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The inscription is in Latin, part of it reads " I am what you will be; I was what you are now."
I think it might be one the entrance of the cementary just outside Torres del Rio.Thank you for sharing, very interesting! I like the inscription on his tomb! It seems to me there is a similar inscription at the entry to one of the many cemeteries on the Camino but I do not remember which town it is.
I too remember the same inscription above the cementary gate/arch shortly after Torres del Rio on CF (righthand side). It was the first time when I saw this kind of inscription and it follows me in my mind sinceI think it might be one the entrance of the cementary just outside Torres del Rio.
I remember walking past a cemetery in southern France where I saw this massive tombstone. It was easily 20' high - a sculpture of a skeleton sitting on a chair with the same saying. It is quite common as has been said. You can imagine the impact on humans of 600 years ago. A rather jarring reminder of the brief nature of this mortal existence.
It clashes harshly with the more common eat, drink, and be marry so common today, but I digress.
amorfati, these are wonderful, thank you for posting them here. Death is the simple truth after all. But we live surrounded by a culture that denies that at all cost, and many people do not like to be reminded of such things.Most viewers were disturbed - they did not want to be reminded of death & mortality.
Yes death is part of living so to speak but some cultures are more attuned to the idea of death more than others. Growing up in Ireland we were more receptive to the fact that death was inevitable. I was only14 when I laid out my first dead person and it didn't frighten me at all at the time.i think it would have frightened my children at that age because " the times they are a changing" as the song goes. For 40 years I have nursed the terminally ill and everyone approaches death in different ways. Some families do not want the ill person to know their prognosis but I can assure you that person ALWAYS knows that they are are terminal.This work has made me appreciate life more even though it was heartrenchin at times. Most young people now do not want to think about death too much and why should they--- it will come soon enough!! As we get older we begin to think more of our own mortality and perhaps become more accepting of the inevitable but it is still a frightening prospect for many people and I can understand that.we live in an age where we can put off the wrinkles for many years (I wish)! and cryogenics is on the rise but I think this is mainly due to fear of the inevitable. As my lovely old dad used to say "you are dead for a long time" and my favourite " there are no pockets in a shroud"!! best wishes and keep walking! AnnetteDeath as amorfati mentioned above is a part of life and is a part of our lives. If we as individuals can make peace with the fact that we are going to die, then we are more able to enjoy this life. After all what else in life is there to be fearful of if you can make peace with the ultimate fear. Not everyone is in the comfortable position of being at ease with death so perhaps that may be something we can ponder on the road to Santiago (or at any time).
James Rice - 15th century Waterford Pilgrim made the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage in 1473 and again in 1483.
If it's British it would be English, Welsh, and scots only!! So Irish could do it. Only saying. Now I am confused! Let's keep it as it is or I might get lost on it and walk backwards!! Best wishes AnnetteDeise, thank you for this post and your blog on Rice. There I noted you wrote As Waterford was a port town with trade links with France and Spain it is likely James travelled by boat to the port of Corunna and then headed on foot to Santiago.
So, should the route from Ferrol/Corunna be renamed the Irish, or at least British (including Welsh and Scots as well as Irish and English) Camino?
Deise, thank you for this post and your blog on Rice. There I noted you wrote As Waterford was a port town with trade links with France and Spain it is likely James travelled by boat to the port of Corunna and then headed on foot to Santiago.
So, should the route from Ferrol/Corunna be renamed the Irish, or at least British (including Welsh and Scots as well as Irish and English) Camino?
amorfati, these are wonderful, thank you for posting them here. Death is the simple truth after all. But we live surrounded by a culture that denies that at all cost, and many people do not like to be reminded of such things.
And it's not only a thing in the US. I was visiting a friend in Winterthur this summer and she told me of an exhibit sponsored by a local protestant church--of images related to death, some very old. Apparently there were people who resigned from the church as a result, saying that this sort of thing was not appropriate.
Hmmm...it's sad. They won't be able to resign from death, will they?
I'd rather live fully, and fully knowing the way things are, thanks.
Deise, thanks again. Have you been on board Jeannie Johnson? I guess sleeping space would be quite confining.Ship is called jeannie johnson
Annette, I am sure you are right. From a distance of 20,000 km the distance across the Irish Sea and the differentiation that follows can be hard to discern at times. I was working from a now long distant childhood recollection of the phrase British Isles. And also conscious of the cross fertilisation of the missionary priests (or whatever) between Ireland and Scotland in particular about the time the Romans in those parts were becoming less obvious.If it's British it would be English, Welsh, and scots only!!
Greetings and thanks, Amorfati! Yes, it surprised both me and my friend as well. And to be clear, we were told that just a few people protested--the vast majority appreciated the exhibit. The Tottentanz images were indeed stunning--she had emailed photos of them to me when the exhibit was happening. Here are two of them:this Winterthur vignette...surprised me. I found - in europe - most people being a bit more matter-of-fact regarding death and mortality. (graveyards/cemeteries right in the middle of villages/towns - churches/museum showing paintings of skeletons/death and the theme of 'Totentanz"
Irish, Scots, Scots-Irish, Welsh, English, British......In space there are no lines on the map--and in the end death doesn't care about such names.I was working from a now long distant childhood recollection of the phrase British Isles. And also conscious of the cross fertilisation of the missionary priests (or whatever) between Ireland and Scotland in particular about the time the Romans.
Quote Epicurus: "Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist."My grand-mothers paraphrase of one of those Victorian charitable memes was "The Dead are always with us." Needless to say this scared the living shite out of me as a child. Now I find the same comfort in it as I presume she did. Not "gone" but always with me.
Deise, thanks again. Have you been on board Jeannie Johnson? I guess sleeping space would be quite confining.
What a fabulous ship.i bet that that there was a lot of craic on board both in 2008 and in the 15th century! Now for our far flung friends many miles away this is the translation of craic!! It's an Irish word for fun and enjoyment that has been brought into the English language eg "what's the craic" (what's the news) and"where's the craic"(where's the party?) .this was a lovely piece of history and even better for me as I will be making a flying visit to Waterford next month and might saunter down to the harbour to see where James rice sailed from. And yes Varinani, i defenitely think he had caught the Camino bug! Problem isjust as a matter of interest in 2008 a newly built three-mast replica sailing ship made the journey from Waterford to Spain with 29 pilgrims on board.
Ship is called jeannie johnson
Don't know where some of the post went! Problem is that he infected the rest of us down through the years!! I wonder if any of those that sailed from Waterford stayed in Galecia as their music and art is so Celtic? When we first got to Galecia 10 years ago I thought they were playing Irish music. I was informed however in no uncertain terms that it was GALECIAN music!!! So a few first cousins perhaps there! Best wishes AnnetteGreetings and thanks, Amorfati! Yes, it surprised both me and my friend as well. And to be clear, we were told that just a few people protested--the vast majority appreciated the exhibit. The Tottentanz images were indeed stunning--she had emailed photos of them to me when the exhibit was happening. Here are two of them:
View attachment 22498 View attachment 22499
Irish, Scots, Scots-Irish, Welsh, English, British......In space there are no lines on the map--and in the end death doesn't care about such names.
I have to say that all the Pilgrims I have met from Ireland have been wonderful company--and I can well imagine the scene in Waterford as a whole group embarked for the journey to Gallicia--and the tumultuous welcome home they'd have received on the other end of the journey. Very interesting that James Rice did this journey twice--it made me wonder if people then also got bitten by the 'camino bug'? I had always assumed such a voyage would have been a once-in-a-lifetime feat.
Not meant to be divisive Kanga - that would go against a long tradition of tolerance in Waterford.This is getting off-topic and away from the original post which was camino related. Discussing death is one thing, but please do not stray into personal belief and a discussion of religion.
spot on! thanks much for sharing this - is copied now into my li'l stash of quoatable wisdom! appreciated indeed.No one really dies - our bodies die, is all. How true it is though, that in modern first world cultures death is hidden away as much as possible and everyone lives as if they are not going to die ...
This is 15th century of course, as it is from Thomas (A Kempis) - but is still as true today
"Ah, foolish man, why do you plan to live long when you are not sure of living even a day? How many have been deceived and suddenly snatched away! How often have you heard of persons being killed by drownings, by fatal falls from high places, of persons dying at meals, at play, in fires, by the sword, in pestilence, or at the hands of robbers! Death is the end of everyone and the life of man quickly passes away like a shadow. .... .... .... .... Keep yourself as a stranger here on earth, a pilgrim whom its affairs do not concern at all. Keep your heart free and raise it up to your God, for you have not here a lasting home."
spot on! thanks much for sharing this - is copied now into my li'l stash of quoatable wisdom! appreciated indeed.
Love it!
The second two lines are on my father's gravestone. (There wasn't room for all 4 lines.)"But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity...."
Andrew Marvell, To his Coy Mistress, mid 17th c
Rice meant his tomb to be a reminder to all that fame, fortune and power are very fleeting things.
The inscription is in Latin, part of it reads
"Whoever you may be, passerby
Stop weep and read.
I am what you are going to be be;
and I was what you are ."
His tomb became the starting point for Waterford pilgrims as they embarked on their journey to Santiago de Compostella.
The Latin original is often attributed to Horace, even though it doesn't appear in any of his surviving works. But the spirit is similar to his famous
seu plures hiemes, seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam, ...
... vina liques, et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
Hope I've got plenty of winters left to go on camino, but, if not, my son has been asked to put the words of Rice's compatriot Yeats on my tombstone:
Cast a cold eye
on life, on death.
Horseman pass by.
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