Cat Burial

Took myself to Wester Craigs this afternoon intending to look for a new house advertised in the Sunday's Press - so a very much upmarket affair. Not really new as it's one those ever-so-tasteful prestige renovations of an old building. Probably part of the old Craig Dunain psychiatric hospital which covers quite a big area and Robertsons are restoring. As soon as I parked by the pond it started raining so gave up on my nosing around. But this set of three graves caught my eye - I'm fairly sure they weren't here when last I came. Well I'll probably get a lot of stick for saying I find it pretty tasteless and I don't think that's just because I not really a cat or dog lover. This is quite a nice spot and this display really grates. Pets have been buried nearby in the past and in fact I did blip Sally's stone quite a while ago. The fact is these older graves are of pets belonging to long term patients at the (now closed) hospital. Some of the patients were themselves buried in the old hospital cemetery just 100 yards or so away. The pets mostly have a simple stone not much over a foot square although Sally has a plaque attached to the stone. The stones do not intrude as you pass them walking round the pond and I imagine the patients were able to come to this spot and visit. In fact if you do notice them they add to the interest and history of the place. They remind the visitor that real people lived here long before Robertsons came. And lived in an institution that was probably fairly grim. My own feeling is that we now have three new graves all put there in the last few months. Others will probably follow and soon the place will be as well-populated with cat/dog graves as the nearby Tomnahurich Cemetery is with human remains. Apart from being a bit of an eyesore I think they detract from the older, more sober, graves and demean them.