File:The ladies church yard (BM 1868,0808.5039).jpg

English: A companion print to BMSat 6256. The scene is reversed, the church being on the right, the trees on the left. From behind the tombstones appear the busts of women. The central grave in the foreground, however, is that of the Prince of Wales, a rectangular tomb, surmounted by a truncated pyramid, above which appear the head and shoulders of the Prince. He appears perhaps in response to Perdita's appeal (see below). The tomb is ornamented at the corners with ostrich plumes. “Here lies The P-----se [sic] of W-----s. How happy cou'd I be with Either Were the other Dear Charmer away But while you both Tease me togeather The Devil a word Will I say Tal de Ral.”

On each side of this is a flat tomb: on the left: “Here lieth L------Y M---B---E. [Melbourne]. “Tho on my back Death Has me laid I might remain For him A Maid”. On the right “Here lies the D------s of D------RE [Duchess of Devonshire] Cease Kissing Death You stop my Breath”. For the prince's attachment to Lady Melbourne and the Duchess of Devonshire see Wraxall, 'Memoirs', 1884, v. 370-2, and cf. BMSat 6115. The other tombs in the front row are (left to right): “Here lies L------Y G------R [Grosvenor] A lover ne'er I Thought to lack While I so long lay on my Back” (see BMSat 4844, &c). The Queen has a rectangular tomb with a superstructure: “Here lies Her M-----y Virtue on earth No more is seen For here she lies With Britains Queen”; “Here lies the D------ss of R------d [Rutland] Tho beauteous she Was forced to Yield Death shook his Dart & won ye field.”
The other (less prominent) tombs (left to right) are: Catharine II: “Here lies the E---R--S of R------A. How could you death This Empress slay For her one life she would a Million Pay”; Marie Antoinette: “Here lies y Q------N o F-----CE Death has placed her on her Rump To play her cards Till the last Trump”. Behind, “Here lies Miss V-----N [Vernon] I did not like the P-----E of Ws for fops like him Might oft tel Tales”. For the three Miss Vernons, daughters of Richard Vernon, the second husband of the Countess of Upper Ossory, half-sisters of Lady Shelburne, see Walpole's poem 'The Three Vernons, Works', 1798, iv. 388. Next is the Duchess of Cumberland (Anne née Luttrell), D------s of C----L---D Fair Lady you deserve rebuke Who could for Death desert a Duke”. Next, “H [sic] Lies Mrs S--H--N [Sheridan] To Heavn'n would you find a path Go follow this Fair Maid of Bath” (an allusion to Foote's play on Miss Linley). Behind is, “Death like the Scandalous of Tongue You neither Spare The old nor Young, Miss Y-----g” [Young]. Next is the tomb of an old woman, “Here Lieth L-----y F-----h Her loss why should another Weep Who dozd Before now's fast Asleep”. “Here lies D------s of G------R [Gloucester, Maria Walpole] If charms and Virtue could life Save She neer had been within the Grave”. Next, and immediately behind the Prince of Wales, is “Mrs M-----N So cold a Lover neer was known Death lies upon Me like a Stone”. She is of meretricious appearance, and is probably Mrs. Mahon, see BMSat 5868, 5948, who did her best to attract the Prince of Wales. Bleackley, 'Ladies Fair and Frail', pp. 279-81. Next is Mrs. Siddons with a rectangular brick tomb: “Here lies Mrs S--D--NS Her fate weep not Whom her survive For in our mem'ry She's alive.” Behind, with a pyramidal tomb, is the Queen of Spain, “Q------n of S------N I die resigned in spight of Foes Since I have Scrached Britannias Nose”. Next is the Princess Royal: “Here lieth The P-----ss R------L. Here lies the Mildest of ye fair She was too good for Heaven to spare”. Next is Perdita: “Here lies Mrs R------N [Robinson] If with thee You'd have me dwell Go Death & Bring me Florizel” (see BMSat 5767, &c). Behind her is the tomb of Miss Farren, “Here lies Miss F------n O Death from you This ought to far be [sic] To take poor Joan Without her Derby” (see BMSat 5901). On the extreme right is Lady Archer: “L-----y A------R Beneath lies the blooming Archer Q--sb--y D------e [Queensbury Duke] Neer Seem'd more starcher” (see BMSat 5879). On the church wall is inscribed “Below lieth L-----y W--s--y [Worsley] I ne'er before was sick of love I prithee Death a little move”; see BMSat 6105, &c. 22 September 1783

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