CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
CONTENTS
BURIAL ECCENTRICITIES.
FROM DAWN TO SUNSET.
HOTEL HOSPITALS.
DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND.
MODERN SUPERSTITIONS.
ODD MISTAKES AND MISCONCEPTIONS.
A FEW FRENCH NOTES.
AUTUMN IN THE WOODS.
| No. 717. | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1877. | Price 1½d. |
BURIAL ECCENTRICITIES.
In all times and countries there have been queernotions about burial. We here offer to our readersa few instances of this kind of eccentricity.
Mr Wilkinson, one of the founders of the ironmanufacture in Great Britain, loved iron so wellthat he resolved to carry it to the grave with him.He had himself buried in his garden in an ironcoffin, over which was an iron tomb of twenty tons'weight. In order to make all right and secure,he caused the coffin and tomb to be constructedwhile he was yet alive; he delighted to shewthem to his friends and visitors—possibly moreto his pleasure than theirs. But there weresundry little tribulations to encounter. When hedied, it was found that the coffin was too small;he was temporarily laid in the ground while a newone was made; when buried, it was decided thatthe coffin was too near the surface, and it wastherefore transferred to a cavity dug in a rock;lastly, when the estate was sold many years afterwards,the family directed the coffin to be transferredto the churchyard. Thus Mr Wilkinsonhad the exceptional honour of being buried three orfour times over. Mr Smiles tells us that, in 1862,a man was living who had assisted at all theseinterments. Mr Wilkinson was quite pleased tomake presents of iron coffins to any friends whowished to possess such mementos of death andiron. In a granite county such as Cornwall, it isnot surprising to read that the Rev. John Pomeroy,of St Kew, was buried in a granite coffin which hehad caused to be made.
Some persons have had a singular taste for providingtheir coffins long beforehand, and keepingthem as objects pleasant to look at, or morallyprofitable as reminders of the fate of all, or usefulfor everyday purposes until the last and solemnuse supervenes. A slater in Fifeshire, about fortyyears ago, made his own coffin, decorated it withshells, and displayed it among other fancy shell-workin a room he called his grotto. AnotherNorth Briton, a cartwright, made his own coffin,and used it for a long time to hold his workingtools; it was filled with sliding s