This is the final chapter that examines headstone inscriptions, more
specifically here, epitaphs. Although epitaphs are a part of inscriptions, they can be
classified independently, as they can be regarded as an additional feature. The epitaph
is predominantly placed after all inscriptions, designated to a basal location on the
headstone, irrespective of height. This chapter will also consider the motif-epitaph
progression, which denotes the movement from using motifs to epitaphs in Britain.
Statistical analysis indicated that the difference between aspects of date of death and
length of epitaph, was extremely statistical significant for England, and also very
statistically significant in Scotland. The relationship between the length of the epitaph
and headstone is governed by the height of the headstone. Where weathering action
affected the legibility of the epitaph, the bag-of-words model and lines approach were
used and created, respectively, to augment the existing sample size. The use of longer
epitaphs earlier in the 18th to early 19th centuries indicates a salvation influence in the
words used on headstones.
Keywords: Bag-of-words model, χ2 test, Lexis, Lines approach, Mortality, Motifepitaph
progression, Remembrance, Salvation.
