Lyne Churchyard. Headstone for Janet Veitch, 1712. Digital image of B 4273/16

Description Lyne Churchyard. Headstone for Janet Veitch, 1712. Digital image of B 4273/16

Date 1988

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

Catalogue Number SC 801914

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 4273/16

Scope and Content View of gravestone commemorating Janet Veitch, Lyne Parish Church, Scottish Borders The top of this stone is decorated with two massive S-shaped scrolls, while an hourglass, a symbol of mortality, fills the uppermost panel. Below, a piece of drapery suspended between two rings bears a skull, an emblem of death. A pair of pilasters, each carved with spiral decoration along their shafts, appear to support the triangular upper panel in the style of a Classical temple. Beneath, a scene shows a fruit-laden tree with the figures of Adam (left) and Eve (right) standing on either side of the bough. Coiled around the tree is the serpent, his head close to Eve's ear, bidding her to eat the forbidden fruit. Biblical scenes were often used as gravestone emblems in the 18th and 19th centuries. As with many other gravestone symbols, the Fall of Man appeared in a variety of religious works and school books as well on everyday household items such as pottery and pieces of furniture. Its message is a powerful and rather uncompromising one, offering a stark warning against temptation, a clear reminder of original sin, and that death and suffering only exist in this world as a result of man's sinfulness and not through God's design. Perhaps it was this last message which carried the greatest meaning, for a sizeable proportion of all known 'Adam and Eve' stones in Scotland were erected to commemorate children, and may have offered some comfort to bereaved parents questioning the loss of their loved ones. 'Adam and Eve' scenes appear to have found greater resonance in 18th- and 19th-century Scotland than in England, perhaps as a result of the greater emphasis on the importance of guarding against sinfulness and temptation in Scotland at the time. This gravestone commemorates Janet Veitch, who died in 1712 aged 16. The inscription reads: 'HERE/LYES JANNET/VEITCH DAUGHTER/TO JOHN VEITCH/TENNANT IN HAMILTOUNE WHO/DYED THE 31 OF JANUARY/ANNO 1712 AGED 16 YEARS/& 6 WEIKS/LIFE IS THE ROAD TO DEATH/& DEATH HEAVEN'S GATES MUST BE/HEAVEN IS THE THRONE OF CHRIST/& CHRIST IS LIFE TO ME'. The stone is now protected by a glass case. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/801914

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap