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The old burying ground of Logie bears a reputation which is none
of the best, both on account of the “ ghost stories ” which are ever and anon
being told in connection with it, and because of the much more serious fact that
though situated in the immediate vicinity of densely-populated neighbourhoods,
and promising soon to be actually
surrounded with the latter, it is crowded to an excessive degrees not only with
the remains of the long-buried dead but also with those of persons whose demise
does_ not even date a year back. As a consequence it not unfrequently happens
that interments in Logic burying ground are accompanied by circumstances of the
most unpleasant nature, sights being witnessed which are not the best calculated
to deprive death of its horrors to mourning relatives. Indeed, some of the
scenes which are to be witnessed at funerals in this burying ground are a
scandal to the community - those loathsome mysteries of the grave the exhibition
of which ought only to be tolerated in the dissecting-room, being here dragged
into the open light of day and spread before the public gaze. An incident which
occurred no later than Monday last fairly puts the climax to these scenes,
converting as it did the last resting-place of a beloved wife into a veritable “
chamber of horrors.” Our description may be accepted as thoroughly trustworthy,
being taken from the lips of more than one eye-witness : -
On Monday a respectable gentleman residing in Lochee had the painful duty to
perform of discharging the mortuary rites of his deceased wife- Having no right
to a “lair” in any neighbouring burying ground he had applied for and obtained a
“ breadth” in Logie Kirkyard—that place being the most convenient for his
purpose, and also made the necessary arrangements for the grave being dug, &c.
The funeral precession left the village and gained the burying ground without
the occurrence of any mishap, and the coffin being carried to the grave no one
suspected that anything would happen to break in upon the solemnity of the
interment. In this, however, the mourners were sadly mistaken. The first sight
that met their eyes as they approached the grave with their melancholy burden
was a perfect mound of ghastly relics piled all round the new-made grave. From
the quantity of skulls, vertebrae, leg and arm bones—in fact specimens of all
the osseous parts of the human body—which lay around, it seemed as if the
gravedigger had actually been compelled to empty a closely-packed charnel-house
in order to make room for the new comer. This was not a pleasant sight for
mourning friends ; but the worst was yet to come. Stifling their horror at this
exposure of the tomb’s contents, they were proceeding to lower the coffin into
its narrow bed when an unexpected obstacle presented itself. The grave was too
narrow, and the coffin stuck in its downward passage, and could by no means be
forced to the bottom. The truth was that the gravedigger in excavating the place
had found it hemmed in by coffins on every side.
Those which were thoroughly rotten he had no scruple in digging out, which
accounted for the pile of bones above, but the idea of breaking in upon the
comparatively fresh coffins did not occur to him at the time, so he allowed
their ends to jut out undisturbed into the new grave. It was these old coffin
ends which prevented the descent of the new one into its resting-place, and the
gravedigger doubtless repented heartily of his over scrupulousness in avoiding
them. But he was a man of " resources,” and while the mourners stood distressed
at the mouth of the grave, unable what to make of this most awkward incident, he
rapidly made up his mind. Having first managed to haul the coffin out of the
grave again, and lay it to one side, he seized his spade, jumped down into the
grave, and began a remorseless onslaught on the offending coffins. This man of
skulls had evidently become thoroughly imbued with the principle of his patron-
the Great Leveller—for the manner in which he dealt his blows all around proved
that respect of persons was none of his failings. Coffin after coffin was
smashed, their ghastly contents exposed, skulls and bones—some quite bare, and
some with the putrid flesh still adhering to them—tumbled out in profusion, and
still the gravedigger went on with his horrid work. The smells which rose from
out that bed of corruption were something awful. Sick with the noisome effluvia,
and appalled by the fearful sights which met their eyes, the mourners stood back
horrified and confounded. The gravedigger, however, kept up his chopping process
with as much coolness as if the materials he was working among had been those of
a common dust heap, instead of the remains of men and women, and not until he
had obtained more than sufficient space for his purpose did he desist. He then
shovelled out the broken wood, bones, &c., had the coffin lowered into the
grave, and proceeded to till it up with that unctuous self-satisfaction which
generally marks the features of the fraternity when engaged in that delectable
occupation. The feelings which oppressed the hearts of the mourners as they
turned away from that dreadful scene we leave our readers to imagine.
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