Detail of end panel of tablestone commemorating William King (died 1762) showing emblems of mortality and the inscription 'memento mori'.

Description Detail of end panel of tablestone commemorating William King (died 1762) showing emblems of mortality and the inscription 'memento mori'.

Date 1993

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

Catalogue Number C 23408/27

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 801672

Scope and Content Table tomb of William King and Janet Davidson, Cathedral Graveyard, North College Street, Elgin, Moray This shows the end panel of the table tomb, with its heavy fluted baluster supports with leaf-decorated capitals. The recessed central panel contains the following emblems of death: a coffin, an hourglass (symbolic of the brevity of life), bones, a skull, the 'deid' (dead) bell which was rung at funerals, and a ribbon inscribed 'MEMENTO MORI' (remember you must die). These stark emblems of death are carved upon this stone to confront the passer-by with his or her own mortality, reminding them that they will soon be dead like the person below the tomb. Symbols of mortality were ultimately intended to make people lead more virtuous lives, as after death would come Judgement, and an eternity in Heaven or Hell. This table tomb commemorates William King who died in 1762, and Janet Davidson, his wife (no dates available). It is inscribed: 'THIS STONE WAS ERECTED IN/MEMORY OF WILLIAM KING SON OF/...KING WRIGHT IN ELGIN/WHO DYED THE 12 DAY OF.../1762 YEAR & HIS SPOUSE JANET/DAVIDSON...& THEIR/CHILDREN'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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