Tombstone in Mary Tavy Churchyard (1721)
TOMBSTONE IN MARY TAVY CHURCHYARD The following may be worth preserving in the Western Antiquary it is copied from a tombstone not in situ but stand ing on its edge by the side of the wall of the church at Mary Tavy The church having been restored the prob ability is that this stone was removed from a grave within ts interior be this as it may it ought to be preserved in a different manner from what it is now Around the margin of the stone is the following inscription
Here lyeth the body of Thomas Hawkins Blacksmith son of Thomas Hawkins of Lane Head in this parish who was buried April 12 1721 aged 28
In the centre of the stone
Here buried were some years before
his two wives And five children more
One Thomas named whose Fate was
Such to lose his Life by wrestling much
Which may a Warning be to all
how they unto such Pastimes fallElizabeth and William and Hannah.
And yet pray understand a second named Elizabeth
All these were taken off by Death for which prepare you Readers all.
We must away when God doth call I may mention that in the church porch there are the parish stocks made for holding three pairs of legs they appear to have been kept under cover probably in the identical place where we saw them as the seats on either side of the porch would correspond with the height of the stocks. They are made of some hard wood and are in a good state of preservation E PARFITT