Alexander Forrester

As I discussed on a recent post on my regular blog, if you were a minister or reverend you would normally be sure of a prominent spot in the graveyard, either next to or against the church itself or as in this case against the outer wall of the graveyard (the one along the Main Street). This is the text for the above stone:

Erected

by

the Rev'd Alex'r Forrester

of Linton

on the 1st May 1832

In affectionate remembrance and hope

of a blessed resurrection

of

Mary Bayne his mother

who died 1807

of

Charlotte McCaul his wife

who died in 1825

of

Catherine Hunter, his daughter

who died that same year

And of

William his Eldest son

who died in 1811

of

James, His youngest son

who died in 1809

Also

sacred to the memory of

the Rev'd Alexander Forrester

for 46 years minister of the parish of

West Linton

who died on 29th May 1836

The reverend certainly suffered a tragic loss of many members of his family before he too succumbed.

This is one of those wonderful surprises you can come across in most graveyards and which will be familiar to stamp artists too. You merrily start stamping a text on a page and by the time you come to the end of the line there is no room left for the last letter! (solution: start stamping in the middle!). And it happens to stonemasons too, as you can see here. The r for daughter couldn't be squeezed in. Solution: carve it above. That might work for stamping too and look quite quirky. Don't know what the Reverend made of this though?!