New Castle, historic and picturesque . we dii^ deeper;for every field has been a l)urial-plac(! in times gone by, whenthe dead reposed in tlieir own acres, and were comfortedby the near presence of their beloved liomes and unforget-ful friends. All over the island, singly or in families, some-times with a marl)le or slate memorial, sometimes with only therough stones of the field planted at the liead and foot of thelow mounds, rest the lofty and the lowly forefathers of ourpresent villagers; rest amid the ledges, where the thin soilscarce covers them warmly, or yonder in the edge of the field,
New Castle, historic and picturesque . we dii^ deeper;for every field has been a l)urial-plac(! in times gone by, whenthe dead reposed in tlieir own acres, and were comfortedby the near presence of their beloved liomes and unforget-ful friends. All over the island, singly or in families, some-times with a marl)le or slate memorial, sometimes with only therough stones of the field planted at the liead and foot of thelow mounds, rest the lofty and the lowly forefathers of ourpresent villagers; rest amid the ledges, where the thin soilscarce covers them warmly, or yonder in the edge of the field,where the ground is not too precious for other planting;there the tanzy grows rank, and everything betokens the conse-cration of neglect; there the ancient gravestones lean and crum-ble, the names grow dim and become to the living like the namesof strangers. Yet liowever blealc and desolate the situation, theocean is everywhere in full view. Nor could one seeking whereto rest when his watcli was oAcr Avish for couch more Whether our ancestors derived the custom of selecting themost barren soil for burial-places from the ancient Britons,who appropriated the moors and waste places for a similar pur-pose, is a matter of conjecture. Certainly it is a most ancientcustom, practiced by many nations, antl the Egyptians buriedtheir dead in the desert. Phito, in The Laws, would forbid food-bearing ground being used for sepulture, and assigns only use-less spots. And he also adds an injunction worthy of beingrepeated to ambitious monument Ijuilders: Make n<jt theupriglit tombstones greater than wliat may contain the praisesof tlie deceased in not more than four heroic verses. But only a part of New Castles dead sleep in their native are at the bottom of the stream which empties here; somein the Eastern bays, and man} in those waters so fatal to fislier- HISTORIC AND PICTURESQUE 9 men about the Geor2:es Banks. One cenotaph hi the town, recordsthe loss of eleven
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidnewcastlehis, bookyear1884
