Muutamia hautakivikirjoituksia

Laurence Lideardin hautausmaalla

The man that rests in this grave has had 8 wives,
by whom he had 45 children, and 20 grand-
children. He was born rich, lived and
died poor, aged 94 years,
July 30th, 1774
Born at Bewdley in Worcestershire in 1650.


Ann Jennings, Wolstanton

Some have children - some have none -
Here lies the mother of twenty-one.


Hedon, Holderness, East Yorshire

Here lyeth the body of
William Strutton, of Patrington
Buried the 18th of May 1734
Aged 97

Who had, by his first wife, twenty-eight children,
And by a second seventeen;
Own father to forty-five
Grand-father to eighty-six,
Great grand-father to ninety-seven,
And Great, great-grand-father to twenty-three;
In all two hundred and fifty-one.


Joskus 1700-luvun lopulla tuli tavaksi leikitellä englannin sanoilla siten, että kirjaimia järjestämällä se saatiin muistuttamaan latinaa. Kuvassa näkyvällä epitafilla oli tarkoitus kiusoitella Oxfordin, Cambridgen ja Etonin oppineita. Hautakiven tekstin saa melko nopeasti selville, mutta tulkoon se joka tapauksessa merkityksi tähänkin;

Beneath
this stone reposeth
Claud Coster
tripe-seller, of Impington,
as doth his consort Jane.

Maailmasta löytyy monia erittäin humoristisia hautakirjoituksia, joista olen tähän poiminut muutamia kirjasesta "Epitaphs; a unique collection of post mortem comment". Tekstejä ei ole suomennettu, sillä osa sanaleikeistä toimii vain englanniksi.


Montmartre;

"Here lies A. B.
Who at the age of eighteen
earned £40 a year."

Burlingtonin hautausmaalta;

"She lived with her husband fifty years
And died in confident hope of a better life."

Pembrokeshiren kirkkomaalta;

"Here lie I, and no wonder I'm dead,
For the wheel of the wagon went over my head."

Eräs leski, jonka mies räjähti kappaleiksi ruutipulverin takia, vaati seuraavaa tekstiä tämän hautakiveen;

"He rests in pieces"

Tuntemattomilta hautausmailta;

"John Palfryman, who is buried here
Was aged four and twenty year,
And near this place his mother lies
Likewise his father when he dies"

"Ledyard Conn, on a man who died of natural
causes after several attemps at suicide;
He died an honest death."

"Here lies Peter Montgomery, who was accidentally
shot in his 30th year. This monument
was erected by grateful relatives."

"Here lies the body of Jonathan Ground
Who was lost at sea and never found."