Detail of headstone in Churchyard. Digital image of B 42922/4.

Description Detail of headstone in Churchyard. Digital image of B 42922/4.

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

Catalogue Number SC 799488

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 42922/4

Scope and Content Gravestone of 'P I', Murroes, Murroes Parish Church and Churchyard, Angus This shows the gravestone with its sculptured Ionic columns supporting a curved pediment. Below this is a smiling winged soul, with curled hair and a large, deeply-incised head. In the centre of the stone is an armorial panel, with helmet and mantling (leafy drapery) surrounding a shield carved with picks, the emblems of a mason or 'pickieman' (craftsman who re-cut the grinding surfaces of millstones). The square panel at the base of the stone would have once framed an inscription, and is bordered by a band of 'egg-and-dart' ornament. The armorial panel on this gravestone does not conform to rules of heraldry, and is an adaptation of a traditional style used by masons for its connotations of wealth and power. Country masons probably copied and adapted the designs from the tombs of the aristocracy, substituting trade emblems, hearts and initials in the panel usually filled with a shield or crest. This 18th-century gravestone commemorates a person with the initials 'P I'. It stands against a wall, and features a Classical-style façade designed to reflect grand architecture of the period. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/799488

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap