View of gravestone. Digital image of B 4393/21

Description View of gravestone. Digital image of B 4393/21

Date 1991

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

Catalogue Number SC 801052

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 4393/21

Scope and Content Gravestone commemorating William Dickson and Elisabeth Stiell, Lesmahagow Parish Church, Church Square, Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire Evidently William Dickson was a tailor: the hand holds a tailor's 'goose', a type of iron heated at the fireside, while below is a pair of scissors and a rectangular object. This could be a representation of a roll of cloth or perhaps even a ruler. As a skilled craftsman, William Dickson may have belonged to Lesmahagow's Tailors Incorporation, if one existed. This body would have governed how he could treat his apprentices, whether they could become 'journeymen' after the proscribed number of years, who he could do business with and had the powers to punish him for breaking the Incorporation's rules. He might even have been required to even swear an oath of loyalty to the Tailors Incorporation. On the other hand, the incorporation protected his rights as a craftsman from being undercut by the unskilled or unqualified workers coming into the area. This gravestone commemorates William Dickson, who died in 1721 aged 51, and his wife Elizabeth Stiell, who died in 1705 aged 35. The inscription reads: 'HERE/LYES WI/LLIAM DICKSON/IN GREEN RIDGE/WHO DEPARTED THIS/LIFE JUNE 6TH AS ALSO/ELISABETH STIELL/HIS SPOUSE WHO/DEPARTED THIS LIFE/JANUARY 18 1705 AGED 35'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/801052

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap