by Anura Guruge
on April 16, 2022
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I saw these headstones in Laconia (N.H.) cemetary last Saturday.
If I am near one, & have the time, I like to amble through cemeteries studying the headstones. Yes, am drawn to the names. I then try to find families & determine relationship. The dates & history are also sources of intrigue. Then, there is the shapes, design & architecture of the stones & monuments. That interests me too — &, of course, they are great for taking pictures of. Hence, the headstones above … & these also, from that same visit.
I do not recall ever coming across a ‘Sleeper’. I think I would have remembered. Interesting. Interesting name. Not one I would like to have had. Just imagine going through school or the armed services with that name. Teachers would find it hard to resist. So, I it is not a name I covet. ‘Darling‘, yes. ‘Woodcock‘, maybe. ‘Sleeper’, NO.
Even before I looked it up I knew that some would claim that it was a name given to sleepy people. I don’t buy that.
I think ‘sword-slip’ was old English for a scabbard. That makes sense.
As I have often stated I am intrigued by names — all names. That is why I wrote ‘Popes and the Tale of their Names‘.
