St. Ninian's Cemetery Stone #20 Hugh Chisholm Dimensions: 24 2/4” wide and 45” tall, 3 ½” thick Orientation: East/West Carver: McKenna Inscription: "IN MEMORY /OF / HUGH CHISHOLM / DIED / JUNE 6, 1880 / AGED 75 Y'RS / ALSO HIS WIFE / ELLEN CHISHOLM / DIED / JAN.18, 1880 / AGED 57 Y'RS / "Blessed are the dead who / die in the Lord. Apoc. 14:13" Condition: slightly chipped and cracked, with some lichen surrounding the decorative motif and wife's name on the face and some moss on the fieldstone, especially the base. This headstone is a simple tablet, rectangular in shape, uniform in thickness, and lacking curvature, slanting lines, or other angular features. The tombstone is constructed mostly of fieldstone, but is faced with white marble. The decorative detailing includes a sacrificial lamb lying on a pedestal with a common Latin cross slanting to the right in the background. This resurrection motif is enclosed in a four-pronged clover-like shape (quatrefoil) that is framed by a larger quatrefoil. All of this is enclosed in an outer circle that gradually sweeps inwards so that the entire clover motif is in relief. The name, HUGH CHISHOLM, is engraved on a curved decorative banner. The bold lettering of the name is further enhanced by background texturing. The wife's name, ELLEN CHISHOLM, is carved on a horizontal axis. Hugh Chisholm was a Nova Scotia-born, Scottish Roman Catholic farmer from Brierly's Brook area. The 1871 census reveals that he and his wife Ellen had eleven children, most of whom were born about two years apart. The census also indicates that the Chisholms owned three hundred acres at a time when most farms ran from one hundred to two hundred acres. The imagery on the tombstone, most notably the lamb and the Latin cross, epitomizes humble faithfulness to God. The lamb, a representation of "purity, innocence, gentleness and sacrifice", is a prevalent Christian symbol of Christ's crucifixion. It also denotes the resurrected life after death, reinforced by the outer circle as a symbol of eternity. Lindsay MacDonald [ Back ]