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Archiver > VERMONT > 1999-05 > 0925709375


From: "Jackie M. Botala" <>
Subject: [VERMONT-L] more old papers...
Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 22:29:35 -0700


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Not all epitaphs are written for people. Selah Langon,
merchant and owner of the linseed oil mill in Castleton
village owneb a white bird dog, of which he was most fond,
But the dog had a habit which was the cause of his death.
He often visited the neighbors. Several times he had been
known to walk into the neighbors' kitchens, grab a piece of
meat which was waiting for dinner, and run away with it.
One evening a shot rang out, and Mr. Langdon found his
dog shot dead.
That evening Mr. Langdon and several friends assembled
in his room near the old mill to play cards. Someone suggested
they give the dog a respectable burial. So, they dug a grave
on the south side of the flume, a few feet from the water, and
buried the pet and pest.
The man who was hired to engrave the stone brought it
carefully to town. Upon hearing the story, he declared he
never would have cut the letters had he know the stone was
for the dog. It was pure sacrilege, he said. The lettering was:

"Thanks to my few friends that I have lived to a good old
age and lived happy. They protected me against my foolish
enimies to the last, SHOT."

(COntributed by Dale Carpenter, Newport.)

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In MIddlebury:

(Above a lady who died at 99)
'Tis strange that a harp of a thousand strings,
should keep in tune so long.

(contributed by Maud A. Jackson, Windsor)
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In Burlington:

Here lies the wife of brother Thomas,
Whom tyrant death has torn from us,
Her husband never shed a tear,
Until his wife was buried here.
And then he made a fearful rout
For fear she might find her way out.
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My wife lies here.
All my tears cannot bring her back
Therefore, I weep.
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She lived with her husband fifty years
And died in the confident hope of a better life.
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He first departed, she a little tried
to live without him,
Liked it not and died.

(contributed by Mary E. Farrel, Burlington
Maud A. Jackson, Windsor)

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