View of 18th century gravestone in the churchyard of Longforgan Parish Church.

Description View of 18th century gravestone in the churchyard of Longforgan Parish Church.

Date 1986

Collection Papers of Betty Willsher, historian, St Andrews, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 1544960

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of A 34334

Scope and Content Gravestone with Resurrection angels, Longforgan Parish Church, Main Street, Longforgan, Perth & Kinross The pediment of this gravestone features a strange representation of a winged soul, its leaf-like wings merging with a naïvely carved face. The main panel shows two angels of the Resurrection, calling the dead from their graves with their trumpets of the Day of Judgement. They too have leaf-like wings. In a square panel below are carved a pair of swingletrees (horse harnesses) and the sock and coulter (metal parts) of a plough, the emblems of a farmer. This panel is flanked by two crude skulls, crossed bones and an hourglass. The imagery of many Resurrection scenes found on gravestones is derived from the following text from I Corinthians 15: 51-2: 'Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed'. This gravestone dates from the 18th century, but unfortunately no inscription survives. All we can tell about the person it commemorates is that he was a farmer, and wealthy enough to afford a large and impressive monument. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1544960

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap