Notes on Transcription

• Many of the headstones are adorned in their upper sections with the phrase ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo’ or the Christogram ‘IHS’. The letters ‘INRI’ occur less frequently. These words and letters have been omitted from the transcriptions, but they are usually visible in the photographs. Less commonly occurring Latin phrases, ‘Cruce Mihi Salus’ for example, have been transcribed.

• Superscript abbreviations are very commonly used in first names (e.g. Eliz^th, Tho^s), months (e.g. Jan^ry, Sept^br), and other commonly used words such as ‘departed’ (dep^d), ‘Erected’ (Ere^d) and alias (al^s). A point or an apostrophe sometimes signifies the omitted letters. It is likely that some such points and apostrophes are no longer visible due to wear. Superscript letters have not been rendered as such in the transcriptions, but again they can be seen clearly enough in many of the photographs.

• The letter ‘ſ ‘, or long ‘s’, occurs frequently in the older headstones. It has not been used in the transcriptions.

• Among the ligatures occurring, although not transcribed as such, are those for ‘ae’ and ‘Th’. In certain words, however, especially ‘the’ and ‘this’, the ‘th’ is often represented by a ‘y’, making ‘y^e‘ for ‘the’ or ‘y^s‘ for ‘this’.

• While every effort has been made to ensure the making of accurate transcriptions, it is of course possible that some letters or numbers have been read incorrectly. The wearing away of some stones over time has made their lettering difficult to read, while others have deteriorated to the point where the surface that may once have contained lettering has fallen away. It is also sometimes difficult to distinguish one digit from another, especially 3 and 5. In addition, the presence of lichen poses problems for transcribing and photographing.

• The tools and aids used in the transcribing process were pen and paper, sunlight, a mirror and water. Subsequent checking of transcriptions against digital photographs revealed some errors and omissions, as well as text that required re-examining. The Graveyard Map compiled by Francis Cunningham is also an essential navigation tool on site. If you find any transcription mistakes and text omissions, or if you can make sense of any sections of the stones noted as partly or wholly illegible, do let us know.