Cramond Church, graveyard Detail of tombstone, James Spotswood, 1707
A 42909
Description Cramond Church, graveyard Detail of tombstone, James Spotswood, 1707
Date 1987
Collection Papers of Betty Willsher, historian, St Andrews, Scotland
Catalogue Number A 42909
Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images
Copies SC 560047
Scope and Content Gravestone of James Spottiswode, Cramond Churchyard, Edinburgh This gravestone commemorates James Spottiswode, a farmer, who died in 1707 aged 73. Also buried here is his wife, Agnes, who died in 1675 aged 32. Sporting tusks and leaf-shaped ears, the Green Man at the top of the stone symbolises life's renewal. The cornucopia and leaf-scroll flanking the inscription are in a similar vein, expressing the hope of Paradise. The hourglass signifies human mortality. Sometimes grotesque, cat-like or human, the foliate face of the Green Man appears in many medieval churches across Britain. Only in post-Reformation Scotland does the Green Man appear as a gravestone ornament, copied from those in churches and abbeys. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/405994
Attribution: © HES (Betty Willsher Collection)
Licence Type: Educational
You may: copy, display, store and make derivative works [eg documents] solely for licensed personal use at home or solely for licensed educational institution use by staff and students on a secure intranet.
Under these conditions: Display Attribution, No Commercial Use or Sale, No Public Distribution [eg by hand, email, web]
