View of obelisk commemorating James Stirling, 1855, in the churchyard of New Kilkpatrick Parish Church.

Description View of obelisk commemorating James Stirling, 1855, in the churchyard of New Kilkpatrick Parish Church.

Date 1986

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

Catalogue Number A 34371

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 1568234

Scope and Content Obelisk commemorating James Stirling, New Kilpatrick Parish Church, Manse Road, Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire The obelisk, a tapering stone shaft with pyramidal top is derived from the form of ancient Egyptian monuments. Very tall monuments could easily be built, and often mark the graves of the wealthier or most important people in Victorian cemeteries. This example is interesting for its carving of a symbolic bridle, hanging from a nail, suggesting the restraint and self-control (over alcohol) which the Temperance Movement championed. In 1832 Joseph Livesey and seven fellow workers in Preston pledged that they would abstain from spirits forever. This gesture was to lead to other groups of working men 'signing the pledge', and the founding of the British Association for the Promotion of Temperance in 1835. By the 1840s, groups advocated tee-totalism, and promoted their lifestyle through meetings, marches, brass band concerts and picnics for members. Drunkenness amongst the lower classes was seen as the cause of much deprivation and the road to poverty and violence. This shows an obelisk commemorating James Stirling, who died in 1855. The epitaph records how, as a leader of the Temperance movement he 'brought happiness to many homes where unbridled drunkenness has caused despair'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/712174