The Howff is a burial ground in the centre of Dundee. The site was originally the gardens of a Grey-friars monastery until that was destroyed, during the Scottish Reformation, in 1547-48. The land was granted to the town as a place of burial by Mary Queen of Scots in 1564. It was also used a meeting place by the nine incorporated trades of Dundee, until 1776. Howff is a Scots word meaning an enclosed open space or yard. There are an estimated 80,000 burials in the Howff Cemetery, with around 1,000 headstones, many of which are carved with the emblems of the nines trades. Many of the inscriptions really ram home the dour Calvinist Scots cliché. A dedication to two dead babies rates amongst the bleakest things I have ever read.
Grief inspired poetic musings on the futility of existence aside, I found the Howff a beautiful peaceful place. It supported a variety of wildlife, lots or birds and a surprising amount of rabbits.
I saw a couple of dead rabbits, so something was predating them. Maybe it was the Herring gulls (?). I saw one scavenging a rabbit that had been dead for a while. But, I also saw one patiently watching the gaps under one tombstone where a couple of young rabbits were hiding.
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