View of gravestone. Digital image of B 4315/20.

Description View of gravestone. Digital image of B 4315/20.

Date 1991

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

Catalogue Number SC 801002

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 4315/20

Scope and Content West face of a gravestone commemorating Mary Ballantin, Walston Parish Church and Churchyard, South Lanarkshire Set within a recessed panel, this group of emblems offer a complex message, where mortal death can be overcome through belief in God and the immortality of the soul. At the top of the stone is what could be a likeness of Mary, or perhaps it is intended to be a death-mask. Beneath, the heart is well-known as a symbol for love and here it is probably intended to show divine love, that is, Mary's love of God. According to 18th-century symbol books, the heart was also considered to be an emblem for the soul. In keeping with the notion of divine love, the rectangular object on the left is probably intended to represent the Bible, showing Mary's belief in the Word of God. The remaining emblems speak of mortality and death, the hourglass whose sands have finally run out, the imposing crossed bones, and the coffin. These last emblems offer a message to the viewer, urging them to give thought to their own mortality, and the inevitability of death. Although the coffin now forms a fundamental part of the burial rite, in the past poor people were often simply buried in shrouds and it was not until the 17th or even 18th century that most people could afford the luxury of a coffin for burying their loved ones. Contemporary accounts suggest these were rough and rather utilitarian, and as a result they were usually covered by a pall or mort-cloth hired from the local church. Contemporary records show that these were often handsome, with lace, silk and velvet being specially purchased for their making. In some places, the church had two or three mort-cloths, each hired out at different rates according to their materials. By the 18th century, hired mort-coffins allowed even the very poorest to be assured of a modest funeral. These coffins were specially designed so that the bottom could be opened when it was lowered half way into a grave by pulling on a cord, allowing the shroud-wrapped body within to be laid to rest. This gravestone commemorates Mary Ballantin, wife of the tenant farmer of Elrigshill, who died in 1723 at the age of 45. The memorial is inscribed: 'HERE LAYS THE BODY OF/MARY BALLANTIN SPOUS TO/MUNGO LINDSAY IN ELRIGSHILL/WHO DAYED THE 5 SEPTR THE/YEAR OF GOD 1723 AGED 45'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap