Christian monuments in England and Wales : an historical and descriptive sketch of the various classes of sepulchral monuments which have been in use in this country from about the era of the Norman conquest to the time of Edward the Fourth . wn as aninvariable rule; and thisvery slab at Aycliffe Iconsider to be an excep-tion from it. But beforeI proceed with any furtherstatement of my own opi-nion, I must advert to thesupposition that the shearsand the key are both dis-tinctive emblems of thefemale sex, as denotinga sedulous and carefulmatron; and accordinglythe Aycliffe slab has beenpronounc
Christian monuments in England and Wales : an historical and descriptive sketch of the various classes of sepulchral monuments which have been in use in this country from about the era of the Norman conquest to the time of Edward the Fourth . wn as aninvariable rule; and thisvery slab at Aycliffe Iconsider to be an excep-tion from it. But beforeI proceed with any furtherstatement of my own opi-nion, I must advert to thesupposition that the shearsand the key are both dis-tinctive emblems of thefemale sex, as denotinga sedulous and carefulmatron; and accordinglythe Aycliffe slab has beenpronounced the memorialof an armourer and hiswife. This idea was sug-gested by Edward Charl-ton, Esq., of New-castle-upon-Tyne, (a gen-tleman who has devotedmuch attention to the sub-ject of monumental slabs, particularly those in the counties of Durham and Northumberland,)in a paper read at a meeting of the Archaeological Institute, heldin London, November 3rd, 1848; and this paper has since beenprinted, with twelve excellent illustrations, in the ArchaeologicalJournal, vol. v. p. 253. It has long appeared to me somewhatsingular,2 says Dr. Charleton, that while the emblems of the1 See pp. 80, 81. 3 See Archceol. Journal, vol. v. p. Double Slab, 86 CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS trade or profession of the deceased were pretty frequently dis-covered upon these grave-stones, no symbol had yet been deter-mined upon as the distinctive emblem of the female sex. Whenwe remember how jealously the sexes were separated in churchesduring service, and how frequently altar-tombs have been raisedto females of high rank, it seems strange that the wives anddaughters of the tradesman or of the knight should not be dis-tinguished by any sign whatsoever. Before this time I had beenwell aware of the general opinion of the common people in theNorth, that the shears on a grave-stone indicated that the deceasedwas a female. Such was also the opinion held by the late historianof Newcastle,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectsepulchralmonuments
