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A few months ago I read a post about this ancient monument, I was unaware of its existence.
I logged into my Google Maps and recorded it as one of my desired places to visit.
Today Thursday 15th November 2018 Scotland basked in a beautiful Autumn sunshine, my favoured shooting conditions, I packed my Nikon and drove the 25 miles to the site.
Historic Environment Scotland maintain the monument , thankfully they have done a magnificent job, I truly believe it is important to preserve history for the generations to come.
I had a magnificent two hours recording my experience, I never fail to feel overwhelmed by the wealth of history that surrounds Aberdeen and the shire.
Thank's to Historic Environment Scotland for their detailed information on this site.
Ancient Monument - Kinkell Church - Inverurie Aberdeen Scotland.
Kinkell Church, built in the 1200s, is a classic medieval Highland church: simply designed and rectangular in shape. But the liturgical features installed in the 1520s are anything but plain. The stone sacrament house in the north of the church is an especially fine fixture.
Kinkell was refitted for Presbyterian worship following the Protestant Reformation of 1560, and declared redundant in 1771. Much of the building was dismantled and building materials recycled for use in a new kirk.
KINKELL CHURCH
• Kinkell Church, dedicated to St Michael, consist of the remains of a simple rectangular medieval parish church, of which only the N, W and part of the E
wall are upstanding.
The church was partly remodelled, perhaps on more than one occasion,
including in the early 16th century, when an elaborately carved Sacrament
House was built into the E end of the N wall.
Within the church is the monument of Gilbert de Greenlaw, killed at the battle
of Harlaw in 1411; the stone was re-used for a Forbes burial in 1592
CHARACTER OF THE MONUMENT
The church appears to have come on record in the early 13th century. Kinkell
was a mother church, or plebanus, and had dependent chapels at Dyce,
Drumblade, Kemnay, Kinnellar, Kintore and Skene.
This connection, which
was of long standing, may have arisen if Kinkell’s origins was that of an ecclesiastical foundation, rather like a minster, with an extensive parochia.
This would push back its origins considerably.
From the 14th century, certain revenues of the church evidently pertained to the Knights Hospitallers, although it is also recorded as an independent parsonage during the 14th century.
Any connection with the Hospitallers came to an end in 1420, when the church
and its annexes were erected into a prebend of Aberdeen Cathedral.
From a date and a set of initials on the sacrament house, it is apparent that in 1524 Alexander Galloway, rector of Kinkell and canon of Aberdeen Cathedral,
paid for the splendid sacrament house built into the E end of the N wall.
He appears to have been paying for further work the following year as a carved stone panel depicting the crucifixion, dated 1525, and with Alexander’s initials (three times), is built into the N wall (only a bronze replica survives; the original
was removed to Aberdeen Museum in 1934 and subsequently lost).
The church was abandoned in 1771 when the parish was amalgamated with
Keithhall. It was partially demolished to provide building materials for the new
parish church.
Archaeological Overview
There have been no recorded archaeological investigations at Kinkell.
The archaeological potential of the monument is extremely high and any excavation is very like to come across human remains, and perhaps also earlier church
buildings on the site.
Artistic/Architectural Overview
The church is fragmentary and devoid of features apart for the sacrament
house, the crucifixion panel and a single jamb of what must have been a large,
traceried E window. The simple oblong plan of the church suggests that the
basic form of the church dates from the early 13th century, with much late
medieval remodelling.
2/3
• The sacrament house is a particularly fine, and unique, example of this type of
medieval church fixture. It was an aumbry, or wall cupboard, designed to
reserve the host in appropriate reverential surroundings.
• The sacrament house at Kinkell shares several features with others found in
the NE, associated with Galloway, but is unique due to its cross shape. The
aumbry is flanked by two buttresses with crocketed finials. Between these is a
panel, which although badly defaced, appears to have been ornamented with a
monstrance supported by two angels (a very common motif found on other
sacrament houses associated with Alexander Galloway). Above this panel is a
corbelled and battlemented cornice, and above this is an oblong panel, which
probably contained a crucifixion scene, but is now empty. Flanking the
pinnacles are two panels, each filled with scrolls, which are of different forms
although the inscriptions on the scrolls were meant to be read as one and
state: ‘Here is preserved that body which was born of a virgin’.
• The crucifixion panel has a representation of St Michael, the archangel (to
whom the church was dedicated) to the right of the crucified, the Virgin on the
left and under her a priest, perhaps representing Galloway himself as donor,
standing beside an altar on which are Galloway’s initials.
• The sacrament house and the Crucifixion panel appear to have been part of a
liturgical revival in the diocese of Aberdeen during the early decade on the 16th
century. Alexander Galloway appear to have been a central figure in the move
to ensure parish churches had the fittings for the proper worship of God, and in
particular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He erected several sacrament
houses in churches he was involved in; Kinkell and its dependents at Dyce and
Kintore, and at King College, Aberdeen and may have been influential in the
decision of his colleagues, Alexander Spittal of Auchindoir and Alexander Lyon
of Turiff, to erect those in their respective churches. Galloway also donated a
font to Kinkell, which now is now in St John’s Episcopal Church, Aberdeen.
• The construction of the sacrament house may have been part of a wider
reorganisation of the chancel area of the church, and it is tempting to suggest
that the great E window may have been a part of this re-organisation, although
details of this moulding may be more consistent with a 14th or 15th century
date.
Social Overview
• The church is currently used as a recreational attraction. It receives little other
community use.
Spiritual Overview
• As a parish church in use for some six centuries, the site has the potential to
inform our understanding of medieval Christianity, the aspirations of the
rectors, vicars and ministers who served the church and the congregations
who worshipped in it.
• The burial ground was in use until fairly recently, and may still be in use for
occasional burials. People still visit family graves and memorials.
Aesthetic Overview
• The church and burial ground are located in the haughs of the River Don,
amongst arable farmland which adds to the appreciation of this monument.
The church has been pointed with a hard cement mortar that give the walls the impression of crazy paving.
The sacrament house, the replica crucifixion panel,
3/3 the window jamb are fine architectural details which are aesthetically very striking, and provide some idea of the glories of this once very fine church.
• The graveslab of Gilbert de Greenlaw, killed at the Battle of Harlaw, which would originally have been a ledger slab, is a particularly detailed carving of an armed knight.
What are the major gaps in understanding of the property?
• Do further historical sources or references survive.
• Nothing is known about the archaeology and earlier history of this site.
The church is an example, although much ruined, of a church which was remodelled in the 16th century.
The sacrament house is a particularly fine example of this type of church
furnishing, and the only example which takes the form of a cross.
Sacrament houses are physical manifestation of an important aspect of late medieval
Christianity; the veneration and adoration of the Body of Christ in the form of the consecrated host.
The church is closely associated with Canon Alexander Galloway, who encouraged a liturgical revival in the diocese in the early 16th century.
The site has high archaeological potential, but as a place of burial over centuries so the scope for research-led invasive excavation is not high.
Associated Properties
St Fergus’, Dyce, Auchindoir Church, St Machars Cathedral, Kintore Church,
Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides, live at the Best Buy Theater NYC 11.23.14
Check out the gallery on Music Existence: musicexistence.com/blog/2014/11/25/gallery-black-veil-bri...
The Ashmolean came into existence when the wealthy antiquary Elias Ashmole gifted his collection to the University in 1682. He did so ‘because the knowledge of Nature is very necessary to human life and health.’ It opened as Britain’s first public museum, and the world’s first university museum.
Though the collection has evolved considerably, the founding principle remains: that knowledge of humanity across cultures and across times is important to society.
Elias Ashmole acquired his collection from two gardeners: John Tradescant, father and son. The Tradescants were no ordinary gardeners; they were employed by the wealthy Earl of Salisbury. The Tradescants voyaged overseas, travelling the known world and shipping back new and exotic plant specimens for the Earl’s gardens. In the course of their travels they also acquired a remarkable collection of curiosities that included botanical, geological and zoological items as well as man-made objects. The Tradescant’s themselves established a museum in Lambeth, South London, known as ‘The Ark’ to house their collection in 1634. A visitor to this original museum commented that ‘a man might in one day behold…more curiosities than he should see if he spent all his life in travel.’ The collection contained treasures such as the mantle of Pocahontas's father (Powhatan) and the stuffed body of the last dodo ever seen in Europe.
When Ashmole gifted this collection to the University, it was combined with an older University collection, which included Guy Fawkes’s lantern and Jacob’s Coat of Many Colours (long since lost). The original Ashmolean Museum opened on Broad Street in 1683, in the building that is now the Museum of the History of Science. Members of the public were admitted to the Ashmolean Museum from the outset (a controversial policy in the 17th century). Alongside the collection, this building was designed to house a chemistry laboratory and rooms for undergraduate lectures.
Location: Beaumont Street, Oxford, England
Existence de edward bond au théâtre des argonautes à marseille
mise en scène francine eymery, collaboration artistique et scénographique jean-pierre girard
avec lionel barathieu et frédéric josse
States of Existence developed during the winter & spring terms by the 2015 Choreography Workshop students, includes both solo and group work that focus on the idea of the individual in relation to 'other.' The following question is presented: How is individual identity created? To see more about Knox's Dance program: www.knox.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/dance
Beware the roulette inside ones mind
Screaming and taunting, not allowing you to find
The revolution you are to generate
Pieced together from all possibilities to create
An endless existence of imagination and wonder
Because dreams are meant to be followed, not simply pushed under -Resa
Part of a series with
Etsy//.Website//.Blog//.Tumblr//.Inspiration Tumblr//.DeviantArt
The stacks of a Valero oil refinery tower over Aruba's Baby Beach, a pristine location where many islanders swim. The refinery dates back to the Standard Oil days beginning in 1929.
Existence de edward bond au théâtre des argonautes à marseille
mise en scène francine eymery, collaboration artistique et scénographique jean-pierre girard
avec lionel barathieu et frédéric josse
The city of Barcelona must have received the light of Christian faith very early on. The martyrdoms of Saint Eulalia and Saint Cucuphas during the Diocletianic Persecution bear witness to the existence of Christians in Barcelona at least by the late 3rd and early 4th centuries.
Unfortunately, we have no historically proven records of the ecclesiastical organization of our dioceses until 343, when Bishop Praetextatus of Barcelona and another five bishops of Hispania attended the Council of Sardica to ratify the provisions set forth in the Ecumenical Council of Nicea (325) as to the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Certain solidly grounded conjectures lead us to believe that Barcelona already had an Episcopal temple or Cathedral at that time, which would be used soon thereafter for pastoral ministry by other key bishops of our diocese: Saint Pacian (390), Lampius (400), Nundinarius (461), Nebridius (540), Ugne (599), Severus (633), Quiricus (656), Idalici (688), Laülf (693), Frodoí (890), etc. In the year 599 our Cathedral appears in a document dedicating it to the Holy Cross (Second Council of Barcelona).
Recent excavations of the substrata of the Carrer dels Comtes of Barcelona (which currently runs along the Eastern wall of the Cathedral) brought to light a building comprising three naves separated by two series of white marble columns. This undoubtedly identifies with the paleo-Christian basilica constructed in the 4th century and ennobled by subsequent bishops over seven centuries despite the difficulties caused by the Arian fight.
That early basilica solemnly housed the relics of Saint Eulalia in one of its chapels, hidden to avoid profanation by the Arab invaders of our peninsula (711). In 877 they were miraculously discovered at the temple of Santa María de les Arenes (or Santa María del Mar).
The primitive Cathedral, profoundly affected when the Arab chieftain Almanzor burned and destroyed the city, remained standing until 1046, when the Count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer the Old and his wife Almodis, together with Bishop Guislabert, commenced construction of another Cathedral, called the Romanesque Cathedral. That second Cathedral was consecrated o sn 18 November 1058 by the Archbishop Wilfred of Narbonne.
The Gothic Cathedral we have today was built on the foundations of the primitive paleo-Christian basilica and the subsequent Romanesque Cathedral. Construction commenced on 1 May 1298 during the mandate of Bishop Bernardo Pelegrí and the reign of King James II of Aragon, the Just, and was virtually completed by the mid-15th century, under the mandate of Bishop Francisco Clemente Sapera and the rule of King Alfonso V of Aragon.
Three distinct periods can be defined within the 150 years of construction: in the first, the building was planned and the apse and radial chapels were built, as were the presbytery - with its altar and crypt- and the pseudo transept; afterward, the three naves, with their respective lateral chapels, were extended back to the choir; finally, construction of the basilica continued to the façade, which was later closed with a simple wall (1417). The Cloister was finished in 1448.
At the end of the 19th century, the Barcelona industrialist Manuel Girona Agrafel offered to undertake the work on the façade and on the two side towers, in keeping with the plans drawn up by the architect Josep O. Mestres and inspired by the initial 15th-century project. Mr Girona's children finalized their father's work in 1913 on completion of the cimborio.
Princes Road Synagogue came into existence when the Jewish community in Liverpool in the late 1860s decided to build itself a new synagogue, reflecting the status and wealth of the community. The Toxteth area was rapidly expanding as Liverpool's magnates built opulent mansions. The synagogue stands in a cluster of houses of worship designed to advertise the wealth and status of the local captains of industry, a group that was remarkably ethnically diverse, by the standards of Victorian England. Immediately adjacent to Princes Road are the magnificent Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, and a handsome, early French gothic, Welsh Presbyterian Church.
Author H A Meek is quoted as saying "He who has not seen the interior of Princes Road synagogue in Liverpool has not beheld the glory of Israel."
"Chatham Dockyard[...]came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional defences. For 414 years, Chatham Royal Dockyard provided over 500 ships for the Royal Navy, and was at the forefront of shipbuilding, industrial and architectural technology. At its height, it employed over 10,000 skilled artisans and covered 400 acres (1.6 km²). Chatham dockyard closed in 1984, and 84 acres (340,000 m2) of the Georgian dockyard is now managed as a visitor attraction by the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust.
"By the late 17th century it was the largest refitting dockyard, important during the Dutch wars. It was, however, superseded in the following century, first by Portsmouth, then Plymouth, when the main naval enemy became France, and the Western approaches the chief theatre of operations. In addition, the Medway had begun to silt up, making navigation more difficult. Nevertheless, the decision was taken to invest further in Chatham, which developed into a building yard rather than a refitting base. Among many vessels built in this Dockyard, and which still exist, are HMS Victory, launched in 1765 – now preserved at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard (formerly Portsmouth Royal Dockyard).
"By the year 1770 the establishment had so expanded that, including the gun wharf, it stretched a mile (1.6 km) in length, and included an area of in excess of 95 acres (384,000 m²), possessing four slip ways and four large docks. The officers and men employed in the yard also increased, and by 1798 they numbered 1,664, including 49 officers and clerks and 624 shipwrights. Additionally required were the blockmakers, caulkers, pitch-heaters, blacksmiths, joiners and carpenters, sail makers, riggers, and ropemakers (274), as well as bricklayers, labourers and others. Between 1862 and 1885, the yard underwent another large building programme as the Admiralty adjusted to the new technology of steam-powered ships with metal hulls. Three basins were constructed along St Mary's creek: of 28 acres (110,000 m2), 20 acres (81,000 m2) and 21 acres (85,000 m2).
"The final boats constructed in Chatham were Oberon class submarines – Ocelot was the last vessel built for the Royal Navy, and the final vessel was Okanagan built for the Royal Canadian Navy and launched on 17 September 1966. In 1968, a nuclear submarine refitting complex was built complete with refuelling cranes and health physics building. In spite of this in June 1981, it was announced to Parliament that the dockyard would be run down and closed in 1984."
Source: Wikipedia
Jake Pitts of Black Veil Brides, live at the Best Buy Theater NYC 11.23.14
Check out the gallery on Music Existence: musicexistence.com/blog/2014/11/25/gallery-black-veil-bri...
History
A Norman church was in existence at the time of the Domesday Book and was largely rebuilt in the 14th century. Restorations were carried out in 1851 and in the 1970s.
Structure
The church is built from red sandstone, the chancel and porch are roofed with Welsh slate while the rest of the roof is covered in purple tiles.The south doorway is Norman in style, decorated with chevrons but rather obscured by a porch of later date. The porch contains stone benches and on its walls are knife-sharpening slots.The tower is Perpendicular in style and dates from around 1500. The plan of the church consists of a tower at the west end in line with a nave of four bays and a chancel of three bays. There is a north aisle with a chapel at the west end extending as far as the chancel.
Fittings and furniture
All the pews are box pews and are the oldest in Wirral; at one time their doors were fitted with locks and keys. In the north aisle is a canopied churchwardens' pew dated 1709 and a three-decker pulpit. The altar rails date from the late 17th or early 18th century and the lectern from the late 18th century. It has been said that much of this wooden furniture was moved from a church in Chester in 1812. Some of the windows contain 14th century stained glass. The brass chandelier dates from the late 18th century. The church plate includes a silver chalice and a pewter flagon both dated 1685. The parish registers date from 1698.The ring consists of six bells. The oldest two bells by William Clibury are dated 1616 and 1621. The other four bells were cast in 1938 by John Taylor & Co.
External features
In the churchyard the gates, gatepiers and churchyard wall along north side of Shotwick Lane are Grade II listed buildings. Also listed Grade II are the red sandstone sundial consisting of a tall bulbous baluster on square base dated 1720 and the tomb chests of James Phillips, John Nevett Bennett, Rev M Reay and 4 children, Robert and Martha Ellison, William Briscoe (died 1704) and others, and William Briscoe (died 1723) and others.
I had a long talk with my aunt today.
The initial discussion was an attempt to pursued me to go to Alaska with her family over the summer instead of doing my solo euro backpacking adventure, because Alaska is beautiful & just as photo worthy as Europe, plus i'd be avoiding more dangers in Alaska with family then in Europe alone. I understood where she was coming from and quietly said "uhuhs" when needed, dreading telling her I was going to pick Europe, knowing she'd disapprove.
A few hours after that she called me again and apologized. She said that i'm twenty and that this is what i've been wanting to do for years and she's wrong to discourage me, she ran through a safety list with me then blew me a kiss over the phone.
I am blessed to have family that genuinely cares about my safety and understands my dreams and lets me go for them.
*I am selling prints to fund my upcoming Euro-trip, please message me here, or on FB if you're interested! Thank You*
Instagram: @madelineire
States of Existence developed during the winter & spring terms by the 2015 Choreography Workshop students, includes both solo and group work that focus on the idea of the individual in relation to 'other.' The following question is presented: How is individual identity created? To see more about Knox's Dance program: www.knox.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/dance
Edge Lane Junction signal box in the Wavertree district of Liverpool. Part of the Bootle branch, the LNWR design cabin closed in 1987 after an arson attack and, with dock traffic declining, the Olive Mount chord of a triangular junction was abandoned. The latter has since been reinstated.
Walking downtown on a snowy day, I noticed this dead raccoon in the middle of the road. He must have been hit by a car on the previous night. Seeing the juxtaposition of the dead animal laying so close to the parked car and with the snow gradually covering him up made me wonder about the co-existence of nature and man.
“Her existence alone was excuse enough to justify the creation of the entire world.”
― Stephenie Meyer
Existence de edward bond au théâtre des argonautes à marseille
mise en scène francine eymery, collaboration artistique et scénographique jean-pierre girard
avec lionel barathieu et frédéric josse
"Chatham Dockyard[...]came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional defences. For 414 years, Chatham Royal Dockyard provided over 500 ships for the Royal Navy, and was at the forefront of shipbuilding, industrial and architectural technology. At its height, it employed over 10,000 skilled artisans and covered 400 acres (1.6 km²). Chatham dockyard closed in 1984, and 84 acres (340,000 m2) of the Georgian dockyard is now managed as a visitor attraction by the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust.
"By the late 17th century it was the largest refitting dockyard, important during the Dutch wars. It was, however, superseded in the following century, first by Portsmouth, then Plymouth, when the main naval enemy became France, and the Western approaches the chief theatre of operations. In addition, the Medway had begun to silt up, making navigation more difficult. Nevertheless, the decision was taken to invest further in Chatham, which developed into a building yard rather than a refitting base. Among many vessels built in this Dockyard, and which still exist, are HMS Victory, launched in 1765 – now preserved at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard (formerly Portsmouth Royal Dockyard).
"By the year 1770 the establishment had so expanded that, including the gun wharf, it stretched a mile (1.6 km) in length, and included an area of in excess of 95 acres (384,000 m²), possessing four slip ways and four large docks. The officers and men employed in the yard also increased, and by 1798 they numbered 1,664, including 49 officers and clerks and 624 shipwrights. Additionally required were the blockmakers, caulkers, pitch-heaters, blacksmiths, joiners and carpenters, sail makers, riggers, and ropemakers (274), as well as bricklayers, labourers and others. Between 1862 and 1885, the yard underwent another large building programme as the Admiralty adjusted to the new technology of steam-powered ships with metal hulls. Three basins were constructed along St Mary's creek: of 28 acres (110,000 m2), 20 acres (81,000 m2) and 21 acres (85,000 m2).
"The final boats constructed in Chatham were Oberon class submarines – Ocelot was the last vessel built for the Royal Navy, and the final vessel was Okanagan built for the Royal Canadian Navy and launched on 17 September 1966. In 1968, a nuclear submarine refitting complex was built complete with refuelling cranes and health physics building. In spite of this in June 1981, it was announced to Parliament that the dockyard would be run down and closed in 1984."
Source: Wikipedia
States of Existence developed during the winter & spring terms by the 2015 Choreography Workshop students, includes both solo and group work that focus on the idea of the individual in relation to 'other.' The following question is presented: How is individual identity created? To see more about Knox's Dance program: www.knox.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/dance
Together, they might rule over existence of cuteness. I like to think of them as Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, only that more powerful with their origami kabutos!
Juntos, pueden dominar sobre la existencia de la lindura. Me gusta pensar en ellos como Nobunaga y Hideyoshi, solo que más poderosos con sus kabutos de origami!
Bowbow went exploring post-earthly existence five years ago now, and I miss her still just as much as I did on the day she passed away.
Lately, though, I've encountered some writings I wish I'd had available five years ago. The words wouldn't have lessened the pain, but they might have helped me maintain more stoicism about my grief.
The words are those of the greatest orator of the 19th Century, Robert Green Ingersoll - a firmly atheistic free-thinker. He gave two eulogies in the fall/winter of 1881-82 and both of them contained the most sensible possible thoughts about death, in some of the most striking imagery and poetic and lofty language I've ever read. The first eulogy was for RGI's brother, Clark, two years senior to Ingersoll and who had suddenly passed away at about age 50.
Ingersoll said this:
"Dear Friends: I am going to do that which the dead oft promised he would do for me.
"The loved and loving brother, husband, father, friend, died where manhood's morning almost touches noon, and while the shadows still fell toward the west.
"He had not passed on life's highway the stone that marks the highest point; but being weary for a moment, he lay down by the wayside, and using his burden for a pillow, fell into that dreamless sleep that kisses down his eyelids still. While yet in love with life and raptured with world, he passed to silence and pathetic dust.
"Yet, after all, it may be best, just in the happiest, sunniest hour of all the voyage, while eager winds are kissing every sail, to dash against the unseen rock, and in an instant hear the billows roar above a sunken ship. For whether in mid -sea or 'mong the breakers of the farther shore, a wreck at last must mark the end of each and all. And every life, no matter if its every hour is rich with love and every moment jeweled with joy, will, at its close, become a tragedy as sad and deep and dark as can be woven of the warp and woof of mystery and death.
"This brave and tender man in every storm of life was oak and rock; but in the sunshine he was vine and flower. He was the friend of all heroic souls. He climbed the heights, and left all superstitions far below, while on his forehead fell the golden dawning of the grander day.
"He loved the beautiful, and was with color, form, and music touched to tears. He sided with the weak, the poor, and wronged, and lovingly gave alms. With loyal heart and with the purest hands he faithfully discharged all public trusts.
"He was a worshiper of liberty, a friend of the oppressed. ... He believed that happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only priest.
"He added to the sum of human joy; and were every one to whom he did some loving service to bring a blossom to his grave, he would sleep tonight beneath a wilderness of flowers.
"Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud. and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word; but in the night of death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.
"He who sleeps here, when dying, mistook the approach of death for the return of health, whispered with his last breath, 'I am better now.' Let us believe, in spite of doubts and dogmas, of fears and tears, that those dear words are true of all the countless dead.
"The record of a generous life runs like a vine around the memory of our dead, and every sweet, unselfish act is now a perfumed flower.
"And now, to you, who have been chosen, from among the many men he loved, to do the last sad office for the dead, we give his sacred dust.
"Speech cannot contain our love. There was, there is, no gentler, stronger, manlier man."
Not long after his brother's death, Ingersoll tried to help console some grieving friends by attending the funeral of his friends' infant daughter. At the father's spontaneous graveside request, Ingersoll delivered a few impromptu words while rain poured down on all in attendance.
Ingersoll said:
"My friends: I know how vain it is to gild a grief with words, and yet I wish to take from the grave its fear. Here in this world, where life and death are equal kings, all should be brave enough to meet what all the dead have met.
"The future has been filled with fear, stained and polluted by the heartless past. From the wondrous tree of life the buds and blossoms fall with ripened fruit, and in the common bed of earth, patriarchs and babes sleep side by side.
"Who should fear that which will come to all that is? We cannot tell, we do not know, which is the greater blessing -- life or death. We cannot say that death is not a good. We do not know whether the grave is the end of this life, or the door of another, or whether the night here is not somewhere a dawn. Neither can we tell which is the more fortunate -- the child dying in its mother's arms, before its lips have learned to form a word, or he who journeys all the length of life's uneven road, painfully taking the last slow steps with staff and crutch.
"Every cradle asks us 'Whence?' and every coffin 'Whither?'
"The poor barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions just as well as the robed priest of the most authentic creed. The tearful ignorance of the one, is as consoling as the learned and unmeaning words of the other.
"No man, standing where the horizon of a life has touched a grave, has any right to prophesy a future filled with pain and tears.
"May be that death gives all there is of worth to life. If those we press and strain within our arms could never die, perhaps that love would wither from the earth. Maybe this common fate treads out from the paths between our hearts the weeds of selfishness and hate.
"And I had rather live and love where death is king, than have eternal life where love is not. Another life is naught, unless we know and love again the ones who love us here.
"They who stand with breaking hearts around this little grave, need have no fear. The larger and the nobler faith in all that is, and is to be, tells us that death, even at its worst, is only perfect rest. We know that through the common wants of life -- the needs and duties of the hour -- their grief will lessen day by day, until at last this grave will be to them a place of rest and peace -- almost of joy. There is for them this consolation: the dead do not suffer. If they live again, their lives will surely be as good as ours. We have no fear. We are all children of the same mother, and the same fate awaits us all. We, too, have our religion, and it is this: Help for the living -- Hope for the dead."
Quite a bit of Robert Green Ingersoll's amazing linguistic prestidigitation can be read at or downloaded from:
www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/
Bowbow, you certainly taught me all that is worth knowing about true, unselfish love. I hope that wherever you are exploring now, you are happy and free. I know that if you exist anywhere, you surely must be the same loving girl as always. I miss you.
Approaching this once pivotal industrial site, one would be forgiven for appreciating the beauty of the diffused light of sunrise, majestic mountains, the awe of the landscape at that time of morning softened by the rolling mountain mists - without realising that this scene would once of been full of unimaginable hardships and toll upon the body, lives cut short through accidents - but I can imagine that just like humanity across all of time that they too would of made the best of their situation, laughter and perseverance driving them on.