Janet MacMath was buried at Greyfriars in 1630, 11 years before her Husband, John Trotter of Mortonhall, who died in 1641.
Janet is depicted with her husband, both dressed to impress with large neck ruffs & Janet has a large hood which frames her face.
John Trotter was a successful merchant in Edinburgh during the peaceful & relatively prosperous reign of James VI. John amassed a goodly fortune which allowed him to buy the large and fruitful estate and Baronage of Mortonhall. Thereafter their family line became “the Trotters of Mortonhall”, which they still hold to this day.
John & Janet were married in 1598 and over the following 19 years they had 10 children, six sons and four daughters. Janet’s date of birth is unclear so we can’t be sure how old she was when she died. But we do know that John lived to the grand old age of 88.
This memorial was erected on the North Wall of Greyfriars Kirkyard in 1641, initially open to the elements. But in 1709 their Great Grandson, also called John Trotter, erected a Mausoleum over the family burial ground, enclosing the memorial and thereby cutting it off from public view.
The inscription on the memorial is in Latin, and reads :
Mors patet, hora latet.
Octoginta ultra Trotterus vixerat annos;
Progenie felix, ambitione carens.
Publica privatus curavit; semper egenis
Aut opere, aut opibus, contulis almus opem.
Which translates to :
Death is sure; the hour unsure
Trotter lived for over eighty years;
Happy with his offspring & devoid of ambition.
He cared for the public good as a private citizen;
He always gave generous help to the needy,
Either by work or by wealth.
That should probably be read as if an application form for admittance to heaven ;o)
