Grave grandeur

This afternoon, on a recommendation from a friend, I visited Marnoch kirkyard for the first time.

It's a very interesting and impressive place, but the highlight is undoubtedly this enclosed monument to George Meldrum, minister of Glass. He was removed from his post in 1664 for refusing to accept the post-Restoration Episcopal regime which reinstated bishops and annulled Presbyterianism. (Glass didn't doo too well with ministers - his successor was excommunicated for "breaking an engagement of marriage and eloping with another woman"!) Presbyterianism was eventually re-established, and Meldrum was reinstated as minister in 1790. 

His monument is stunning: exceptionally well executed, with a fascinating array of memento mori and other features. Not all of these are in shot here - I cropped in on the central part of the monument - but note for example the faces carved into the top and bottom of the border around the bust of Meldrum.