Canny lass

... and it's not even Tuesday!

Bonus point awarded for being bilingual!

Two questions that came to mind when I read the inscription on Isabella Smail’s headstone were, firstly, why is Edwin's name not first as he clearly died before his wife and secondly, why are there no details about him – age, date of death etc? To me, this suggested that he was not buried with Isabella and naturally I wondered why not. My search for Edwin Smail took me first to the Borders Region of Sotland and to Roxburgh where he was born about 1827 to parents John and Esther Smail. In 1841, at the age of 14, Edwin is already working and appears on the census of that year as the youngest member of the estate staff at Kippilaw - the country seat of the prestigious Scottish family Tod. No other family members are recorded at Kippilaw so Edwin is clearly living away from home. Just what Edwin’s job was, I have been unable to ascertain. His occupation is simply abbreviated ”MS”. Later research suggests he may have been apprenticed to the grounds/gardening staff as gardening seems to have been his profession for the remainder of his life. I have been unable to find any trace of Edwin in the 1951 census but he reappears in 1861. He is then years 34 years old and has left Scotland. He is working as a gardener and living in Chatton Village, part of the Sandhoe Hall estate, near Hexham, the country residence of another prestigious family, the Erringtons. I think it’s reasonable to assume – and it is only an assumption - that Edwin is working on the estate and living in a tied cottage. That being the case his master would have been Sir Thomas Errington, High Sheriff of Northumberland (from 1855) and the 11th Errington Baronet from 1863. I can also see from the 1861 census that Edwin is now married to Isabella and the couple have two young children: John Robert Smail, then 3 yo, born 1857, and Dorothy Ann Smail, then 2 months old, born 1861 both born in Chatton. The Register for Births, Deaths and Marriages reveals that Edwin and Isabella, nee Fish, had married some 10 years earlier, in the third quarter of 1851 in Hexham and that there was an earlier child, John Smail, born to the couple in July 1852, also in Chatton. It seems therefore that Edwin was already living in the Hexham area in 1851. The child, John, was destinied to have a very short life and died in September the same year less than 3 months of age. Sadly, Isabella’s grief would not end there as even Edwin, her husband of only 11 years, died 12 months later, on 2 September 1862 aged 35 years. He is buried in Holy Cross Churchyard, Chatton and his headstone, rather simple in comparison to his wife Isabella’s, bears a memorial to the child John. So, who was Isabella and what were the circumstances leading to her being buried in Bedlington? To be continued …..

Halloween is upon us so I thought we'd see how much we can about ghoulies and ghosties and the likes thereof. In the interests of getting into the spirit, I suggest you wait until it's dark, light a solitary candle and open a window to get an icey draught and a flickering flame. Spirits of the 'fortifying' variety you'll have to provide yourself I'm afraid: What was Count Dracula’s original name in the Bram Stoker classic?? Who started the black cat superstition? What did Scottish girls hang in front of a Halloween fire to see images of their future husband? Halloween has several different names around the world. Name two? Which song was a 1973 hit for Bobby ‘Boris’ Picket and the Crypt-Kickers? What is a group of witches called? The word Halloween is an abbreviation of what? Which of the following is NOT a sign that you might be a werewolf: Hairy palms, eyebrows that meet in the middle, a long middle finger, red eyes? Count Dracula is based on a real person – Vlad Dracula (Vlad the Impaler). Name the country over which he ruled? Who wrote the novel Frankenstein? The Celts believed that the lord of the dead travelled the earth on Halloween. What was his name? What does the Old English word ‘Hallow’ mean? What do pumpkins grow on: Stalks, trees, vines or bushes? In Shakespeare’s Macbeth the three witches add many things to their bubbling cauldron, starting with “Fillet of a fenny snake”. Name three other additions to the pot? Ghoulies and ghosties and … what … go bump in the night? Is a banshee likely to sing, scream, hum or whistle? Why is it dangerous to step into a fairy-ring formed of mushrooms? Which film from 2008 stars Ricky Gervais as a dentist who can see and talk to ghosts? According to the contemporary witchcraft religion of Wicca, is a male witch known as a wizard, a sorcerer, a witch or a spell-caster? From which ethnic group did Halloween originate? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. A game of Quidditch uses four balls in total: 1 Quaffle, 2 Bludgers and 1 Golden Snitch. Answers on Thursday next week.

Neither did I. This site is an absolute mine of information.

Separate albums sounds good too - a bit like you do with the various schools.

Headstones sounds good to me. Maybe we could have subdivisions starting with: Headstones, St Cuthbert's Churchyard. There are maybe other churchyards in the shire which could have their own subdivision?

Eggy, can we have a gallery album for these photos and any others from the churchyard that may be posted? They are a very valuable source of information, well worth preserving in photo form as the real thing is now disappearing fast. If you could work your magic with naming the files so they would be easily accessible to the researcher, it would be wonderful. BTW, I think John Hedley may be my relative. Huge thanks for posting these, Maggie, and can I urge other photo enthusiasts to leg it down to the churchyard and capture more memorials, pleaeaeaeaease!

Given the role of the Valkyrie, I hope she only played it at funerals! I believe that Vic's organist was one of - possibly both of - John Robert Smail's daughters.

Amendment to the above: I asked a former colleague to look at mt text analysis and I just received his reply. He agrees with my analysis and conclusion. However, he points out that there is an omission in my argumentation that is important to its understanding. Paragraph 7 "Of course, the two elements of name and epithet do not always occur in that order. It is equally common with the epithet preceding the name: Dr Fred Bloggs/NUFC footballer, Jackie Milburn/beloved aunt, Mary Smith, organist of Bedlington Parish Church is also a possibility - hence the ambiguity. " should read: Of course, the two elements of name and epithet do not always occur in that order. It is equally common with the epithet preceding the name: Dr Fred Bloggs/NUFC footballer, Jackie Milburn/beloved aunt, Mary Smith, so organist of Bedlington Parish Church, Jane Isabella Smail is also a possibility - hence the ambiguity. Sorry about that. I'll try to do better!

Answers to last week's quiz: 1. W 2. Congratulations 3. A mollusc 4. The Anglo-Zulu War, 1879 5. A wild ass 6. Metre (A metre is but 3 foot three, It’s longer than a yard you see). 7. Nurse 8. Spiders 9. E 10. Troy 11. Dogger 12. Cornwall Halloween Special tomorrow! PS. Just noticed that I didn't post a 'bet you didn't kmow' lastweek! Here it is: I'll bet you didn't know George VI, Mozart and Casanova were all Freemasons

Make a cup of tea! This may be long: I´ve had a look at this memorial stone now and from a linguistic point of view, based on the engraver’s use of the punctuation marks and conjunctions, I believe that the organist in question was John Robert Smail, son of Isabella and Edwin. Memorial stones of this type have inscriptions added at various times as family members die. This one is erected in 1888, in first place to the memory of Isabella Smail whose husband is already dead. It may well have been erected by her children, the above mentioned John Robert and his sister, Dorothy Ann. The inscription for Isabella Smail ends with her age and is concluded quite correctly,with a full-stop. In 1929 the stone is again engraved following the death of Dorothy Ann. This engraving, however, is commenced with a conjunction – ”also”. The conjunction in inital position indicates that this inscription has been added later than 1888, otherwise it would not be preceded by a full-stop. Dorothy Ann’s inscription, like her mother’s, ends with her age and is followed by a full-stop to mark the conclusion. The engraver has said all he/the family wishes to say. One year later in 1930, the remaining child John Robert Smail, son of Isabella, also dies and he is added to the stone. Again the engraver, probably the same one, starts his inscription with a conjunction ”and”, again, and for the same reason, indicating that it has been added after the 1929 inscription. Then follows a phrase which is not part of a sentence but does follow a full-stop: ”ORGANIST OF BEDLINGTON PARISH CHURCH FOR 55 YEARS.” At first glance the phrase may seem ambiguous and the question has arisen as to whom it refers: John Robert Smail or his wife, Jane Isabella Smail, the subject of the next following engraving. Note that he phrase, even though it is not a complete sentence, is concluded with a full-stop indicating that all has been said that should be said. However, the phrase does not commence with a conjunction, indicating that it has been added at the time of John Robert’s inscription and I suggest it is an epithet to John Robert Smail. An epithet describes an attribute which can be described as characteristic of a person – in this case, a person well known as organist of the parish church. It can also be described as being a repetition of the previously mentioned ie Fred Bloggs, vicar of this parish/ Jackie Milburn, NUFC footballer/Mary Smith, beloved aunt or, as I suggest, John Robert Smail, organist of Bedlington Parish Church for 55 years. Of course, the two elements of name and epithet do not always occur in that order. It is equally common with the epithet preceding the name: Dr Fred Bloggs/NUFC footballer, Jackie Milburn/beloved aunt, Mary Smith, organist of Bedlington Parish Church is also a possibility - hence the ambiguity. However, it is possible to disambugate it. I suggest that the next inscription is added in 1968 upon the death of John Robert’s wife, Jane Isabella. I suggest this because, again, the name of the deceased is preceded by a conjunction and follows a full-stop, indicating for the same reason as above, a new addition to the stone. After 1930. Historical linguistics isn’t the asiest of subjects but I hope this can bring some clarity to your question, Maggie. Myself, I’m 99,9% certain that it’s John Robert. The remaining 0.1% of uncertainty is the full-stop ’before’ the epithet – possibly a stonemason’s error or an incompletely engraved comma or maybe an epithet which came as an afterthought to the relatives of John Robert. There are other indicators that it is John Robert who is the organist, apart from the inscriptions, but they are found in the family history. I’ll tell you a bit of it in the next post.

I agree! A nice project for any of our photo-enthusiasts. It would make a great gallery album.

I agree with @Bedlingtonian on the above. I can't say if they are common or not in Blighty. I've previously come across one in Cowpen. However, they are quite common in Spain, not only on gravestones but also within churches on stone- and wood carvings. There are some other interesting symbols on William Colvil's memorial stone: Arrows (there’s one piercing the waves on the left) are a general symbol for death and nothing to do with the cause of death or being struck by Cupid’s arrows as you'd be forgiven for thinking. Bones, in this case just a femur (piercing the waves on the right) but more often a skull and cross bones, are a symbol to remind the us of what will become of us too. Bones as symbols belong to a class of symbols known as memento mori - a posh way of saying ’this is a reminder of what will happen to you’. Look out for them. They come in many shapes and forms. I think that might be a coffin in the top right corner.

Hi Maggie, I'm a bit confused as to who Miss Smail was. According to isabella's gravestone, it was her son - Robert - who died in 1930 who was church organist for 55 years. Did his wife - Jane Isabella take over the job and if so why is she referred to as MISS Smail. Her age and d.o.d. would fit in with Vic's wedding in 1962. The couple don't appearto have had any daughters only a son. I'll check the census register to see if their are any. PS All photos are very much welcome!

I didn't know that either!

I'm sure you did know better, Vic. It's just that our fingers are less nimble with old age and I believe that N and W are next to each other on a Canadian computer keyboard.

Haven't heard of her, Maggie. Why was her taste in music original?

I didn't! Had to google it but not sorry I did. What a battle --- and even a bit of Swedish involvment!

We would be very happy to welcome you on board, Maggie! Of course, it's the taking part that's important (as Mr Hemming was so keen on reminding us!)so if you don't want to post your answers it's OK. Challenge the OH over a glass of wine or get the neighbours in for a bit of a natter. There is more than one way to skin this particular cat. The main thing is to get the grey cells out for an airing once a week. Enjoy it!

This week's quiz: What is the chemical symbol for Tungsten? What was the title of Cliff Richard’s 1968 Eurovision song? The shipworm is not a worm. What is it? During which war was the battle of Rourke’s/Rorke’s Drift? What sort of creature is a klang? Which is longer, a metre or a yard? On TV, what was the shared profession of Martin Platt, Charlie Fairhead and Gladys Emmanuel? Arachnophobia is the fear of what? In Morse Code which letter is represented by a single dot? Willie Carson won his first Derby on which horse? Which sea area is surrounded by Tyne, Forties, German Bight and Humber? In which English county is the market town of St Austell? Answers on Thursday next week, followed by a Hakkoween special on Friday.

I hadn't realized that they run in alphabetic order!

Hasn't yet popped up on QI?

Answers to last week's quiz: Tuberculosis Crete Rainfall Ray Wilson Arsenal In a shoe factory Hen The Sovereign Charlotte House of York Good Friday Caribou Well done! Quite a few there that I had to google. New quiz tomorrow and I'm preparing a Halloween special for next week.👻

Eggy, can you ever forgive me! I'm five days late for your birthday! I had planned to post when I posted the answers to last wek's quiz and I've just found the post-it note that should have reminded me. I can only blame old-age, cable-laying duties, lack of organisation in the office and possibly too much whisky. I can only wish you a very, very belated but very, very happy - - birthday and hope it was a good one.