Curious Epitaphs, Collected from the Graveyards of Great Britain and Ireland.

OLD SCARLETT, THE PETERBOROUGH SEXTON.
PRINTED BY CHARLES HENRY BARNWELL, HULL.
TO WILLIAM, DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, K.G., ETC., ETC., THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY HIS GRACE’S KIND PERMISSION, AS A TOKEN OF GRATITUDE FOR ENCOURAGEMENT AND FAVOURS BESTOWED WHEN THEY WERE MOST NEEDED. W. A.
For many years I have collected curious epitaphs, and in this volume I offer the result of my gleanings. An attempt is herein made to furnish a book, not compiled from previously published works, but a collection of curious inscriptions copied from gravestones. Some of the chapters have appeared under my name in Chambers’s Journal , Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News , Newcastle Courant , People’s Journal , (Dundee), Press News , and other publications. I have included a Bibliography of Epitaphs, believing that it will be useful to those who desire to obtain more information on the subject than is presented here. I have not seen any other bibliography of this class of literature, and as a first attempt it must be incomplete. In compiling it I have had the efficient aid of Mr. W. G. B. Page, of the Hull Subscription Library, who has also prepared the Index.
I must tender my thanks to the following friends for their valued assistance: Mrs. Geo. Linnæus Banks, author of the “Manchester Man,” Mr. W. G. Fretton, F.S.A., Mr. Walter Hamilton, F.R.G.S., Mr. Jno. H. Leggott, F.R.H.S., Rev. R. V. Taylor, B.A., Mr. H. Vickery, and others whose names appear in the following pages.
In conclusion, I hope that this book will merit from readers and reviewers a similar welcome to that granted to my former works; in that case I shall have every reason to be satisfied with my pleasant labour.
WILLIAM ANDREWS.
Hull Literary Club , October 1st, 1883.

Curious Epitaphs.
mongst the most curious of the many peculiar epitaphs which are to be found in the quiet resting-places of the departed are those placed to the memory of parish clerks and sextons. We have noted at various times, and at different places, many strange specimens, a few of which we think will entertain our readers.