See that my grave is kept clean

Cemetery Sunday #3

"Well, there's one kind favour I'll ask of you
One kind favour I'll ask of you
Oh, there's one kind favour I'll ask of you
See that my grave is kept clean"
 
Blind Lemon Jefferson -  “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”
 
I spotted John Kirby's fine headstone, which dates back to 1867, whilst visiting the Arnos Vale Cemetery, here in Bristol.  Its a fascinating, peaceful place, and not in the least creepy.  


The cemetery fell into serious disrepair, and the local council were talking of closing it. About 12 years ago, a local campaign group got together and, with the aid of the national lottery's heritage fund have managed to save the place.  Nowadays a charitable trust is working to preserve it.


The cemetery measures 43 acres, so they have their work cut out and there  are many graves that have been lost to encroaching nature.  This particular headstone has come under serious attack by the neighbouring ivy, but is still looking good and is surprising legible.  As you can see it is a masonic headstone, which is a bit of unusual, I've not come across one of those before.


The lyric, by Blind Lemon Jefferson is an early blues song and dates from about 1927.  Jefferson must have known he was playing fast and loose with life, for he died in Chicago about 2 years later of what according to his death certificate  was heart failure. 

Of course, conspiracy theorists are quick to point out that almost any death can be ascribed to heart (or other major organ) failure, in one way or another.  As with many great bluesmen, there are various rumours about his death, which range from a jealous lover poisoning his coffee, through to his having a heart attack after being attacked by a dog in the middle of the night. Another story is that  he was killed while being robbed of a large royalty payment by a guide escorting him to the train station in a snowstorm. We shall never know.

Like John Kirby's grave in the photograph, Jefferson's grave was not kept clean, apparently it was not even marked until the late 1960s when a memorial was eventually erected to him.

Many thanks to Youroregon1 for coming up with the Cemetery Sunday challenge