stirling-1963-vol-1/05_174

Transcription

No. 131 -- ECCLESIASTICAL MONUMENTS -- No. 131
Forestar: Three hunting-horns. In the lower part of
the slab there is a second shield, dividing the initials
I E and charged for Erskine of the Shielfield branch:
On a pale, a cross-crosslet fitchée; and below this the
initials M E carved in the same manner as the D F above.
The slab appears to have commemorated, in the first
instance, Sir Alexander Forestar, Provost of Stirling,
and his wife Jean Erskine, ¹ the initials in the sunk panels,
which are the same as those appearing on No. (1) above
(q.v.), having been added later. (4) This slab, which is
much worn, now shows no inscription but bears two
incised shields, side by side. The charges were in relief
but those on the dexter shield have been obliterated;
the sinister one is charged, presumably for Forestar:
A saltire, in base a hunting horn. These same arms
appear on one of the bosses in the roof of the aisle
(p. 134). Macdonald's drawing of 1896 shows that the
stone originally bore six shields and that upon the
dexter shield at the top of the stone there was carved a
saltire-shaped device which may have been intended
as a mill-rind and pick. A similar device appears upon a
panel set over the passageway of No. 41 Broad Street
(cf. No. 234). The two shields at the foot of the stone
are said to have been "simple incised lines in the form of
shields". ²

In the Graveyard. The following are the only monu-
ments bearing legible dates earlier than 1707, though it
may be taken as certain that a number of other slabs, on
which no design or lettering can now be made out, must
date from the 17th century. (1) The Sconce family
memorial. This is a Renaissance wall-monument com-
prising base, body and pediment, measuring 13 ft. in
height, 14 ft. in width across the base and 8 ft. 6 in.
across the body. From pedestals set out from the base,
which is flanked by ornate consoles, there rise two
double columns to support a shaped pediment with a
moulded cornice and, in its centre, a cherub with swags
of fruit and flowers dividing the date 16 [89] ³. Between
the columns there is an inscribed panel with a moulded
margin, flanked by decorative strap-work and emblems
of mortality. Above are two angels. Much of the original
inscription on the panel has perished, but it can be
restored as follows with the help of a metal plaque ⁴
which was fixed to the side of the monument, for
purposes of record, in 1936: [HERE LIES THE CORPSE
OF / IOHN MCCULLOCH LEAT PROVO] ST OF
STIRLING / [WHO] DIED THE 5 OF OCTOBER / 1689
YEARS OF AGE [54 / REVELATIONS 14 VERSE 13] /
BLESED (sic) ARE THE DEAD WHO / DIE IN THE LORD
THAT THEY / MAY REST FROM THEIR LABOUR [S] /
AND THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW THEM /
ULTIMA SEMPER /
EXPECTANDA DIES HOMINI / DICIQUE BEATUS /
ANTE OBITUM NEMO SUPREMA [QUE] / FUNERA DEBET
("We must always await life's last day, and no one
should be called happy until he is dead and buried".) ⁵
Below the original inscription there has been added, in
large cursive script, 1729 / JOHN SCONCE / CHRISTIAN
LUCKISON; 19th-century inscriptions appear on the
base of the monument. (2) A large ornate headstone
dated 1701 and commemorating IOHN PATON IANET /
PARK IOHN PATON / ALEXR PATON / IANET TOUAR.
(3) A slab, bearing in high relief a shield-shaped panel
and, below this, trade emblems which suggest a miner
or quarryman - pick, mallet and chisel. The panel bears
a shield charged, for Gibb: In chief, a broken spear
chevronwise, held by a hand issuing from the sinister;
in base a spur. Above the shield is incised the date
1579. The original dedication appears to have been
erased, and on the cut-down surface there is now an
incised inscription commemorating James Gibb, who
died in 1810. (4) A headstone, the top of which has been
reshaped in such a way that part of the date has been
removed. The inscription now reads [1] 67 [?3] / IW
MC / IW BG / RW IC / RW CD. (5) A similar head-
stone, reshaped in the same way and bearing the same
initials as (4). (6) An ornate headstone dated 1698 and
commemorating TT and IG. A later inscription appears
on the other side. (7) A large slab inscribed at the top
HERE LIES THE CORPS OF / ANDREW BAIRD BAILLIE
IN / STIRLING WHO DIED 24 IUNE 1692 / AGED 77.
MARGARAT SWORD HIS / SPOUSE DIED 28 MARCH
1677. Initials follow, and then an 18th-century inscrip-
tion containing names which correspond with some of
them, and this fact suggests that the whole may actually
date from after 1707 notwithstanding the early appear-
ance of the original inscription as recorded. (8) A head-
stone bearing the date 1705, divided by the crowned
rounding-knife of the Cordiners, and commemorating
PD MD. Below are funerary emblems with the motto
SURGITE VENITE ("Arise, come"). (9) A slab bearing,
on a shield, the date 1699 and the initials I S [?] M
over a merchant's mark. The name Stevenson occurs
in later inscriptions. (10) A large ornate headstone
inscribed 1700 / IC JD. (11) A slab on which the
primary inscription consists of the date 1700 above a
shield, the initials WM / MH divided by the shield
and below it WF EK / WM MW / WS JH. The shield
is charged; A weaver's shuttle. (12) A headstone with
a primary date 1696 in relief. Other dates, later than
1707, and names which follow are incised. (13) A table-
tomb dated 1687 with a contemporary merchant's mark,
but "renewed", according to a later inscription, in
1848. (14) A large ornate headstone, partly earthed up.
On the exposed part can be read IF 1703 DF / IC IF.
(15) A large headstone set in a masonry base, and with
a separate semicircular top, the latter damaged (Pl. 47 B).
Both faces show bullet-marks, and the E. one bears a
central panel flanked by fluted strips decorated with

1 Fleming, op. cit., 48.
2 Ibid., 53.
3 The two latter figures were covered with ivy at the date of
visit, but may be supplied from the main inscription.
4 Close examination of the wasted lettering shows that the
version given on the plaque differs from the original in its
setting-out and in a few other minor respects.
5 These verses (Ovid, Metamorphoses, iii, 135 ff).) also appear
on the Paton Monument (1676) in Greyfriars churchyard,
Edinburgh (Inventory of Edinburgh, p. 64), and on a slab (1702)
in the parish churchyard of Peebles.

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