Detail of tombstone. John Smith, d.1724. Reverse face of gravestone showing Green Man and cornucopia at top of stone. Crossed spades, hourglass, skull, bone and 'Momento Mori' scroll beneath.

Description Detail of tombstone. John Smith, d.1724. Reverse face of gravestone showing Green Man and cornucopia at top of stone. Crossed spades, hourglass, skull, bone and 'Momento Mori' scroll beneath.

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

Catalogue Number B 4275/20

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 565029

Scope and Content Gravestone of John Smith, Tranent churchyard, East Lothian This gravestone commemorates John Smith, a salt grieve at Cockenzie, who died in 1724 aged 36. A grieve would manage the affairs of the saltworks on the owner's behalf. Greenery sprouts from the face of the bestial Green Man at the top of the stone, symbolising renewal and regeneration in Paradise, a theme reinforced by the cornucopia (horn of plenty). In the panel beneath, the emblems signify both death and mortality. In the 18th century, most of Scotland's salt came from saltworks on the River Forth like Cockenzie owned by the Earls of Winton. Salt was produced, 24 hours a day, by boiling seawater in large pans, requiring a large workforce to tend the pans. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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