The Cross: Symbolism and Memorial
Photo Retrieved form timescolonist.com
- What might the ornamentation and style of these cross grave markers reveal about the identity of the deceased?
- Within the different religious areas, how does cross ornamentation and style vary? What might be the reason for the differences?
- How is gender depicted on cross grave monuments? Differences?
Location:
Our monument analysis was conducted at the Ross Bay Cemetery located in at Ross Bay in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. This site is one of the oldest cemeteries in the Victoria area being the final resting place of many notable figures in British Columbian history including Fraser Gold Rush legend Billy Barker and famous Canadian artist Emily Carr. Please refer to the map link below for a visual representation of the location of the cemetery as well as pictures and short description of the grave markers selected in this analysis.
View The Way of The Cross: A Grave Monument Analysis in Ross Bay Cemetery in a larger map
Data Collection:
The object of our data collection was to be able, or at least be able to lay the framework to go about answering the questions we had set earlier. To do this we first decided on rough time frame; all graves selected would be between 1800 and 1900. This was difficult as some of the inscriptions from this time period were exceptionally hard to read. Additionally, there were many that had multiple internments from later years, in this case we selected the grave marker based on the earliest internment. Ross Bay Cemetery, as seen on the map above, is divided into several different religious sections. We used this to our advantage and selected three grave markers from each religious denomination excluding the First Nation and Old Chinese sections due to a lack of cross shaped markers.
Discussion:
The marker that caught our eye, and put us on this analysis path, is labeled Grave Marker 1 on the map above. It is a beautiful Celtic style cross very much like one might see in Ireland or Scotland. We were surprised to see a cross of this nature and beauty here in Victoria. This cross started us thinking and it was quite interesting throughout the entire trip to the cemetery to theorize about why there were differences or why a particular kind of cross was present in one area and not the next. One might never know the answer to these questions without asking the families of those they stand as a memorial for. Since this was not an option in our analysis our group decided try and draw some general conclusions based on the what we could observe. I suppose it is also best to put add a disclaimer: we do not know if these conclusions we have drawn are correct but we have derived them to the best of our knowledge with the information available.
One of the first things we noticed was a distinct differentiation in the style of crosses between the various religious sections. For example, the Presbyterian section of the cemetery contained the most Celtic style crosses and much fewer of any other style of cross. In addition to this, many of these graves were of Scottish decent or were born in the British Isles. It is said that this particular style of cross originated in Ireland, derived by St. Patrick himself while attempting to convert the pagan tribes there (Walker 1996). However, some claim that the crosses found there are younger and that this style of cross, in fact, originated in Northumbria and spread up into Scotland and down to Wales before Ireland (Stevenson 1956, pp 92). Nevertheless, it is likely that the Presbyterians that came over from the British Isles still held dear this cultural monument and saw fit to use it as a memorial for their loved ones. However, to test this theory we would need to use a much larger sample of grave markers. In addition, asking family members of the deceased how they relate to the different crosses and what they mean to them would be exceedingly helpful.
From then on out, we found that there was little relation between the styles of crosses within the different sections. The Catholic section provided one of the greatest examples of this. In this section we found that the cross adorned almost every grave, however, each one different than the next. One of the most beautiful examples of this is labeled as Grave Marker 6 on the map above. This variety in the adornment of individual grave markers really sparked my interest and after a brief literature search I came up with an interesting finding. Recently, in the United States, there have been several court cases conducted regarding whether one should be allowed to place religious crosses on public land, an example of this being a car crash memorial. In my mind the symbol of the cross has always had religious connotation, however, it was argued in this case that the cross has passed beyond religious significance in modern society and is now viewed in many ways as a generic memorial for the deceased (Boston 2011, pp 35). If this was the case around the turn of the century it is very unclear, nonetheless, it does present an interesting possible explanation as to the variety of cross representations throughout the cemetery.
Of all the interpretation done on Feb 3rd nothing was more difficult than attempting to determine the differences in ornamentation by gender. This was due to several key factors. For example, any given monument could be influenced by any of the factors mentioned earlier on in this post. Therefore, attempting to extrapolate what potential differences there were based on gender was, for me, extremely difficult. However, there were a few monuments that did stand out. I found that monuments where a woman died before here husband tended to be some of the more lavishly decorated monuments. An example of this would be the monument labeled as Grave Marker 5 on the map and was commissioned in memory of Joseph Dywers's wife Bridget in 1894. The only explanation I could come up with for this difference in lavishness comes down to money. During this time period, men were the primary source of income for a household. If a woman's husband died it is likely she would spend what was within her means on a grave monument given a reduced income due to her husbands death. However, situation reversed, the husband may spend more on his wife's memorial simply because his income was higher. I feel I must stress again that this is pure speculation based on what was observed in the cemetery, and what made sense in my mind at the time. This would be a very interesting topic to explore in greater depth with a larger sample size.
Overall, I found this monument analysis gave me an opportunity to think about aspects of personal memorial that I have not previously considered. If you are ever in the Victoria area and have some time, I highly recommend you go down and have a wander through Ross Bay Cemetery.
Also thought I would leave you with this, it's a video from the Times Colonist about apparent hauntings in the cemetery. Spooky stuff.
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Killings+betrayals+ghosts/5629807/story.html
References:
Boston, R., 2011. Church & State: What's Behind the Religious Right's Drive to Secularize their Central Symbol? Humanist, vol. 71, no. 4, pp 35-36, Available through: EBSCO Host Database [Accessed 16 Feb 2012]
Stevenson, R.B.K, 1956. The chronology and relationships of some Irish and Scottish crosses, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 86, no. 1, pp. 84-96, Available through JSTOR Database [Accessed 16 Feb 2012]
Walker, S, 1996. Walker Metalsmiths Celtic Jewlery, Available at: http://www.celtarts.com/celtic.htm
View The Way of The Cross: A Grave Monument Analysis in Ross Bay Cemetery in a larger map
Data Collection:
The object of our data collection was to be able, or at least be able to lay the framework to go about answering the questions we had set earlier. To do this we first decided on rough time frame; all graves selected would be between 1800 and 1900. This was difficult as some of the inscriptions from this time period were exceptionally hard to read. Additionally, there were many that had multiple internments from later years, in this case we selected the grave marker based on the earliest internment. Ross Bay Cemetery, as seen on the map above, is divided into several different religious sections. We used this to our advantage and selected three grave markers from each religious denomination excluding the First Nation and Old Chinese sections due to a lack of cross shaped markers.
Discussion:
The marker that caught our eye, and put us on this analysis path, is labeled Grave Marker 1 on the map above. It is a beautiful Celtic style cross very much like one might see in Ireland or Scotland. We were surprised to see a cross of this nature and beauty here in Victoria. This cross started us thinking and it was quite interesting throughout the entire trip to the cemetery to theorize about why there were differences or why a particular kind of cross was present in one area and not the next. One might never know the answer to these questions without asking the families of those they stand as a memorial for. Since this was not an option in our analysis our group decided try and draw some general conclusions based on the what we could observe. I suppose it is also best to put add a disclaimer: we do not know if these conclusions we have drawn are correct but we have derived them to the best of our knowledge with the information available.
One of the first things we noticed was a distinct differentiation in the style of crosses between the various religious sections. For example, the Presbyterian section of the cemetery contained the most Celtic style crosses and much fewer of any other style of cross. In addition to this, many of these graves were of Scottish decent or were born in the British Isles. It is said that this particular style of cross originated in Ireland, derived by St. Patrick himself while attempting to convert the pagan tribes there (Walker 1996). However, some claim that the crosses found there are younger and that this style of cross, in fact, originated in Northumbria and spread up into Scotland and down to Wales before Ireland (Stevenson 1956, pp 92). Nevertheless, it is likely that the Presbyterians that came over from the British Isles still held dear this cultural monument and saw fit to use it as a memorial for their loved ones. However, to test this theory we would need to use a much larger sample of grave markers. In addition, asking family members of the deceased how they relate to the different crosses and what they mean to them would be exceedingly helpful.
From then on out, we found that there was little relation between the styles of crosses within the different sections. The Catholic section provided one of the greatest examples of this. In this section we found that the cross adorned almost every grave, however, each one different than the next. One of the most beautiful examples of this is labeled as Grave Marker 6 on the map above. This variety in the adornment of individual grave markers really sparked my interest and after a brief literature search I came up with an interesting finding. Recently, in the United States, there have been several court cases conducted regarding whether one should be allowed to place religious crosses on public land, an example of this being a car crash memorial. In my mind the symbol of the cross has always had religious connotation, however, it was argued in this case that the cross has passed beyond religious significance in modern society and is now viewed in many ways as a generic memorial for the deceased (Boston 2011, pp 35). If this was the case around the turn of the century it is very unclear, nonetheless, it does present an interesting possible explanation as to the variety of cross representations throughout the cemetery.
Of all the interpretation done on Feb 3rd nothing was more difficult than attempting to determine the differences in ornamentation by gender. This was due to several key factors. For example, any given monument could be influenced by any of the factors mentioned earlier on in this post. Therefore, attempting to extrapolate what potential differences there were based on gender was, for me, extremely difficult. However, there were a few monuments that did stand out. I found that monuments where a woman died before here husband tended to be some of the more lavishly decorated monuments. An example of this would be the monument labeled as Grave Marker 5 on the map and was commissioned in memory of Joseph Dywers's wife Bridget in 1894. The only explanation I could come up with for this difference in lavishness comes down to money. During this time period, men were the primary source of income for a household. If a woman's husband died it is likely she would spend what was within her means on a grave monument given a reduced income due to her husbands death. However, situation reversed, the husband may spend more on his wife's memorial simply because his income was higher. I feel I must stress again that this is pure speculation based on what was observed in the cemetery, and what made sense in my mind at the time. This would be a very interesting topic to explore in greater depth with a larger sample size.
Overall, I found this monument analysis gave me an opportunity to think about aspects of personal memorial that I have not previously considered. If you are ever in the Victoria area and have some time, I highly recommend you go down and have a wander through Ross Bay Cemetery.
Also thought I would leave you with this, it's a video from the Times Colonist about apparent hauntings in the cemetery. Spooky stuff.
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Killings+betrayals+ghosts/5629807/story.html
References:
Boston, R., 2011. Church & State: What's Behind the Religious Right's Drive to Secularize their Central Symbol? Humanist, vol. 71, no. 4, pp 35-36, Available through: EBSCO Host Database [Accessed 16 Feb 2012]
Stevenson, R.B.K, 1956. The chronology and relationships of some Irish and Scottish crosses, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 86, no. 1, pp. 84-96, Available through JSTOR Database [Accessed 16 Feb 2012]
Walker, S, 1996. Walker Metalsmiths Celtic Jewlery, Available at: http://www.celtarts.com/celtic.htm
