Monifieth Churchyard. Headstone,the Findlay children, 1784. Digital image of BWA 375.

Description Monifieth Churchyard. Headstone,the Findlay children, 1784. Digital image of BWA 375.

Date 1784

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

Catalogue Number SC 799250

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Gravestone of the Findlay children, St Regulus' Church and Burial-Ground, Monifieth, Dundee This gravestone features a curved top partly edged with a band of egg and dart moulding. Below this is a large carving of a weaver's shuttle, emblematic of that trade. The main motif on the stone is a pair of winged souls, (symbol of the spirit ascending to Heaven after death). They are carved with almond eyes, deep, feathery wings, neatly-parted hair and triangular necks/upper bodies. Between the souls the corpses of the two dead children can be seen, wrapped in a shroud. Beneath the decoration on this stone is carved a list of Thomas Findlay and Elisabeth Neish's surviving children, including their dates of birth. Infant death was an ever present part of life in the 18th and 19th centuries, and recording living children's names on a stone was quite common. Perhaps the list of surviving children would be a comfort to the sorrowing parents. This gravestone commemorates the Findlay children, Francis and Marget, who died in 1771 and 1783. It is inscribed: 'This stone was erected the Yr 1784/by Thomas Findlay wiver on/Ground of Ardownie and/Elisabeth Neish his espouse/in memory of their Children/Pairt of which are Deceed viz:/Francis Jn who died Dcr/Sixth 1771 aged 11 veiks &/Marget Fn who died Agt the/Twenty 1783 aged 17 months'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference BWA/375

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/799250

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap