Page 37 - Graveyard

G r av e y ar d H u m o r | 35

54. I have not been able to trace the origin of the following, so give
it merely as it was communicated to me:—

Here lies my wife Edie,
Who in her time made me giddy;
Here she lies without bed or blanket,
As dead as a door-nail,—the Lord be thanked.

55. On Honest Ned:—

Here lies Honest Ned,
Because he is dead.
Had it been his father,
We had much rather;
Had it been his mother,
We had rather than the other;
Had it been his sister,
We ne’er should have miss’d her:
But since it is only Ned,
There’s no more to be said.

It is said that a similar epitaph was suggested for Frederick, Prince of
Wales, the father of George III. (See likewise No. 103.)

56. From the Cathedral Yard, Winchester:—

Here rests in peace a Hampshire grenadier,
Who killed himself by drinking poor small beer.
Soldiers, be warned by his untimely fall,
And when you’re hot drink strong, or none at all.

The memorial having fallen into decay in 1781, it was then restored at the
expense of some officers, who added the following couplet:—

An honest soldier never is forgot,
Whether he die by musquet or by pot.