Photograph Watchtower Gravestone Scotland

Photograph of an old gravestone leaning against the Watchtower, in the old burial ground at Coupar Angus, Scotland. Gravestone commemorating George Wighton. The Watchtower was used to observe, and guard against Scottish grave robbers.


Photograph of an old gravestone, and cross, leaning against the Watchtower, in the old burial ground at Coupar Angus, Scotland.


Photograph of old gravestones leaning against the Watchtower, in the old burial ground at Coupar Angus, Scotland.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

A Scottish Graveyard Miscellany explores in words and extraordinary pictures the folk art of Scottish graveyards from the eighteenth century, when gravestones began to be widely used, to the present day. Each old kirkyard is a riotous celebration of folk art: there are skulls and skeletons, ships and lighthouses, angels galore, carved portraits of our forebears and even a gravestone decorated with a picture of Bart Simpson and his skateboard! More than mere memorials, the graves are a collection of pages in stone taken from the history of Scottish everyday life. Scotland's kirkyards are not gloomy places to be shunned, but places to find vivid stories from the lives of people, without distinction of class or creed. There is much humour in this book, and the photographs throughout taken by the author illustrate better than words why we should look after the unique treasuries in our midst. The Scottish Graveyard Miscellany: The Folk Art of Scotland's Graves.

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