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A Graveyard
Tale Closer to Home
by Nancy Millar
I'm not done
with my tales from overseas. They'll keep turning up over time,
but right now I want to tell you about an encounter in a cemetery
near Delia, AB. Now, Delia isn't that big. My atlas says there
are 198 good people there, and maybe a few bad ones. It's about
30 minutes from Drumheller on the way to Hanna and you can spot
the graveyard right away. I can anyway because I now know that
a straight line of spruce trees is often the clue. Follow a straight
line of spruce trees and you're never too far from a cemetery,
I have found- on the prairies at least.
I was looking
for the Delia cemetery because someone once told me that there
was an epitaph in the Delia cemetery that said, "All things
considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia." It's a W.C. Fields
crack, I think, although I've looked through my books of quotes
today and can't find that one.
Anyway, it's
not your average Canadian or Albertan or small town or modest
Canadian epitaph. We tend to be terribly sensible, no-nonsense
in our graveyards...mostly just names and dates and the occasional
"Life's Work Well Done," or some such worthy inscription.
Which is why I was anxious to find…"All things considered,
etc."
So, with about
an hour to fill between one thing and another in the Drumheller
area, I talked my husband into a quick visit of the Delia cemetery.
It's a nice day; you'll love it, I said. So we found it- see spruce
trees above- and realized it's quite big. It would take more than
the 10 minutes we had, so nothing ventured, nothing gained, I
approached another family group and asked them about this unusual
epitaph. Did they know anything about it?
The mom in
the group thought she'd heard something about it, and thought
it was in the old section over there, but she wasn't sure. She
came to look with us; the kids came to look. We all looked, but
didn't find anything. Finally, she said, "You know, you should
get that book called Remember Me As You Pass By. It's all about
Alberta graves and it's sure to have what you're looking for."
What could
I say? It was my book she was talking about but obviously it came
up short in this instance. I confessed eventually and she's going
to continue looking for W.C. Fields in Delia. The whole encounter
reminds me of the epitaph that everybody tells me about…the
famous one that says, "I told you I was sick." I have
heard about that epitaph from so many people and I have followed
up on possible sites, but I still haven't actually seen it. I
think it probably belongs in the category of urban myths or apocryphal
stories but and but…there's always the chance that somebody
will find it. There's always the chance that my new friend in
Delia will find W.C. Fields. And for goodness sake, if you do,
let me know!
Nancy
Millar's books about graveyards include Remember Me As You
Pass By, (stories from Alberta graveyards) and Once Upon A
Tomb (stories from Canadian graveyards.) Both are a combination
of history, story and travel. They are available from many
bookstores, see the Links provided, or from Deadwood Distribution,
e-mail nemillar@shaw.ca.
Her other books include Once Upon A Wedding - Canadian history
through actual weddings; The Famous Five: Emily Murphy and
the Case of the Missing Persons, and Once Upon An Outhouse.
Also available from Deadwood. |
Highgate
R.B.Bennett
Lady
MacDonald - The Mystery of Mary
The
Titanic Cemetery
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