View of gravestone to a miller, 1729

Description View of gravestone to a miller, 1729

Date c. 1980

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

Catalogue Number SC 789861

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Gravestone of a waulkmiller/farmer, Kirkmichael Churchyard, Moray This shows the main sculptured face of the stone. At the top of the stone is an open Bible, symbolising the deceased's piety. On each side of it are two curly-tailed sphinx. On the left of the stone is a figure (standing on the ploughman below) holding an hourglass, emblem of life's brevity. His twin on the right turns a toothed wheel, presumably part of the mill equipment, but also symbolic of the wheel of life. Between the figures are a pair of shears (left) for cutting cloth, an unidentifiable triangular tool, and a fulling pot (right). At the base of the stone two figures drive oxen pulling a plough. 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 dates from 1729, and bears emblems denoting of the trade of a waulkmiller, whose trade involved the cleansing and thickening of woollen cloth. This was achieved by fulling the material by beating and washing it until the fibres tightened and the cloth was clean and uniform in appearance. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference BWA/66/S

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/789861

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap