Ross Ledger Stone
Tarbat Discovery Centre

In the graveyard at Tarbat Discovery Centre, this tomb commemorates a local family. George Ross Tacksman of Fearne, his wife Margaret Hughan and their children are all memorialised together.   

Margaret died in 1741 and the symbolism on the top of the ledger stone, the inscribed slab, is typical of that period.   

Look closely and you can see a sand timer, a skull and crossbones, a spade, a coffin and a bell. These symbols are all known as ‘memento mori’, which are reminders of our mortality and common in art history.   

Memorials often have a balance of symbols representing both mortality and immortality, such as those found on another plaque, that of the Mackenzie family, also in Tarbat. Immortality symbols include the cherubs and angels of resurrection. However, only mortality symbols are found on this grave.