The Humourous, the Unusual, and the Simply Odd: Tombstones pt 2

One of my favourite head stones belongs to a fellow named Solomon Pease. Those who buried Solomon clearly had a wonderful sense of humour, as demonstrated on his comical tombstone:

Here under this sod, and under these trees Is buried the body of Solomon Pease But here in his hole lies only the pod, Pease shelled out, and went to God.

Occasionally, tombstones hold valuable advice for the living. Take one such head stone in Australia, which reads:

Wherever you be, Let your wind go free. For holding it in, Was the killing of me.

Read these & more fabulous epitaphs here!

It’s not uncommon for people to choose their burial sites before they die, and even my own grandparents have their head stone etched & in place on their future plot! In the very old cemetery Kirk Braddan on the Isle of Man in the UK, one such tombstone resides.

The old vicar of Kirk Braddan, Rev. Patrick Thompson, had his grave stone prepared eleven years before his death! Unlike the head stone of my grandparents, which doesn’t have the year of death displayed (because fortunately they’re still alive!), the vicar’s headstone was etched with the year in which it was created, only to be amended in the year of his actual death. Understandably this tombstone now attracts quite a bit of attention from visitors to the cemetery. It reads:

Here underlyeth the body of ye Reverend Mr. PATRICK THOMPSON, minister of God's word forty years, at present Vicar of Kirk Braddan. Aged 67 anno 1678. Deceased ye 24th of April 1689.

More info on this grave site and other cemeteries on the Isle of Man can be found here! Photograph from http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/manx/...

Even our past President & father of our current President, George Bush, has his burial site selected, at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, College Station, Brazos County, in Texas. The former first lady Barbara Bush will also be buried therein, and their daughter Robin is already interred at this site.

Some famous animals have burial sites of note, as well. For example, "Ham," the first chimpanzee to visit outer space, is buried in quite a dignified place! His final resting spot is at the International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

One of the horses that played "Mr. Ed" in the classic television sitcom of the same name is buried in a less prestigious spot, but no doubt a wonderful resting place for a horse: Snodgrass Farm near Tahlequah, in Oklahoma.

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