Detail of table tomb with inscription: 'Life how short' on base, St Mary's Church burial ground, Banff.

Description Detail of table tomb with inscription: 'Life how short' on base, St Mary's Church burial ground, Banff.

Date 8/1965

Collection Records of the Scottish National Buildings Record, Edinburgh, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 801748

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of BN 163

Scope and Content Written on verso of the mounted print: 'Shire: Banffshire. Place: Banff. Building: St Mary's Church, Carmelite Street. Photographer: G.N. Date: August 1965'. Detail of the side of a table tomb, St Mary's Church and Burial-Ground, Church Street, Banff, Aberdeenshire This shows the end panel of the tomb, with its heavy balusters (corner posts), moulded top and recessed panel. This is decorated with the short message: 'Life/how short', a line usually completed with the line: 'Eternity how long'. The lettering is crisply and elegantly cut. 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 table tomb dating from the mid-18th century stands amongst many other such memorials in a crowded burial-ground which dates from the medieval period. Most of the monuments date from between the 16th century to the 19th century. No details of the inscription are available. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference MW/BR/BAN/137

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/801748

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap