Taber Hill, Scarborough

I did a little research to find out what 'unusual' burial sites might be close to me here in Scarborough (part of Toronto) that would be appropriate to include in this blog. I've done the small country cemeteries in the outlying areas but nothing from the metropolitan area (although I have photographed a couple of other locations). I did a bit of research and found out about this site, an ancient ossuary located in a park not far from where I live, and made a point of visiting it.

Through the trees to the top

There is the the hill of course, as the name implies, at the top of which sits a stone on a pedestal. Located just in front of it and a little to the side is a limb from a tree, one end embedded in the ground, with a single feather attached.

Stone and branch

Park, hill and stone sit in a well established housing subdivision. The details of the bone cache's discovery are on one of the two plaques which are affixed to the stone, the one facing west. I'll let you read it from the photograph.

West facing plaque

The plaque on the other side, facing east, has a prayer on it. I'll print the prayer here because it's a little difficult to read from the photograph itself.

Iroquois prayer

It says:

'O Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me. I am a man before you, one of your many children. I am small and weak. I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunsets. Make my hands respect the things you have made, my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise so I may know the things you have taught my people, the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock. I seek strength, O Creator, not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself. Make me ever ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eye, so that when life fades as the setting sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.'

Very nice sentiments.

Taber Hill

And there's one other detail, and one that means no disrespect to the site or the people who are interred there. It appears that this is a great sledding hill in the winter time.

Colin

The Enigma - Key West Cemetery, 2014

Memorial statuary tends to fall into basic groups:  angels, Christs, cherubs, the occasional portrait, perhaps a dove, and so on.  But during my visit to Key West Cemetery, there was one statue that fell into none of the standard categories.

How did this unexpected nude, with its unusual position and flattened features, come to be in the cemetery? It stands over the grave of Archibald John Sheldon Yates, 1911 - 1966, whose gravestone lies in the centre of his shattered tomb.

The statue's weatherworn face is almost expressionless, but its tilted head and closed eyes project a sort of ecstasy - or is it suffering?  In retrospect, I cannot say if the statue's hands are bound or not, but their position appears to be one of bondage.

I suspect that some research online would reveal the story behind this figure, but I decided not to investigate.  Some mysteries are more satisfying when left unsolved.

- Sid