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#944646 30th Apr 2015 9:16am
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Christo Offline OP
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I have a very vague memory, growing up in Eastham, of being on a school outing to St Mary's Church, Eastham Village, mainly to do brass rubbings, etc. I was probably about 5 or 6 years old at the time.

I seem to remember us looking in the graveyard and being told that one of the graves was that of a pirate/smuggler - I seem to recall a 'Skull and Crossbones' being on the grave.

Does anybody else have any recollection of this? Or am I dreaming/imagining things again?

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Christo #944665 30th Apr 2015 12:03pm
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I've heard something about this before, I'll have a look next time I'm passing.

Entirely by coincidence - the REAL Captain Jack Sparrow's grave is in Eastham - Massachusetts.


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Christo #944686 30th Apr 2015 2:45pm
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Skull and crossbones on graves is actually more common than you'd realise and not necessarily pirate related.

http://www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/skull-cross-bone-grave-stones-the-history-explanation

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Carved symbols were more important than names in the 17th and early 18th century headstones. The skull, crossbones and hourglass were a reminder of the mortality of man, whereas an angel blowing a trumpet, or a winged head promised ascension to heaven, at least for the chosen elect.

Symbols of a craft might be carved - a mason's trowel, a smith's hammer, a gardener's pruning hook, and sometimes but not always initials and a date. To the North side of every church was an area devoid of stones, reserved for the poor, the outcast and strangers. Even from the grave the family of means could assert their separateness from the anonymous mass.


Cartmel Priory floor is littered with them:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Locati...Sands_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html

Christo #944690 30th Apr 2015 3:08pm
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There is one at St. Michael's Church, Shotwick . The only reference I can find to it is on this church newsletter, near the bottom.

http://www.shotwick.org.uk/newsletters/2013_May.pdf


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Christo Offline OP
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Thanks DD, at least for reassuring me that I haven't imagined it! smile

granny #944736 30th Apr 2015 9:08pm
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Christo Offline OP
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#Gibbo, so it may not have related to a Pirate/Smuggler in any event - possibly just a tall tale to impress little kids!

#Granny - I'm doubting myself a little here now and wondering if it's Shotwick I'm thinking of! LOL! (I recall having visited there as well, you see.)

Christo #944743 30th Apr 2015 10:11pm
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Yes, crucifixes used to commonly have a skull and crossbones at the bottom of them as it was a religious symbol until the church decided that the association with Jolly Roger wasn't so appropriate.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=crucifix+skull+crossbones&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X


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