On Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh

Cemeteries - anthologies of bygone lives, galleries of the most gifted stonemasons - are waaay cool hangs.

Here for your consideration are a few examples from the cemetery known as Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, Scotland. It first was set aside as a graveyard in 1561 for 'eschewing of the savour and inconvenientis that may follow thairupoun in the heit of somer,' which translates to 'taking into consideration the smell and inconvenience in the heat of summer' and you can bet that was a consideration for picking a spot for any other number of mortuaries worldwide.

The Bone Minder

The Surgeon’s Grave

These are portions of the tombstone of surgeon James Borthwick (d.1676), and you can be forgiven for imagining that Mr. Borthwick (for centuries surgeons ferociously distinguished themselves from mere doctors as having received a thoroughly different training) himself must have presented a fearsome personage in the flesh. What did his beloved surviving friends and family tell the headstone carver they wanted that came up with this? Yikes!

Memorial for a Child

Greyfriars has a fascination filled history, soaked in blood and mystery but also the pride of national heroes, medical, surgical and scientific pioneers and even modern inspiration: one may find here tombstones of at least eight characters and families from the Harry Potter story.

Greyfriar's Bobby

And Bobby. One of Edinburgh's two memorials to a dog is Greyfriars Bobby, the loyal terrier who guarded his master's grave for 14 years.

Non omnis Moriar* indeed.

*Not all of me will die