Thrashing Accident

These monuments are in the churchyard at Ratho. In the foreground is a stone carved into the shape of a small coffin which stands out. On the side, an inscription reads 'Here lyes (sic) the remains of Mr. William Mitchell preacher of the Gospel who in the hour of his age (possible text missing) suffered an instantaneous death by strok (sic) from a thrashing machin (sic) on the farm of Grays Mill in the Parish of Colling Town (possibly meaning Colinton, today a suburb of Edinburgh) the 4th December 1809 his worth endeared him to his friends and his talents rendered him the ornament of his family'.