"Anthem" by Leonard Cohen

"The birds they sang at the break of day
Start again, I heard them say
Don't dwell on what has passed away
or what has yet to be...

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in"

Friday, January 1, 2016

An Ancient Ancestor

Melrose Abbey 
(shot taken by Beth Kotkin 8/2004)

My most ancient Scottish ancestor, William de Somerville, descended from a Norman family that traveled to England from Normandy with William the Conquerer in 1066. William de Somerville came north from England in 1107 with King David I of Scotland to conquer and settle the Borders area of Scotland. He was buried somewhere here in this cemetery at Melrose while the church was first being built in 1142.

So many of the graves are so old that their markings have worn off, so I do not know which one was his. I walked the length of the graveyard to look at as many headstones as I could. I know he was there somewhere.

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