He lived on earth near forty year;
October's eight-and-twentieth day
His soul forsook its house of clay,
And thro' the pure ether took its way.
We hope his soul doth rest in heaven.
1777."
Newtown Linford, adjoining Bradgate Park. In this churchyard is a tombstone on which is engraved only the letters of the alphabet and the simple numerals. The story goes, that he who lies below, an illiterate inhabitant of the village in the last century, whose name, I believe, is now forgotten, being very anxious that, after death, a tombstone should be erected to perpetuate his memory, and being fearful that his relatives might neglect to do so, came to Leicester to purchase one himself. Seeing this stone in the mason's workshop (where it was used by the workmen as a pattern for the letters and figures), he bought it "a bargain," supposing it would serve his purpose as well as a new one, and after his decease it was placed at the head of his grave, where it now appears.
All Saints' churchyard, Leicester. On two children of John Bracebridge, who were both named John, and died infants:
"Both John and John soon lost their lives,
And yet, by God, John still survives."