we will probably never know who lies buried here. Although the metal has survived, the inscription has not.

This cross too has fallen down although all the inscriptions on the stones still make it clear whose grave monument this was.

The Graveyard in Autumn

John White and family

Erected

in memory of

John White Flesher Edinburgh

who died on the 21st December 1850

aged 65 years. Also

Elizabeth Wilson, his wife who died

the 6th September 1858 aged 59 (or 8) years

also James their son who died on the 31st

of May 1826 aged 7 months. Also Thomas

who died on 17th May 1833 aged one year

and 7 months

also Henry Rehrhn White

who died the 11th march 1844

aged 2 years and 7 months.

Archibald Ritchie and family

 The above gravestone is most impressive and probably cost a fair penny but sadly it hasn't stood the test of time very well and the text is now virtually unreadable. I'm noting here the text as found in Sheila A. Scott's book Peeblesshire Monumental Inscriptions pre 1855:

Archibald Ritchie born 1748, died 1815, his wife Mary Lewisham, born 1755, died 1821; John Ritchie born 1784 died 1865, his wife Wilhelmina Stevenson born 1790 died 1859,  daughter Mary wife of Peter Stenhouse, born 1820 died 1868, daughter Jean born 1834 died 1836; William Ritchie born 1822 died 1901, wife Agnes Houliston born 1827 died 1909, both buried Natal SA; Archibald Ritchie born 1814 died 1866, wife Agnes Ballantyne, born 1819 died 1874; William Davidson, born 1824 died 1864, wife Janet Ritchie born 1825 died 1894; John Ritchie born 1845 died 1924, only son Archibald born 1891 died 1927.

It's hard to date the gravestone. It's certainly not contemporary with the oldest burials as far as I can tell. It was probably erected by more recent generations and they included their forebears on the stone.

Walter Jackson and family

The above is a very old stone which can still be partially read although toward the bottom the text has disappeared into the ground. Here is what remains:

The Memory of

Walter Jackson Ten

ant Pauls Well who died

22nd Jan 1790 aged 75 years

also Janet Johnston his spo

use who died Nov. 22 1795

aged 75 years         Also

John Jackson

their oldest son who died 10 Jan

1826 aged 79 years

and other five of their children

likewise Marion Jackson

his daughter....................

Andrew Scott and family

 I'm ticking off the gravestones I haven't recorded yet in Sheila A. Scott's book Peeblesshire Monumental Inscriptions pre 1855 and they are becoming increasingly rare to find. Not just because I have done most of them by now but mostly because the stones are so hard to find. However I have no idea why I haven't done this one before as it's quite large and impressive. Here is the text:

Erected

by Andrew Scott, Leith

in memory of

Janet Penman, his wife

who died there 3rd October 1849

aged 58 years

and of Janet Scott, his daughter

wife of David Downie (could be Dowie), West Calder

who died there 4th October 1849

aged 30 years

also of Elizabeth, wife of the

Rev'd John Scott, Montego Bay

Jamaica, who died there 15th Nov. 1848

aged 20 years

and of his son, the Rev'd John Scott

of the Presbyterian Church

Montego Bay, who died there 4th Dec. 1848

in the 28th year of his age

and 2nd of his ministry.

Cease ye from man whose breath is in

his nostrils by wherein is he to be accounted of.. Isaiah II 22

Andrew Scott

who died 7th June 1861 aged 59 years.

Andrew Scott certainly lived with a lot of tragedies in his life! Wife and Daughter dying within a day of each other and losing his son and daughter-in-law within a fortnight of each other in a far flung place, probably as a result of some epidemic or other. 

On the back of the same gravestone there is another inscription:

Marion Scott

born 31st March 1830

died 31st March 1835

Was this yet another tragedy? It seems more than likely that this was Andrew Scott's young daughter, died at the age of exactly 5 years. How does a person live through all that? 

James Melrose and family

In

memory

of

James Melrose

who died in Baddinsgill 12th Jan 1885

aged 85 years

also Mary Cairns

his wife who died Upper Dalhousie

24th Oct. 1846 aged 44 years

also

Archibald Hutson

their son-in-law

died 14th Oct. 1906

aged 69 years

also Mary Melrose

wife of Archibald Hutson

who died 24th Dec. 1909

aged 71 years.