A simple finger pointing at a ring ……. so what’s that about then ? The deceased is pointing towards eternity, because that’s where they hope they are heading. The ring never ends, just like life in heaven.

All the world's a stage, And all the men have their exits. This last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. But his dog still comes along, right up until the end.

Whilst this Stonemason may have work to do to refine his skull carving skills, he has nailed the coffin, ticked off the hourglass & eXcelled with the crossbones. But what do we make of the Maltster’s Shovel ?

The Peters’ Family haulage business relied on heavy horses to pull their carts carrying the loads. The family gravestone suggests a lot more effort went into to representing the horse than the man. Either that or the horses were huge & they threw the men around like footballs ;o)

The Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker …….. all of life can be found in historic graveyards. The Family Business wasn’t just a way to make a living, it defined the Family’s place & role in this world. Maybe it helped them find a place in the next world too.

A Chair of Judgement & The Keys to Heaven await the Soul of the deceased as they embark on a journey from life, via death, to a new eternal life. Such sermons in stone were arranged in the Churchyard for all of the Parishioners to see on their way to & from Church Services.

Annotated photo of a headstone. Note the quirky upside down Angel blowing the trumpet of resurrection into the ear of the deceased, with a cloth tied around her head & chin. This was done to hold the jaw in place post mortem. Is this how she would have wanted to be remembered ?

Further evidence has emerged that Aliens landed in Scotland in the 17th Century. They live amongst us ;o)

Gardeners often chose Adam & Eve imagery for their family gravestones as The Fall is in the Garden of Eden. Here the Gardener’s scythe is beside Adam & their pruning knife is beside Eve. No prize for spotting which figure is Eve. NB the Mason ran out of space for their wording.

A PERFUMED MAUSOLEUM The Raeburn Family were Perfumers in Edinburgh at a time the City smelled so bad that it was nicknamed “Auld Reekie”. Wealthy families would buy strong perfume to mask those stinks. Fittingly the Raeburn Family Mausoleum was styled as a huge Perfume Bottle.