Orthodox cross, Brompton Cemetery, London. ©Carole Tyrrell

We are approaching Easter which is the holiest event in the religious calendar and it started me thinking  about an appropriate symbol for this month.  The Orthodox cross is one that has always intrigued me and I have been asked about it on my Symbol  tours in Brompton Cemetery. There are a good selection of Orthodox crosses within Brompton Cemetery as Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) is buried there and he has a fine Orthodox cross with an  inscription in gold leaf.  It is one of the most visited graves within the cemetery and visitors often leave floral tributes on it. He was the head of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchal church in Great Britain and Ireland and 2023 was the 20^th anniversary of his death. The cross marking his grave is  known as the Russian Orthodox Cross. But for this post I will refer to it as the Orthodox cross.

The Russian Orthodox Cross above Metropolitan Anthony’s grave, Brompton Cemetery. ©Carole Tyrrell

Crosses appear in many religions and cultures from the ancient Egyptians ankh which is a cross with a loop at the top and means ‘life’, the Celtic Cross with the pagan sun circle surrounding the cross and the more familiar Latin cross.  Since the 3^rd and 4^th centuries, the latter has been the main symbol of Christianity as it is a representation of the cross on which Christ was crucified.

An engraved ankh. copyright http://www.summary.com

The Latin Cross Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

The Orthodox cross is a six pointed cross, with three horizontal bars as you can see in the photo below.  It has a short top one, a longer one beneath it and a slanted one at the bottom that points upwards.  

Orthodox cross, Brompton Cemetery, London ©Carole Tyrrell

The cross first appeared in the 6^th century during the Byzantine empire. This was part of the Roman Empire and Constantinople, now modern day Istanbul, was its hub. The cross featured in mosaics and frescoes and it was Ivan the Terrible in the 16^th century who is reputed to have encouraged its use to differentiate the Orthodox church from the Christian church. He was keen to promote Moscow as being the Third Rome.

Metropolitan Anthony’s grave has two crosses. One above the grave and one placed on it which is decorated and painted and shows how the cross is arranged.

The Orthodox cross on Metropolitan Anthony’s grave. ©Carole Tyrrell

The Top Bar

This is known as the title or titulus board. Pontius Pilate ordered a sign to be hung in mockery over Christ’s head on the cross. On it was inscribed ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’ in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.  This was abbreviated to INBI in Greek or the more familiar INRI. In Latin it appears as

‘Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudarerum’  

Hence INRI.

The Middle Bar

This was where Christ’s hands were nailed to the cross with his feet on the lower bar.

The Lower Bar

The slanted bottom bar was Christ’s footrest.  The upper left of the bar always points heavenwards and the lower end points downwards. The tradition is that it’s slanted because Christ kicked it out of place during his final moments and it can also be interpreted as pointing to heaven and hell. It has also been thought that it may also symbolise the scales that traditionally weigh the dead’s sins and virtues. These appear in medieval wall paintings and I have seen an example in St Peter’s, Preston Park, Brighton, UK.

Beneath Christ’s feet, at the base of the cross, there is a stylised skull on top of a rock. According to the website www.rbth.com:

‘this symbolises Adam’s head as according to tradition, the remains of Adam, Eve and their descendants were buried right under the site of crucifixion at Golgotha. This, the blood of the crucified Christ, symbolically washed Adam’s bones and washed away original sin from them and their descendants. ‘

As I said earlier, the Orthodox cross has always intrigued me as to why it is so different from the traditional Christian cross. It has been fascinating to research it and I was lucky to have such a good example on Metropolitan Anthony’s grave.

© Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated

References and further reading

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh – Brompton Cemetery – The Royal Parks

Anthony of Sourozh – Wikipedia

Russian Orthodox cross – Wikipedia

Meaning of the 3-Bar Russian Cross (orthodox.net)

What does the Russian Orthodox cross stand for? – Russia Beyond (rbth.com)

Eastern Orthodox / Greek Orthodox / Byzantine / Russian Cross | Symbols (symbolsproject.eu)

The Church Bell is an unusual and rare symbol to be found in a cemetery or churchyard. So far I have found two examples but I feel sure that there are others out there. This post was inspired by the three bells that I saw on a Mr Judd’s headstone in St Michael’s churchyard, Betchworth, Surrey. It must be an ex-bellringer I thought and sure enough the epitaph stated that Mr Judd was:

‘ for 36 years Captain of the Bellringers at this Church.’

The central bell on the three appeared to be ringing but was it a specific peal?  A secret message to other bellringers?

The second one was in Beckenham Cemetery and was dedicated to Henry Robert Taylor but with no further information on it.  This time all three bells appeared to be static.

So I contacted The Central Council of Church Bellringers (yes it does exist) to find out if they could shed light on the bells.  Firstly, they were very interested in my photos as these are rare memorials and they didn’t know that they existed.  One of their members, a retired Captain of Bellringers and historian,  was kind enough to reply and said  that the Taylor headstone was probably the grave of a bellringer which was close to the door of the bell ringing chamber. He added that the bells depicted were inaccurate for English church bell ringing and thought that it might be a standard pattern designed to fit a pointed headstone.

However, with the Judd headstone in Betchworth he thought that the bells were a much better representation of a church bell hung for ‘change ringing’. Change ringing is an English form of bell ringing and if you want to know more there is a link in the references and further reading section.

I then approached the churchwarden at St Michael’s who informed me that the Judd tombstone was originally dedicated to Clara Judd  but eventually William Henry (Bill) was added to the inscription.  He also confirmed that Bill is buried close to the door of  the church’s bell-tower. In 1910, Canon Sanders paid tribute to his astonishing 36 years as Captain of the Bellringers by saying that

‘…the whole parish owes a debt of gratitude.’ 

And here he is:

These two headstones and the bellringing references reminded me of the links between church bells, the rituals of the church and death.  The most obvious one is ringing the ‘death toll.’ which appears in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 71:

‘No longer mourn for me when I am dead,

Than you should hear the surly, sullen bell,

Give warning to the world that I am fed

From this vile world with vilest worms to dwell.’

There is also the often quoted final lines from John Donne’s 1624 Meditation 17, from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions:

‘Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,I

It tolls for thee’.

Although only the ‘death toll’ is used today, originally there were three tolls that were rung and they denoted different stages of death.  I am indebted to the headstonesymbols.co.uk blog for this:

‘There was superstition that evil spirits would gather around a dying person, trying to catch the departing soul. To give the soul a chance of ascending to heaven, church bells were rung at the time of death to frighten away these demonic forces. It was even added to the rules of the early Church of England that:

…when any is passing out of this Life, a Bell shall be Tolled, and the Minister shall not then slack to do his last Duty. And after the Parties Death (if it so fall out) there shall be rung no more than one short Peal, and one other before the Burial, and one other after the Burial.

Church of England Canon law; 1604

The Passing Bell

The first ringing to indicate an impending death was called the “Passing Bell“. This was to alert the priest that he was needed to perform the Last Rights.

The Death Knell

A “Death Knell” was rung immediately after the death. This was a slow solemn peal and each strike or teller identified the sex and age of the deceased. In small communities they would know from this who had passed and who’s souls to pray for.

From the number of strokes being formerly regulated according to circumstances, the hearers might determine the sex and social condition of the dying or dead person. Thus the bell was tolled twice for a woman and thrice for a man. If for a clergyman, as many times as he had orders, and, at the conclusion, a peal on all the bells to distinguish the quality of the person for whom the people are to put up their prayers. In the North of England, are yet rung nine knells for a man, six for a woman, and three for a child.

Old Church Lore by William Andrews

Lych or Corpse Bell

The last bell, the Lych or Corpse bell would be rang at the funeral, and is the only one that survives today.’

 The Funeral Toll was also rung as the procession approached the church and was known as ‘ringing home the dead’.

The Dead Bell

However, in Scotland and parts of Northern England, a hand bell was rung which was known as the dead bell.  This was used with deaths and funerals until the 19^th century.  The dead bells were rung for two  reasons; to protect the newly deceased from evil spirits and to also seek prayers for the dead person’s soul.  These ‘dead bells’ are often carved on monuments and tombstones in Scotland and Northern England.  There are two men ringing dead bells on the Bayeux Tapestry at the funeral of Edward the Confessor:

But there are also superstitions and beliefs concerned with church bells particularly during the medieval period. They were thought to have special protective powers to drive away evil spirits for example and were often baptised. After all, most people know of the Houses of Parliament’s world famous Great Bell in its clock house, Big Ben. The  Catholic church still has a blessing for new bells in which they’re  given the power to protect those who hear them, repel storms and triumph over evil.

There are also several legends concerning bells that have ended up underwater either due to cliff erosion, a reservoir or hidden in lakes.  They are reputed to ring from their watery graves at dead of night.

Bells have always been an intrinsic part of church life whether ringing to denote the end of a life or jubilantly pealing at the beginning of a new life in marriage.  They have been held in reverence and awe due to their supposedly magical powers.  Even today, they sometimes have names and are seen as part of the community.  Both the Betchworth and Beckenham headstones record a connection between man and church bell that has lasted for centuries.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and further reading:

http://headstonesymbols.co.uk/headstone-meanings-and-symbols/bell-on-headstone/

http://www.solwaypast.co.uk/index.php/structures-in-stone/13-mem/90-st

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_bell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_knell

http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/fcod/fcod08.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taphophobia

http://headstonesymbols.co.uk/headstone-meanings-and-symbols/bell-on-headstone/ http://www.famousliteraryworks.com/donne_for_whom_the_bell_tolls.htm

Home

https://surrey.cc.org.uk

the sound of sunken bells

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_ringing

View of the Charnel House. © Carole Tyrrell

On a clear summer’s day, if you stand in the Garden of Remembrance in St Helen’s churchyard and look over the wall, the marshlands seem to stretch on and on into the distance. But it’s a view that is constantly changing as new houses encroach on the flat landscape. The marshes lead on as far as Tilbury in Essex and the Thames estuary.  St Helen’s is in the hamlet of Cliffe in Kent and has a substantial churchyard which is well worth exploring.

As I wandered through it with my camera , I saw a structure in the northwest corner that looked as if it was for storage. But, as I drew closer, I saw the interpretation board nearby which announced that it was in fact the Charnel House and that it had been built for a much darker, more macabre purpose. I could easily imagine that on a duller day, the cloud low and dark, the wind biting across the marshlands as a group of parishioners carried a body back from the river, it would have assumed a far more sinister appearance.

Charnel House interpretation board. © Carole Tyrrell

According to Wikipedia:

‘The definition of a charnel house is that it is a building in which corpses or bones are piled in a place . The name ‘charnel house’ comes from middle French and also Latin. ‘Carnale’ means graveyard and ‘Carnalis’ means ‘of the flesh’. It was somewhere to store bones either disinterred to enable burial spaces to be reused or unearthed up by gravediggers . ‘

The Cliffe charnel house is a Grade II listed building but it is perhaps a misnomer. It dates from the 19^th century and was in fact a temporary mortuary for bodies that were taken from the river. They were the responsibility of the parish in which they washed up whether they died from suicide, drowning or were a sea burial.  

‘However, it was clear that if men died on the ships travelling up and down the Thames they would often just be dropped into the river to avoid the expense of burial. In a similar vein the villagers would sometimes push washed-up bodies back into the river in the hope they would be washed further upriver so that another parish would have the expense of dealing with them.’

The Charnel House in St Helen’s… © Marathon :: Geograph Britain and Ireland

At Cliffe, the recovered bodies would be put in the Charnel House to await identification and burial. 

The House is supposed to be one of a handful of such buildings along the Kent Coast although an article in the Kent Messenger thought:

‘That it may be the only surviving example of its kind.’

I haven’t seen or heard of another one – yet. Although there was supposed to be a ‘dead house’ at Higham, Kent but is now long gone.

The Cliffe charnel house was built in the mid 19^th century from flint with a plain tiled roof. The lantern on the roof was intended to let odours escape through its vents on either side. It was in use until the start of the 20^th century when it was closed due to several Public Health Acts. It was then used for storage.

© Carole Tyrrell

The Charnel House was restored in 2008 with £52,000 of National Lottery money. In a photo on the Historic England website there is a pre restoration photo of the House in which vegetation such as ivy almost completely covers it and the churchyard wall.  Timber within the structure, including the entrance doors, needed to be replaced as well as the windows. Ivy had invaded the wall, damaging it and that was repaired at the same time together with the flint walls.

It’s a reminder of a bygone time.  For those unfortunate souls without identification, then it might have meant burial in an unmarked grave within St Helen’s churchyard.  But at least they would have had a final resting place.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and further reading:

Charnel House at North West Corner of Churchyard, Cliffe, Medway (britishlistedbuildings.co.uk)

CHARNEL HOUSE AT NORTH WEST CORNER OF CHURCHYARD, Cliffe and Cliffe Woods – 1085764 | Historic England

File:Charnel House at St Helens Church, Cliffe, Kent, England, 2015-05-06-5136.jpg – Wikimedia Commons

The Charnel House in St Helen’s… © Marathon :: Geograph Britain and Ireland

Charnel house – Wikipedia

The Charnel House in St Helen’s… © Marathon cc-by-sa/2.0 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland (view in 2012)

Dry Bones Live: A Brief History of English Charnel Houses, 1300-1900AD (epoch-magazine.com)CHARNEL HOUSE AT NORTH WEST CORNER OF CHURCHYARD, Cliffe and Cliffe Woods – 1085764 | Historic England

On February 2 it was Candlemass, an important day in the church calendar. Already snowdrops are appearing, nodding their tiny white heads in the breeze and making people feel that Spring is on its way.

But these delicate little flowers have another side to them and it’s always at this time of year that I repeat this post. They have a darker side and a long association with churchyards and death.

Imagine yourself in a gloomy medieval church on the festival of Candlemass. You, and your fellow parishioners, have each brought your candles to be blessed by the priest and, after the procession which will fill the church with light, they will all be placed in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary.   Candlemass marked the end of winter and the beginning of Spring. The blessing is to ward off evil spirits.  It traditionally falls on February 2 and is shared with the Celtic festival of Imbolc.  And in the churchyard outside you can see green shoots forcing their way up through the hard winter earth.  The snowdrop’s milk-white flowers show that spring is on its way as they begin to emerge into the light.

The placing of the lit candles in front of the Virgin Mary’s statue gave the snowdrop one of its many other names – Mary’s Tapers.  But there are many others such: Dingle Dangle, Candlemas Bells, Fair Maids of February, Snow Piercer, Death’s Flower and Corpse Flower.

The snowdrop’s appearance has also inspired many comments . According to the Scottish Wildlife Trusts website they have been described as resembling 3 drops of milk hanging from a stem and they are also associated with the ear drop which is an old fashioned ear ring.  Anyone who has seen a group of snowdrops nodding in the wind will understand what they mean.   The snowdrop’s colour is associated with purity and they have been described as a shy flower with their drooping flowers.  However, the eco enchantments website reveals that the flower is designed in this way due:

‘to the necessity of their dusty pollen being kept dry and sweet in order to attract the few insects flying in winter.’

Snowdrops have been known since ancient times and, in 1597, appeared in Geralde’s ‘Great Herbal’ where they were called by the less than catchy name of ‘Timely Flowers Bulbous Violets’.  Its Latin name is Galanthus nivalis.  Galanthus means milk white flowers and the nivalis element translates as snowy according to the great botanist, Linnaeus in 1753.   In the language of flowers they’re associated with ‘Hope’ and the coming of spring and life reawakening.

However, yet despite all these positive associations, the elegant snowdrop has a much darker side. Monks were reputed to have brought them to the UK but it was the ever enthusiastic Victorians who copiously planted them in graveyards, churchyards and cemeteries which then linked them with death.  Hence the nickname name ‘Death’s Flower.’

They were described by Margaret Baker in the 1903 ‘Encyclopedia of Superstitions, Folklore and the Occult of the World’ as:

‘so much like a corpse in a shroud that in some counties  the people will not have it in the house, lest they bring in death.‘

So that’s where the ‘Corpse Flower’ nickname came from.

Snowdrops are also seen as Death’s Tokens and there are several regional folk traditions of connecting death with them. For example in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries it was considered very unlucky to bring the flower into the house from outside as it was felt that a death would soon occur.  The most unlucky snowdrop was that with a single bloom on its stem.    Other folk traditions were described in a 1913 folklore handbook which claims that if a snowdrop was brought indoors it will make the cows milk watery and affect the colour of the butter.  Even as late as 1969 in ‘The Folklore of Plants’  it was stated that having a snowdrop indoors could affect the number of eggs that a sitting chicken might hatch.  A very powerful plant if these are all to be believed – you have been warned!

It’s amazing that this little flower has so many associations and legends connected with it but I always see it as a harbinger of spring, rebirth and an indication of warmer days to come.

But the snowdrop also has a surprise.  This came courtesy of the Urban Countryman page on Facebook – not all social media is time wasting!  If you very gently turn over a snowdrop bloom you will find that the underside is even prettier and they also vary depending on the snowdrop variety.

Here is a small selection from my local churchyard and one from Kensal Green cemetery.

So don’t underestimate the snowdrop – it’s a plant associated with life and death but watch out for your hens and the colour of your butter if you do decide to tempt fate…..

©Carole Tyrrell text and photos unless otherwise stated

References:

http://www.plantlore.com

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/naturestudies/bright-in-winters-depths-why-the-flawless-flower-of-candlemas-is-ajoy-forever-8483967

http://www.flowermeaning.com/snowdrop-flower-meaning

http://www.ecoenchantments.co.uk/mysnowdropmagicpage.html

Stained glass reflection St Peter’s, Bridge. ©Carole Tyrrell

On a clear day, when the sun shines through, the stained glass in a church window takes on a beauty all of its own. Detailed pictures within the glass can become abstract shapes when reflected on floors and furnishings.

I love stained glass and one of the greatest pleasures of ‘church crawling’  is in wondering what I will find in its windows; remnants of medieval glass, colourful Victorian Biblical scenes or bespoke contemporary creations.

Detail of Victorian stained glass window, St Peter’s Bridge. ©Carole Tyrrell

Patterned stained glass window, St Peter’s Bridge. ©Carole Tyrrell

But St Mary’s in Rainham, Kent had a surprise in one of its windows.  ‘Are you one of the christening party?’ The vicar asked as I entered the church and I shook my head. But we started chatting as I attempted to impress him with my knowledge of church architecture. He told me that a guidebook to the church was in preparation and he was kind enough to point out several interesting features.

Stained glass window, St Mary’s Rainham.©Carole Tyrrell

One of them was this window. It’s dedicated to a former rector as the dedication in the bottom corner of the left hand panel attests.  Most, if not all, Victorian stained glass features white people but this one portrays people from other races. There is in the crowd of onlookers:  a Chinese man , a black man and others and this is certainly the first time I’ve seen such diversity in a stained glass window.

Detail of stained glass window, St Mary’s Rainham. ©Carole Tyrrell

Dedication in stained glass window, St Mary’s Rainham. ©Carole Tyrrell

However, there is no way of knowing, at the moment, if the dedication is contemporary with the window or added later and whether the Rector had a hand in the design. However, more research is currently been done within the church and perhaps more will be known about the window and its origins.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell

Detail of the Osmand memorial, Brompton cemetery, London, UK © Carole Tyrrell

As you walk through a Victorian cemetery, flowers will be everywhere and not just as floral tributes on memorials and monuments. These are the permanent flowers, carved onto headstones and memorials and are often more than just pretty decoration. Ivy, roses and passion flowers are among the most popular and it’s the latter that I want to discuss this month as it is a deeply symbolic flower. The passionflower is a pretty trailing, climbing flower which lends itself to being carved on monuments and crosses. It is called a passionflower as it is believed to symbolise Christ’s suffering on the cross.

The Sayer headstone, Brompton Cemetery, London, UK. ©Carole Tyrrell

Floriography or the language of flowers is very pertinent to the study of Victorian funerary symbols and explains why flowers were so popular. However, over time the meanings have been lost although the meaning of a single rose as expressing true love still survives.

Portrait of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, by Jonathan Richardson the Younger painted in 1725. Shared under Wiki Commons.

Floriography is a way of communicating through flowers. It has been used for thousands of years in various cultures, most notably in 17^th century Turkey, where it is believed to have originated, as a way for illiterate harem women to communicate. It was introduced to Europe by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu who was the wife of the British Ambassador in Constantinople, now known as Istanbul during 1716 – 1718.

It reached its zenith in Victorian England.  The Victorians love of flowers coincided with their love of cyphers and coded messages.  Anyone who has ever watched BBCTV’s Antiques Roadshow jewellery expert, Geoffrey Munn, revealing the hidden meanings behind the seemingly innocuous combination and arrangement of stones in a brooch will know what I mean.

The strict etiquette of the 19^th century that was expected of the upper and middle classes meant that people had to find other, more secretive means to express feelings and messages that couldn’t be openly shared. Floral decoration was already extremely fashionable in the home with William Morris’s wallpapers, for example, so flowers became the preferred choice.

This is an example of a 19th century floral dictionary and was published in 1877. Shared under Wiki Commons.

Floral dictionaries were extremely popular.  The first official one, entitled ‘The Language de Fleurs’, was published in Paris in 1819. It was written by Louise Contambert who wrote under a pen name. However, in 1879 a Scotswoman, Miss Carruthers, wrote one that rapidly became an essential guide. The one meaning that has survived is that of a single rose which is still associated with true love.

The Passionflower is a symbol of faith and suffering.  It is believed that it is so named, because of  Jacomo Bosio, a scholar in Rome, who was writing a treatise on the Crucifixion.  A Mexican friar showed him a passionflower and Jacomo included it in his work.

These are the symbols of Christ’s Passion within the passionflower:

The unique corona	Christ’s crown of thorns
The sepals and petals	The Apostles excluding Judas and peter who distanced themselves from Christ before the Crucifixion.
The five anthers	The five wounds on Christ’s body.
The three stigmas	The three nails that pierced Christ’s body on the Cross
The leaves	The spears that pierced Christ’s side
The tendrils	The scourges which flayed Christ’s flesh.

The Sayer headstone showing well carved passionflowers and leaves © Carole Tyrrell

So the next time you are exploring a Victorian cemetery, take a closer look at the permanent flowers that may be blooming on memorials and monuments. Floriography can be a fascinating subject.

© Text and photos Carole Tyrrell

References:

Passion flower | Description, Species, Symbolism, & Facts | Britannica

Exploring the Mystical Meanings of Passion Flowers – Petal Republic

Passion Flower Meaning and Symbolism – Flower Flourish

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu – Wikipedia

Brompton Cemetery, London. © Carole Tyrrell

It’s ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ according to singer Andy Williams and so I am taking this opportunity to send my own good wishes to you all.

This image was taken last year in Brompton Cemetery, London on a frosty day and I liked the way that Mother Nature had outlined and emphasised the detail on the carving especially on the wings and the drapery. It’s very much in the Classical style but sadly I can’t recall the name on the memorial.

There is no Symbol of the Month this month but it will begin again in January 2024 which, scarily, is not that far away.

© Text and photos Carole Tyrrell

The Baker headstone, St Mary’s Rainham, Kent. © Carole Tyrrell

It was a cold, grey, wet day in St Mary’s churchyard in Rainham, Kent. ‘Typical English late summer day.’ I thought.  A christening was taking place inside the church and so I had decided to explore the churchyard.  It’s a large one with a scattering of indecipherable 18^th century tombstones and many far more contemporary ones. There was a poignant one that was dedicated to a baby that had only lived for a few hours and I felt that I was in the presence of the parents’ grief as I stood there.

I sheltered from the fitful rain under a thick cluster of large yew trees and, as I stood there, I saw this well carved headstone. It features a large weeping willow, drooping or draped, depending on your point of view, over an urn which has a large of piece of cloth over it. Beneath this scene are ivy leaves and ivy flowers which symbolise eternity.  So, several symbols on one stone which is dedicated to an Ann Baker who died in 1869.  Two other family members are also recorded below.  But we do not know if they are actually buried there. 

Full view of the Baker headstone © Carole Tyrrell

The draped cloth over the urn can be seen as the curtain between life and death and almost resemble shrouds.  For more information, please see my earlier post Symbol of the Month: The Urn. 

Weeping Willow on a headstone in Brompton Cemetery, London. ©Carole Tyrrell

Another example from Brompton Cemetery, London but this time the willow is overhanging a sarcophagus. ©Carole Tyrrell

Weeping willows often feature on mourning jewellery as seen on the example below.

But seeing this headstone set me thinking about the weeping willow, its association with death and mourning and its name. But firstly, a word about its history and other associations.

A lovely example of a weeping willow in St James’ Park, London.© Carole Tyrrell

Another example from St James’s Park, London. © Carole Tyrrell

A weeping willow can be an impressive sight as with these two in St James’ Park, London.  They can grow up to 70 feet tall although most are 35 – 40 feet tall.  Its long, flowing branches allow it to bend with strong winds and it’s usually found near water.  The ‘weeping’ supposedly comes from the way in which raindrops run down its long leaves which make it look as if the tree is crying. The Celtic tradition has it that a wind blowing through the leaves was said to be elves whispering to each other and if you’ve ever been near a weeping willow when the wind is blowing, it does sound as if the tree is whispering and muttering softly to itself. 

The weeping willow originally came from China and is a hybrid of the Peking willow (Salix Babylonica) and the European white willow (Salix Alba).  It’s believed that that all English weeping willows are descended from a twig that was tied around a parcel sent from Spain to a Lady Suffolk.  The English poet and dramatist, Alexander Pope (1688-1744) apparently begged for the twig, planted it and a tree grew.  They are very easy to grow from cuttings which has led to them being seen as emblematic of immortality.  So, on the Baker headstone, it could be seen as signifying life after death and resurrection.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) portrait by Michael Dahl, 1727.National Portrait Gallery – shared under Wiki Commons.

The weeping willow has been described as a

‘graceful tree woven into the fabric of human existence’ http://spiritualsymbolism.org

It appears in many cultures especially the Chinese and Japanese.  However, the ancient Egyptians believed that in the annual flood of the River Nile which brought new life to the surrounding land,:

‘the willow’s ability to regenerate quickly after being cut down mirrored the cycle of life and death that fascinated them’ http://spiritualsymbolism.org

In China, it has a protective element as its branches are carried on the day of the Tomb Sweeping or Qingming Festival. They are also put up on gates and front doors, which are thresholds or gateways, to ward off evil spirits.  In the Festival, the ruler of the underworld allows the spirits of the dead to return to earth but as their presence may not always be welcome, the branches are used to keep them away, In Japan, the weeping willow is associated with ghosts and there is a popular belief that a ghost will appear where a willow grows. This could also be seen as resurrection or life after death. 

However, a more sinister aspect comes from English folklore where the willow is considered capable of uprooting itself and stalking travellers! A more romantic view is that, if a young woman wished to find true love, then she would tie a ribbon around a willow’s branches while making a wish.

Willows also appear in the Bible in Psalms 137: v1-2:

‘By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion,

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.’

King James version

They are also mentioned in Ezekiel 17:5 and Leviticus 23:40.

The weeping willow is ingrained within our culture and literature with Desdemona’s ‘The Willow Song’ in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’. But it is in Tennyson’s poem, ‘The Willow Tree’ that the tree is described as a symbol of mourning and in Wordsworth’s poem ‘The Willow Tree’ he describes how:

‘it droops languidly o’er his dark mirror below.’ 

Billie Holliday performing at the Downbeat Jazz Club, 1947. Photographer William P Gottlieb. Shared under Wiki Commons.

The jazz singer, Billie Holliday sang ‘Willow weep for me’ in which she invites the tree to:

‘Bend your branches down along the ground and cover me.’

as she laments her lost love.

But from the late 18^th century and into the 19^th century it was a frequent motif on mourning jewellery and here is another example from the Museum of London.  They were often associated, in the Classical style, with figures of mourning women. 

The two mourning rings in this post both come from the Museum of London.

But on the Baker headstone the weeping willow’s branches may symbolise the drooping spirits and hearts of those who mourn.  But, as the branches point down back to earth, they can also be signs of eternity in an endless cycle of renewal.  

Before writing this post, I had only associated the weeping willow with sorrow and grief but it is a tree that I have always admired for its beauty.  So, it was wonderful to learn of its other, more positive aspects.  In fact, it does not only weep for the dead but also offers comfort and solace to those left behind.

Text and photos © Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise indicated.

References and further reading:

Willow – Wikipedia

Willow tree symbolism and significance – Better Place Forests

Cemetery Headstone Symbols: Weeping Willow Tree – Funeral Help Center

Mastering Cemetery Iconography – The Academy at Penguin Hall

Objects of love and loss: mourning jewellery | Museum of London

https://spiritualsymbolism.org/symbols/the-willow-signifying-cycles-grief-and-the-life-force/

WILLOW (WEEPING) | Symbols (symbolsproject.eu)

Graveyard symbols: architectural markers of life and death | Europeana

Symbolism, The Willow – Art of Mourning

photo © Carole Tyrrell

This is bit of fun from Halloween!

I was tucking into a milk chocolate toad last night (31/10) when I spotted a familiar symbol on the packet – a winged skull!

This is the death’s head (highly appropriate for Halloween) and is reputed to represent the combination of physical death in the skull and spiritual regeneration with the angel wings.

In other words, triumph over death. So thank you M & S for such great and informative packaging! 

©Text and image Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and further reading:

Winged Skull Gravestone Symbols – BillionGraves Bloghttps://www.boston.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/iconography-gravestones-burying-grounds#:~:text=The%20second%20type%20of%20decorative%20motif%20used%20on,a%20combination%20of%20physical%20death%20and%20spiritual%20regeneration

It was while exploring Beckenham cemetery in south east London that I first came across the Crown. It has several possible meanings with the most obvious one being that it symbolises victory or triumph over death. Julian Litten, an expert on cemeteries, has written that it is ‘The Crown of Life’ and a reward for those who stayed faithful until death.  There are three Biblical references which support this view:

James 1:12 New International Version (NIV)

‘Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.’ https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%201:12

and also Revelation 2 10 and Corinthians 24:27

However, from the earliest it has been seen as a symbol of leadership, distinction and royalty.  A variety of saints also wore crowns to indicate that they were either a martyr or of royal blood and there is a 19^th century painting by Robert Bayne dated 1864 depicting saints ‘casting down their crowns before Christ.’   The Virgin Mary is often portrayed as wearing a crown as well as in this image:

Virgin Mary and Christ baby from Pinterest.

But J C Cooper has a more esoteric interpretation and says that it is ‘an architectural emblem of the celestial world and form the point of exit from this world and entry into the divine.’ 

In the Jewish faith it’s known as ‘The Crown of Good Name’ which alludes to the deceased as being of ‘exceptionally noble character.’   However, it can also be a representation of the head of the family or of a household. I think that Julian Litten’s view is probably the most likely given the Biblical references. There is also another variant which is the Cross and the Crown as here in this example from the Champion headstone in Fairmount Cemetery, Colorado, US:

© Cemeteries and Cemetery Symbols (wordpress.com)

With this one, it has been suggested that the cross represents suffering and the crown is the eternal reward.

This example comes from Brompton where it is at the top of a very ornate and beautiful memorial. This is a radiate crown and, according to J C Cooper, it can represent ‘ the energy and power contained in the head which was regarded as the seat of life-soul, …an attribute of sun gods,….of supernatural people and the points of the crown symbolise the rays of the sun…’ or it may just be an attractive decorative device.

Crown of thorns:

This is a variant on the crown as it is a representation of suffering, passion and martyrdom.  It’s based on the ‘crown plaited  by the soldiers and imposed upon Jesus during his trial before Pontius Pilate’ according to Julian Litten.  J C Cooper asserts that this was a ’parody of the Roman Emperor’s crown of roses’. The soldiers then mocked Jesus by kneeling in front of him and hailing him as ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ A potent emblem of royalty and power had been turned into one of pain and degradation.  But the crown of thorns is a prelude to Jesus being given a far worthier crown in Heaven. This is confirmed in Hebrews 2:9: “

But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone”

In a famous painting of the executed King Charles 1, the Eikon Basilike, he has abandoned his earthly crown, the symbol of majesty, for the crown of thorns that he is holding in his hand as a representation of his suffering.

Both the Crown and the Crown of thorns are deeply religious symbols and are examples of the deceased’s faith.  They are also symbols, I believe of resurrection and the deceased’s belief in an afterlife which may have given comfort to those left behind. and also their belief in an everlasting life beyond the grave.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell
References:

http://www.graveaddiction.com/symbol.html

http://www.sztetl.org.pl/en/term/131,funerary-symbolism/

http://www.thecemeteryclub.com/symbols.html

A Glossary of Victorian Memorial Symbols

http://www.undercliffecemetery.co.uk/undercliffesymbolism.pdf

http://www.lsew.org.uk/funerary-symbolism/ (Julian Litten)

https://www.gotquestions.org/crown-of-thorns.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eikon_Basilike

Cross and Crown | Cemeteries and Cemetery Symbols (wordpress.com)

Christian symbolism – Wikipedia 

Stories in Stone; A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography, Douglas Keister, Gibbs M Smith, 2008

An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, J C Cooper, Thames & Hudson, 1978