stirling-1963-vol-1/05_187

Transcription

No. 140 -- ECCLESIASTICAL MONUMENTS -- No. 140
Douglas and third, Jeanne de Pedefer, a French maid-of-
honour. ¹
The westernmost slab measures 6 ft. by 1 ft. 11 in. and
bears a shield carved in relief and charged: A fess between
six mullets. The shield is flanked by the incised initials
RI. These arms do not appear to be recorded, but they
may represent Innes of Blairton with six, in place of
three, mullets as an additional cadency, The slab has
borne a Latin inscription, but this is now so much worn
that nothing significant can be read apart from the date
[?15] [O] CTOBRIS / 1600. ²

MEMORIALS IN THE GRAVEYARD

(i) Sir John de Graham. The most interesting monu-
ment in the graveyard is the one attributed to Sir John
Graham of Dundaff, who was killed at the first battle of
Falkirk (1298). ³ In its present form, which evidently
results from the various additions and rearrangements
that will be described shortly, the structure comprises a
massive concrete base, raised 10 in. clear of the ground
on six brick pedestals, and the memorial proper, which
is founded on this base and consists of an effigy and
three inscribed slabs, set closely one above another and
supported by solid end-pieces and a vertical slab in the
centre of each side. The effigy and the two lower slabs
have been notched to fit these supports. The memorial is
enclosed within a cage of iron railings let into the con-
crete, and the enclosure is topped by a pair of decorated
iron arches, reminiscent of an imperial crown and carry-
ing a lion-rampant finial. While it is possible that the
monument may stand on the spot traditionally associated
with Sir John de Graham's grave, the manner in which it
is now raised above ground level points to the original
arrangement having been totally altered; while much
disturbance must have resulted from the successive
reconstructions (infra) as well as from the opening of the
grave in 1746. ⁴
The uppermost element in the existing composite
monument is a slab 6 ft. 6 in. long, 3 ft. 6 in. wide and
6 in. thick. It has moulded edges with palmette orna-
mentation, and its upper surface bears, at the head, a
panel formed by a rose surrounded by the motto VIVIT
POST FVNERA VIRTVS ("Virtue lies beyond the grave"),
with thistles in the corners. In the centre of the slab there
is a shield with helm and mantling, a heron for crest and
two herons for supporters. The shield is charged, for
Graham: Three escallops; the motto is NE OUBLIE
("Do not forget"). At the foot is a rasied panel with a
Latin inscription, now imperfectly legible but possible
to reconstruct as follows from Nimmo's record ⁵ :

MENTE MANVQVE / POTENS ET / VALLAE FIDVS /
ACHATES
CONDITVR HIC / GRAMVS BELLO INTERFECTVS /
AB ANGLIS /
XXII IVLII / ANNO 1298

("Potent in mind and hand, and the 'faithful Achates'
of Wallace, Graham is buried here, slain in war by the
English. 22nd July 1298.") The main epitaph begins at
the SW. corner of the slab, crosses the head, and con-
tinues in two lines along the N. side and two along the
S. side, all these four lateral lines being intended to be
read from the S.; it is now largely illegible but was
recorded by Nimmo as follows ⁶ :

Heir lyes Sir John the Grame, baith wight and wise,
Ane of the chiefs who rescewit Scotland thrise.
Ane better knight not to the world was lent,
Nor was gude Grame of truth and hardiment.

On top of the slab there has been mounted a replica
of a broken sword-blade. It is inscribed on one side
CASTING OF THE SWORD USED BY SIR JOHN DE
GRAEME AT THE BATTLE OF FALKIRK 22ND JULY
1298, and on the other CAST AT FALKIRK IRON
WORKS 3RD MAY 1869 FROM THE ORIGINAL IN
THE POSSESSION OF THE AUCHTERARDER NO. 46
ST JOHN'S LOD [GE].
The uppermost of the slabs has its surface 3 ft. 7 in.
above the concrete base. The face of its E. support is
inscribed, in 18th-century characters, RENEWED BY /
WILLIAM GRAHAM / OF AIRTH ESQRE A.D. 1773, and
below this there has been added, in 19th-century char-
acters, AND / AGAIN RENEWED AND / ORNAMENTED /
BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION / 1860. The lateral
uprights are incised with the initials S / JG, for Sir
John Graham, in an 18th-century style which shows
that they too form part of the reconstruction of 1773;
and it is clear from the notching of the two lower slabs
and of the effigy (supra) that the present arrangement of
everything above the concrete must date from this same
period. The middle and lowermost slabs cannot now be
examined in detail, as the clearance between them, and
between the middle and uppermost slabs, is less than
6 in., while the iron cage constitutes a further obstacle.
Enough appears, however, to show that they both
correspond fairly closely with the slab of 1773 - this last
being, in fact, a copy of the middle slab which was in
turn a copy of the lowermost one. ⁷ The differences are
that the middle slab has decorated edges and incised
lettering, and is 2 ft. 11 in. wide by 6 in. thick, while
the lowermost one has plain edges and relief lettering
and is 2 ft. 4 in. wide with an irregular thickness of about
4 1/2 in. Their lengths cannot be measured, but the middle
slab is probably about 6 ft. long and the lowermost one
somewhat shorter. The heraldic carving on the former
is in much higher relief than on the latter.
Some idea of the respective dates of these two slabs
can be formed from records eked out by internal
evidence. The middle slab can safely be attributed to a
period shortly before 1723, as it was noted in that year ⁸
that "Sir John the Grahams gravestone was lately

1 The Scots Peerage, 435 ff.
2 Hunter gives the year as 1690, but the third digit is
actually o accompanied by a groove of accidental origin.
3 History, 176.
4 Chambers, History of the Rebellion of 1745-6, 7th edn., 242.
5 History, 177.
6 Ibid.
7 As stated in Stat. Acct., xix (1797), 100.
8 Geogr. Collections, i, 319 f.

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