Geoff Ledden, who is a Stuttaford descendent, clearly has a strong sense of humour. He sent us a collection of epitaphs which we enjoyed so much we asked if we could share them with our readers. The collection has come from an e-mail circle so we can't thank individuals for their contributions but our thanks go to the group as a whole.

Harry Edsel Smith of Albany,New York:

Born 1903 - Died 1942

Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the car was coming.

Here lies an Atheist

All dressed up

And no place to go.

Here lies Ezekial Aikle, Age 102.

The Good Die Young

The children of Israel wanted bread,

And the Lord sent them manna.

Old Clerk Wallenstein wanted a wife

And the Devil sent him Anna.

Here lies Johnny Yeast

Pardon me

For not rising.

Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake.

Stepped on the gas

Instead of the brake.

Here lays the Kid.

We planted him raw.

He was quick on the trigger

But slow on the draw.

Reader, if cash thou art

In want of any,

Dig 6 feet deep

And thou wilt find a Penny.

Here lies the body of our Anna -

Done to death by a banana.

It wasn't the fruit that laid her low,

But the skin of the thing that made her go.

From the grave of Anna Hopewell,

Under the sod and under the trees,

Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.

He is not here, there's only the pod -

Pease shelled out and went to God.

Here lies a man who was killed by lightning;

He died when his prospects seemed to be brightening.

He might have cut a flash in this world of trouble,

But the flash cut him and he lies in the stubble.

In 1776, the son of the Parish Clerk of Bampton, Devon was killed outside the church tower by a piece of ice which fell and struck him in the eye. A stone was placed inside the tower to commemorate the event. It says:

Bless my eyes,

Here he lies,

In a sad pickle,