Gravestone at West Calder Auld Kirk
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Gravestone at West Calder Auld Kirk by Ian Dodds as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Gravestone at West Calder Auld Kirk
Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 19 Feb 2021
This is one of very few legible gravestones in the grounds of the village's former church which was in use from 1643 to 1880. What interested me about this grave was the top two lines which refer to the father of the dead child. First line : THO. JOHNSTON Second line: WRIGHT HERMAND Hermand is an area just South of the village. So either he was double-barrelled, being Mr Johnston-Wright. Or he was called Mr Johnston and was a wright from Hermand! While now only usually found in surnames, at the date of the gravestone it referred to a skilled maker of things, generally out of wood. I assume joiner is a relatively new word as have still to come across a Mr Joiner.
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Image Location
Latitude
55.850148
Longitude
-3.571662