Page 30 - Graveyard

28 | G r av e y ar d H u m o r

In the present Church of St. Mary Magdalen, of the same city, which was
repaired in 1760, and again enlarged by the addition of a chancel in the
years 1823 and 1824, is a small building erected by Prior Cantlow,
between the years 1489 and 1499, with a small battlemented turret for a
bell at the west end, and a south porch, in which is the following incised
inscription in black letter:—

Thys. chapell. floryschyd wt. formasyte. spectabyll.
In. the. honore. of M. Magdalene, prior Cantlow. hath edyfyed.
Desyring. you. to. pray. for. hym wt. youre. pr’yers. delectabyll.
That. sche. will, inhabyt. hym. in. hevyn. there, ever, to abyde.

34. From a Tombstone in Ireland:—

Here lies the body of John Mound,
Lost at sea and never found.

This is comparable with the Welsh one, No. 176.

35. From a Cemetery near Cincinnati:—

Here lies _______________.
who came to this city and died
for the benefit of his health!

36. From an Irish Churchyard.

Patrick O’Brien was one day strolling with a friend through a graveyard,
when his eye was arrested by an epitaph which shocked his sense of
propriety and veracity: it ran thus:—

Weep not for me, my children dear;
I am not dead, but sleeping here.

“Well,” said Paddy, “if I was dead I should be honest enough to own it.”