The Green man is a pan-European theme with roots deep in the Pre-Christian past. Scarce (but by no means unknown) in Scotland, his origins have been traced to the Romans and Greeks of ancient times. With the spread of Christianity the Green Man moved north into Europe, adopted as a symbol of nature, of resurrection, and for the unconquerable life of the spirit (Donaldson). He is everywhere in the great Churches and Cathedrals of Europe and England and, although he was persecuted by the Reformers in Scotland, the masons that made the churches and headstones (perhaps subversively) kept him alive into the 17th and 18th centuries. And it turns out that this tradition was particularly strong in East Lothian!

To see a larger collection of 17th and 18th century Scottish Gravestones see skfb.ly/o7VRI