CH43. Bronze plate mounted on wood
Epitaphium / ANNE WILLSON / Quoe / An erthly lyffe with erth, on erth, nott ledd in erthly wyse / Now erth in erth doth lye a heape, till erth frome erth aryse / Nott soule, but corps dyd yeld, to death: with deadly fury past / Eternal lyffe the sowle enjoyes, and fame in death doth laste / What parent or what place of byrth MYLES WILSON, brystoll Towne / In plesaunt place from worships race descend the daughter downe / Lett place gyve place let parent passe: go fame whilest brith is riffe / Sownd once agayne thy troumpe of prayse: comend her godly lyffe / Oh prayses yeld, for death and lyffe of her that lyves by fame / Now skyes the soule the grave ye corps, this stone conteyns her name / Obiit 13 November / 1569.
Note: This most ancient inscription is a punning acrostic. The first letter of each line spells out the deceased’s name. See also “This stone conteyns her name”. The scripted writing is also very hard to read.
The brass memorial near the café area is to the memory of Anne Wilson. It takes the form of an acrostic poem ie the first letter of each line spells out her name going down which is rather lovely. There is also a separate little plaque which says she died on 13 November 1569. All that we can we deduce about Anne from the poem is that she was the daughter of Myles Wilson of Bristow town (which I think refers to Bristol). Here is the poem, I have taken the liberty of updating the spelling to make it easier to read.
An earthly life with earth, on earth, not lead in earthly ways
Now earth in earth does lie asleep till earth from earth arise
Not soul but corpse did yield to death now deadly fury past
Eternal life soul enjoys and fame in death doth last.
What parent or what place of birth, Myles Wilson Bristow town
In pleasant place from worship’s race descend the daughter down
Let place give place let parent pass, go fame while brute is rife
Sound once again the trompe of praise, commend her godly life.
Oh praises yield for death and life of her that lives by fame.
Now skies the soul the grave the corpse, this stone contains her name
Acrostic poetry is common in medieval literature, where it usually used to highlight the name of the poet or his patron, or to make a prayer to a saint. We have no other information about Anne Wilson, not even the name of the person who wrote the poem. When the café area reordering was done this brass was removed very carefully by a monumental brass expert from Wales. He took it back to his workshop and lovingly cleaned it up and mounted it on the wooden plaque which you can see in the photo. This very special memorial is a real gem!
Christine Bartlett