Detail of grave-stone, 1654.

Description Detail of grave-stone, 1654.

Date 1991

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

Catalogue Number B 4303/7

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 800676

Scope and Content Gravestone with winged souls and death emblems, Cumbernauld Old Parish Church and Burial-Ground, Baronhill, Cumbernauld Village, North Lanarkshire This gravestone features a deep scrolled pediment, a winged soul (symbol of the spirit ascending to Heaven after death), a skull and a pair of crossed ones (emblems of death). The soul has hair and wings carved with individual leaf-like feathers. Skulls in profile are not as common as those which face the viewer, and this example is quite realistic, suggesting the mason had seen actual bones. 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 has lost its original inscription, but bears a date of 1654. This appears to have been recut later, as it seems to be too early a date for the style of carving below. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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