Urban Legends
'A Grave Decision'
Urban legends
A GRAVE DECISION
In a churchyard in the small Glamoganshire town of Maesteg, in South Wales, there is a gravestone upon which is carved
an inscription informing the reader that the deceased remains
of the person lying in the grave below died at the age of 7777!
According to local legend, the stonemason who was responsible
for supplying the headstone had an apprentice to whom he gave
the job of chiselling the details into the stone.
The actual age of the deceased at death was 28 but the poor
apprentice felt that he lacked the technical skills required
to confidently chisel the curved figures '28'. However he did
know that four sevens added together equalled twenty-eight and
the straight lines required for the figure seven were well within his capability. So he took the easy option and chiselled '7777'!
The stonemason was amused at the ingenuity of his apprentice
and persuaded the grieving family to accept the headstone by
suggesting that their loved one would be remembered much longer
because of the novelty of the inscription.
They obviously agreed for the headstone remains to this day for all to see!
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