Detail of tablet to George Baird dated 1771. Symbols visible include cooper's tools above skull and hour-glass

Description Detail of tablet to George Baird dated 1771. Symbols visible include cooper's tools above skull and hour-glass

Date 1993

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

Catalogue Number B 42929/23

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 801765

Scope and Content Gravestone of a cooper, St Mary's Church and Burial Ground, Church Street, Banff, Aberdeenshire This gravestone features a hammer, dividers, barrel and mallet (?), which together form the tools of the trade of a cooper. Below the tools is a 'deid' (dead) bell (rung at funerals), a skull, hourglass and bone (emblems of death) and a ribbon (probably originally inscribed: 'Memento Mori (remember you must die). Scottish gravestones feature a wealth of imagery and symbolic devices which represent trade emblems, symbols of death and resurrection, and Biblical scenes. They offer a fascinating insight into how our ancestors saw themselves and how they wanted to be remembered, as well as providing a store of information for people interested in family or local history, and folk art. This gravestone commemorates a cooper, and dates from 1771. The inscription is illegible. It stands amongst many other such memorials in a crowded burial-ground which dates from the medieval period. Most of the monuments date from between the 16th century to the 19th century. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/655860