Results of Bone Analysis on the Headless Lady in the Coffin

Results of Bone Analysis on the Headless Lady in the Coffin

by frejalundberg6 Comments
Followers of our story will recall that Sue Black sent the sternum (breast) bone from the remains of the young lady that we found in Simon the Fox’s coffin to Dr. Ceiridwen Edwards, Senior Research Fellow in Archaeogenetics at the University of Huddersfield, to see if she could recover DNA. Even though this was the bone in the best condition from the coffin, it was still in a very poor state of preservation, as were the other remaining bones. This was due to chemical reactions from microbes in the body, the lead, timber and fabric of the coffin, and also the air, given that the coffin had been forced open, possibly in the hunt for jewellery or physical souvenirs of Lord Lovat. Fear of such souvenir hunters may explain why there are reports of the skull being removed from the coffin and placed in a separate wooden box in the crypt. The box is reported as late as the 1960’s...
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Rediscovered Coffin Plates

by frejalundberg5 Comments
We have just discovered coffin name plates which were removed during the restoration for safe keeping and forgotten about! They are the plates from the coffins of The Old Fox, Simon the Master, Archibald Fraser and Henry Emo Fraser. They were covered in wax which was from candles people had used to try and read them in the past. Many thanks to Andrew for managing to get clear photos of them. (Click image to enlarge)...
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Remembrance in Kirkhill

by robert3511 Comment
On this Remembrance Sunday I took a walk around the Old Wardlaw Graveyard to look at our war Graves. These are under the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. They visit all 1300 recorded grave sites in Scotland and make sure the graves are being kept tidy and check if the lettering requires repainting. They visited Wardlaw in September this year and will be back in 4 years’ time.   Their website lists 2 soldiers from WWI buried in the Old Wardlaw Graveyard (recorded on their website as Kirkhill Old Churchyard). Private A. Michael, died 7th November 1918, and Private John Fraser Owens, died 3rd April 1919. Both would have died locally while in military service. Both gravestones are recorded in ‘Memorial Inscriptions, Parish of Kirkhill’ published by the Kilmorack Heritage Association in 2003. This has an indexed list of all the inscriptions that could be read during the survey and a map of the Old and New Wardlaw Graveyards. It...
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