Mauchline MI help

klaw · Post by **klaw** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:35 am

The following MI is in Mauchline churchyard (it appears to be one of the oldest there). It is for Janet McGavin, spouse of John Law of Holhouse:

" ( )eer Lyes The Body of Jan( )
Maggan Spous to John Lau
Of Hollous Uho Desest [sic, deceased]
The 24 of May 168( )

ILMM (in loving memory ?)
IL(H?)M
168(5 or 8?)

Heer Lyes A Pea( )le Of
Her Sexe And Age (....)
Up Humble Sober Gra(...)
( )age To Christs Poo( ) (....)
Charitable Kind D(...)t
And Of Religious Mi(..)
And True A Frugal (......)
Depriud Ala( ) In (......)
Her Life"

ILM is typically "In Loving Memory", but I've never seen ILMM or ILHM. Can anyone tell me what they stand for? Thanks, Kirby Law

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:40 am

Hi klaw

And a warm welcome to Talking Scot

My guess would be that the letters could be some arrangement of the initials of the couple - letter J is often renered as what resembles a leter I, so John Law would look like IL and Janet like IM...

I think the use of the phrase "in loving memory" is something which became popular much more recently than this stone.

Interesting find there though - old stones are always fascinating.

Best wishes
Lesley

klaw · Post by **klaw** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 5:31 pm

Lesley,

Thanks for the response. You may be correct, but the letters are fairly clear and the J's in their names above are very clear. Could it be Latin? klaw

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 8:59 pm

Hi Klaw

Certainly be interested to see a photo of it, if you took one. Sounds like a bit of a puzzle.

Best wishes
Lesley