Edward Tod and Agnes Laing

Taking photographs of gravestones at the height of autumn seems very suitable. Somehow this season belongs to graveyards. The fallen leaves heighten the sensation of transience, time passing and lives lived. The above picture is also my blip for today, as I loved the combination of moss, decaying leaves and the trees on the hill behind. This gravestone leans against the wall dividing the graveyard and the Lower Green, It's hard to tell whether it was always situated here or has been moved to lean against the wall at some later date.

At the top there is a banner with the word XXX Memory XXX
followed by the text:

Edward Tod

who died at

Broomlee Lodge 19th March 1887

aged 57 years

and of

Agnes Laing

his wife who died 2nd June 1886

aged 50 years

and of their children

Elspeth Jane

died 17th February 1865, aged 3 months

Agnes

died 9 (?) November 1878, aged 6 years

and

Jane Fordyce Croall

died 25th April 1885, aged 15 years

This is a close-up view of the gravestone, to show you the text more clearly. It doesn't look like there was more under the moss, and the relationship of Jane Fordyce Croall to the rest of the people mentioned on this stone, will remain a mystery. Her name gives no indication of how she belongs to them.