View of table tomb with skull and bones behind pleated drape held by lion heads on base, St Mary's Church burial ground, Banff.

Description View of table tomb with skull and bones behind pleated drape held by lion heads 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 801752

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of BN 181

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'. Side of a table tomb, St Mary's Church and Burial-Ground, Church Street, Banff, Aberdeenshire This shows the end of a table tomb, with its heavy stone lid and baluster supports. Within the recessed end panel is a carving of a swag of material suspended from rosettes. Behind the swag can be seen a skull peering out at the spectator. This could be interpreted as representing Death waiting behind 'the veil' which separates the living from the dead, or may just be a death emblem displayed in an unusual way within folds of cloth. 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 dates from the mid-18th century, and 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 and the 19th century. No details of the inscription are available. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

External Reference MW/BR/BAN/155

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/801752

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap