Sunday 11th January 2015
A memorial to William Buckler,
son of William and Frances Buckler,
on the north side of the nave of the
Parish Church of St. Denys, The Minster,
Warminster.
The Latin inscription
on the memorial translates:
“Nay, wayfarer, stay your steps;
the reward of your delay will be
that you will not be unaware of him
who lies below.
Alas! (Oh! that God had willed him to survive!)
William, son of William and Frances Buckler,
lies here. He was a youth most irreproachable
and most perfect, remarkable for his
truthfulness in conversation,
his urbanity of manners, and his
courteousness in society – hence he was
deservedly the favourite of his parents,
his brother, and his sister.
Without exciting any ill-will,
he was the flower and glory of the
Academy at Wells, and would have
been the same and the ornament of Cambridge.
But alas! seized by illness – never more hateful
– he breathed out his pure soul
January 21st, 1708, aged 18.
Go, reader, and, if you can, imitate him.”
.
