Montrose Churchyard. Headstone, James Strachan, 1815. Digital image of AN/6796/1.

Description Montrose Churchyard. Headstone, James Strachan, 1815. Digital image of AN/6796/1.

Catalogue Number SC 799498

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of AN 6796/1

Scope and Content Gravestone of James and Robert Strachan and Mary Cobb, Montrose Old Parish Church and Burial Ground, High Street, Montrose, Angus This large gravestone features a very unusual depiction of a ship being built, supported on the stocks. It is used here as an emblem of the trade of shipbuilder. The oval border of the carved scene is decorated with a crimped pattern. The figures which make up the date:'1818' are also finely carved with a dotted design. 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 commemorates James Strachan, who died in 1810, Mary Cobb, who died in 1800, and Robert Strachan, who died in 1839. It is inscribed on the east face: 'Erected by Robert Strachan/shipbuilder in Montrose in/memory of his father James/Strachan who died 10 June/1810 aged 41, and his/mother Mary Cobb who died/3 November 1800 aged 43'. On the west face is inscribed: 'Robert Strachan who died in Russia 1839, aged 46' (As a shipbuilder, Robert may have been importing timber from the Baltic at the time of his death). Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/799498

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap