Peebles, Old Town, Old St. Andrew's Church cemetery. General view of the headstone of Thomas Gibsane, died 1727. Twisted pilasters and pointed top, with winged soul, skull, hourglass, crossed bones an ...

Description Peebles, Old Town, Old St. Andrew's Church cemetery. General view of the headstone of Thomas Gibsane, died 1727. Twisted pilasters and pointed top, with winged soul, skull, hourglass, crossed bones and 'Memento Mori' inscription.

Date 1988

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

Catalogue Number B 4272/14

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 801895

Scope and Content Gravestone commemorating Thomas Hogg and family, St Andrew's Church, Neidpath Road, Peebles, Scottish Borders A large winged figure, dominating this memorial, represents the soul's ascent to Heaven. The soul is depicted with a relatively small body and a long neck with what appears to be a periwig on its head. Beneath, the emblems represent death and mortality: the skull and cross bones symbolise death while the hourglass signifies the passage of time. These melancholy motifs are flanked by a pair of Classically-inspired pilasters (a flattened pillar), featuring a spiral decoration along their shafts. Thomas Hogg's gravestone appears to belong to a group of several memorials sharing a similar style of carving, which may be the work of the same mason. These features include pilasters with spiral decoration along their shafts and a distinctive portrayal of the winged souls which often have unusual hairstyles and small, kite-shaped chest feathers. Some also feature small flowers emblazoned upon their chests. This gravestone commemorates the family of Thomas Hogg, a tenant farmer, who died in 1832 aged 46. Also interred here are his wife Janet, who died in 1832 aged 36, and their son Thomas, who died in 1832 aged 1 year. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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