Epitaphs

Researched by: Michelle Stuessi and Ereka Hunt © 2007

Most Epitaphs describe the person, or something that they did in their lifetime. Some would be hard to understand, unless you knew about that person. To somebody who knew them, it could be funny; to a stranger it just sounds weird and doesn't make sense. Everyone's is unique and different. In 1750, it became popular to have the opening line, "Here lies..." By 1800, that line faded, and "In memory of ..." became the line people used. After the opening line, came the name of the person who died, the date of birth, and the date of death. On some people's stone a poem, a verse, or a biblical statement was added at the end.

The kind of lettering that was used on inscriptions varied from the skill of the carver that carved them. Upper-case bold lettering was used for most. Many carvers use ligatures, or joined letters. In the seventeenth century, ligatures were used in about every person's inscription. There were about three for every inscription. But, some contained more than 10 ligatures.

By 1760, this lettering style had completely died out. In 1790, lettering advanced to lower-case. Different scripts were discovered like Roman, Script, and Italic. A common letter that was used differently was a long "s". It looks like a stretched out "s". This "s" started to be used as early as the 1680s. For a century, more and more people started to use the long "s". People started to have three to four of them in almost every inscription.

A long time ago the people who carved gravestones were usually just family members who hadn’t ever carved a gravestone before. Today, professional carvers will carve the stone. But, usually family members help with the wording and the layout of the stone. Here are some epitaphs to read and see how they are different.

Bonnie Anderson’s: “I don't want to talk about it right now.”

 Robin Hood’s:

“ Here underneath this little stone Lies Robert,
Earl of Huntingdon.
No archer was as he so dood,
and people called him Robin Hood.
Such an outlaw as he, and his men,
Will England never see again.”

 Some very famous people's epitaphs are:

 Alexander the Great:
“ A tomb now suffices for him,
for whom the world was not enough."

 Susan B. Anthony:“ Liberty, Humanity, Justice, Equality"

 Emily Dickinson: “ Called Back."

 William Shakespeare:
“Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,
To digg the dust encloased heare!
Blest be the man that spares thes stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.”   

Some epitaphs are pretty funny, and some are ironic. Like Ephr Arm’Starr’s: "He died while returning from the springs for his health, 1790." Most epitaphs don’t rhyme but some do. Margaret Bent's epitaph rhymed and it went like this: "Here lies the body of Margaret Bent, She kicked up her heels and away she went." Or Jonathan Blake's, "Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake; stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake." Some epitaphs are very short and some are pretty long. Some of the people under the ground remain a mystery, but they still have epitaphs! Like this one, written for a mystery girl the cemetery called Gussie, "Here lies the body of a girl who died, nobody mourned and nobody cried. How she lived and how she fared, nobody knew and nobody cared." Epitaphs or inscriptions like that are often used, but usually for people that were mysteries or weren't claimed as anyone's family, like Gussie.

Here are some more epitaphs, like the ones above.
"Here lies
Ezekiel Aikle
Age 102
The Good Die Young."

"Here lies
Johnny Yeast
Pardon me
For not rising."

"She always said her feet
 were killin' her but nobody believed her."

Inscriptions are more serious than most epitaphs. Most verses in an inscription are conventional, traditional and repetitive.

Inscriptions can rhyme, but they are not funny. They are more often than not very solemn or elegant, blessing the deceased on their trip to heaven or something else religious. Two of the most frequently used verses on the eighteenth century grave stones were examples where the deceased was speaking:

"By me Mortality you’re taught
Your days will pass like mine.
Eternity Amazing thought,
Hangs on this thread of time."

"What you are reading o'er my bones
I've often read on other tombs.
And others soon will read of thee
What you are reading now of me."

Inscriptions on older tombs often use words that are not used today, such as "thee", "thy", "o'er" etc. Older inscriptions on tombstones may make readers laugh, since people weren’t very well educated so the spelling wasn’t usually correct. Such as: dyed instead of died, blow for below, or daftr for daughter, since we pronounce the word laughter as "lafter.”

Citations: 

 "St. Olaf Choir 2002 Tour: Washington, DC / - Arlington." www.stolaf.edu January 30, 2007 .<http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/music/stolaf_choir/photos/2001-2002/tour/020902_WashingtonDC/pages/headstones%20-%20arlington.htm

"Aaron Harris Butler" www.mindspring.com January 30, 2007 <http://www.mindspring.com/~butlerlj/images/ceme/ButlerAaronHarris.jpg>.

 " Epitaphs ." Last Words . 24 Jan 2000. 30 Jan 2007 <http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/6537/epitaphs.htm>.

 Vinalhaven, Maine. Online Image. 30 Jan. 2007 <http://www.crocketts.org/genealogy/crockett/graves/vinalhaven.html>.

 Headstone of the 27th Chief. Online Image. Gravestones at Duart Castle. 30 Jan. 2007 <http://www.bassandco.com/duart/27th%20Chief.gif>

Related Links:
Epitaph Browser
Epitaphs
Famous Epitaphs

Inscriptions Over Their Dead Bodies