Detail of standing tombstone dedicated to Alex Reid dated 1764, in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Banff. Symbols visible include angel blowing trumpet out of which banner is flowing.

Description Detail of standing tombstone dedicated to Alex Reid dated 1764, in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Banff. Symbols visible include angel blowing trumpet out of which banner is flowing.

Date 1993

Catalogue Number SC 801769

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 42929/31

Scope and Content Gravestone of Alex Reid, St Mary's Church and Burial-Ground, Church Street, Banff, Aberdeenshire This gravestone features an Angel of the Resurrection, standing on a scroll which flows from the mouth of his trumpet. It is inscribed: 'CROWN OF GLORY FOR THE...', a reference to the Crown of Righteousness believed to await the godly in Heaven. The angel wears a loincloth and has small, delicate wings like leaves. The angel is shown against a fabric backdrop, perhaps intended to reproduce the draped mort-cloths, which were hired out by churches to cover coffins at funerals. The imagery of many Resurrection scenes found on gravestones is derived from the following text from I Corinthians 15: 51-2: 'Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed'. This gravestone commemorates Alex Reid, who died in 1764. It is inscribed: 'HERE/IS DEPOSITED ye/Body of ALEXR/REID...in/Calk who departed/1764 aged 67/years. This stone/erected by his son/James Reid'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/801769

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap