Island of the Lone Sane Thought - Cemetery pics, Cape Cod, part three.

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Cemetery pics, Cape Cod, part three.

Oct. 15th, 2008 at 2:58 PM

Okay, now these are my favorites. This cemetery was fantastic. It was the Old Town Cemetery, which was in Sandwich (which claims it is the oldest town in New England), and it was on a hillside next to a river, and had lots of trees and atmosphere and was just gorgeous. It had some of the coolest stones. I had to turn up the contrast on some of the photos so you can see the text.

As soon as I walked in, I was entranced. This pic is very near the entrance:

Near entrance

A little further in. I love the sun-dappled grass.

Sun-dappled

The view of the river:

River view

Long view

Some memorable stones. Oldest first (this is a reproduction, though, the original must not have survived):

Oldest

This one cracked me up because it says the amiable and virtuous widow.

Amiable

This one was also fascinating, because it says: He was a vertious righteous & merciful man, and a great friend to Indians, and it's absolutely beautiful.

Friend

These are probably my favorite two pics of all of the cemetery pics I took in Cape Cod:

Under tree

(Willow design, of course)

Double with willow

Two more wonderful old stones:

Bourne

Nye

And one last unusual stone--these gravestones were usually done for people who were important in some way:

Table style

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jettdelirium wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 07:40 pm (UTC)

Brilliant! I love the old ones with the memento mori skulls on them. Great work with the bad lighting conditions. Looks like a pretty bright and hazy day.

Massachusetts Cemeteries are so interesting!

Edited at 2008-10-15 07:40 pm (UTC)

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 07:44 pm (UTC)

Glad you liked them! I love taking pics in cemeteries...I'm always fascinated by what I find.

And New England cemeteries are just amazing--I was extremely happy that we were able to see a few of them!

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ladywhitehart wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 08:00 pm (UTC)

Old cemeteries are fascinating. There is so much real history to be discovered. Excellent pics.

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 09:00 pm (UTC)

Aw, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the pics. They were really a great experience.

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jaelle_n_gilla wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 08:12 pm (UTC)

Amazing pictures! I love the willow one. The light is so great.

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 09:01 pm (UTC)

Thank you!!

I wish I had noticed that there was a branch shaking, though--I would have waited for the breeze to die down. Still, I am very happy with how it turned out.

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artystone wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 08:58 pm (UTC)

You should have made a rubbing of that "vertious righteous & merciful man" one!

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 09:01 pm (UTC)

hee! Isn't that awesome?! I mean, wow. Today he'd have women lined up around the block. All that, and a friend to Indians, too? Sounds like a keeper.

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nehalenia wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 09:11 pm (UTC)

Wow! Thanks for posting these! Those are beautiful. I love funerary art and symbolism and those are fantastic examples. One of these days I may have to put up some of my graveyard pics. None of them are that old, of course, but the art is still neat.

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 10:28 pm (UTC)

Oh, please do put those up!

If you're interested in cemetery stuff:

List of abbreviations sometimes found on gravestones

And a list of commonly found cemetery symbols

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apythia wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 09:15 pm (UTC)

I love old tombstones. Thanks so much for sharing.

I love the pix were you can see the water in the back. It looks like a beautiful place.

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 10:29 pm (UTC)

This was my favorite of the graveyards. It had so much character! I was so entranced by the hillside and the trees and the water. A beautiful cemetery--I highly recommend visiting it.

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alabastard wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 09:28 pm (UTC)

Where we live there are so many graveyards of that age and ambience, I could wander among and read the stones for hours.

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 10:30 pm (UTC)

Oh, I am so jealous! That would be so wonderful...we do have some nice cemeteries here in MI, but they're just not the same.

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alabastard wrote:

Oct. 16th, 2008 02:12 am (UTC)

It's one of the things I like most about New England, and most are haunted, you can really feel the energy still around. Random thought ... I can't imagine, of all the places I could haunt, that I would choose to remain at my grave, but something sticks around.

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 16th, 2008 02:17 am (UTC)

I'd want to haunt...hmm...the New York Public Library. Or somewhere that wouldn't get boring after a few years.

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alabastard wrote:

Oct. 16th, 2008 02:28 am (UTC)

Endless reading, that's the ticket... or the Smithsonian, The Mutter Museum, any one of those old mansions by the sea. Choices, choices...

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 16th, 2008 02:41 am (UTC)

Oh, I hadn't even thought of the Mutter--fantastic idea, that! I've always wanted to go.

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mysduende wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 10:11 pm (UTC)

Beautiful! I love to do etchings of gravestones..

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 10:31 pm (UTC)

I've never done rubbings or anything of the like, except when I was a kid. I think I like photos best, but I've seen some fantastic rubbings that made me wish that I did rubbings as well...

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catyah wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 10:40 pm (UTC)

These are all such fantastic pictures, I enjoyed them all. Of course, you get to see much older gravestones out east -- at the cemetaries around here and up north, I don't think I've ever seen a willow or cherub carved even once.

It's cool to know how many others share the interest in looking at cool old gravestones.

One of my favorites -- in an odd sort of way -- is a very tall monument in Lakewood Cemetery. The front side goes on at some length about the husband's accomplishments in life, and then you go around to the back side, where it says "and his wife". I stick my tongue out at the husband's side every time we go there, I can't help it.

*grin*

Also, I love our default icons next to each other. Two big, bossy cats.

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 15th, 2008 11:54 pm (UTC)

These are all such fantastic pictures, I enjoyed them all. Of course, you get to see much older gravestones out east -- at the cemetaries around here and up north, I don't think I've ever seen a willow or cherub carved even once.

Yes, I've never seen a memento mori anywhere except in New England, sad to say! I love them.

I have seen willows, however, here in MI cemeteries.

One of my favorites -- in an odd sort of way -- is a very tall monument in Lakewood Cemetery. The front side goes on at some length about the husband's accomplishments in life, and then you go around to the back side, where it says "and his wife". I stick my tongue out at the husband's side every time we go there, I can't help it.

ahahah!! That's hilarious.

There's a common symbol you find in cemeteries, that of a hand with a single finger pointed toward Heaven, but I've seen a pic where a husband put on his wife's stone the hand with the finger pointed toward someplace far warmer...lol!

Also, I love our default icons next to each other. Two big, bossy cats.

Don't they rock? *giggles*

Also, I've just posted an entry about watching the Riptide pilot for the first time in years...hee!

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leni_jess wrote:

Oct. 16th, 2008 12:45 am (UTC)

Adequately tended old graveyards are interesting to look at, aren't they. My brother and I saw quite a few good church and cathedral graveyards when we were driving around England.

The third-last photo, where it says 'Died Decem', I read, for quite a time, as 'Died Decent' and thought approvingly, Way to go. Alas, nothing so frank.

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 16th, 2008 12:54 am (UTC)

Adequately tended old graveyards are interesting to look at, aren't they. My brother and I saw quite a few good church and cathedral graveyards when we were driving around England.

Even inadequately tended old graveyards can be beautiful--I visited an abandoned one in New England several years ago, and it was amazing.

I have so many cemetery pics that are on film...I really need to scan some in!

The third-last photo, where it says 'Died Decem', I read, for quite a time, as 'Died Decent' and thought approvingly, Way to go. Alas, nothing so frank.

hee! I misread stuff like that all the time and think, oh wow, and then it's not as interesting when I reread it, lol.

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dementordelta wrote:

Oct. 16th, 2008 01:57 am (UTC)

These are so beautiful! Somber yet sweet in their way!

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valis2 wrote:

Oct. 16th, 2008 02:07 am (UTC)

Somber yet sweet really sums up my whole feeling about cemeteries, y'know?

*giant hugs*

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