The eternal flame

In the 1800s the port of Peterhead was a major player in the Greenland whale fishery. This is the  burial lair of the Grays, a prominent Peterhead whaling family, in the ancient St Peter's graveyard. Like many old Scottish gravestones the Gray memorial incorporates a symbol of the family's trade. In this case it takes the form of a flaming whale-oil lamp sitting atop the gravestone.

Also buried in the Gray lair is a 13 year old Inuit boy, Jacob Johannes. An Inuit woman known only as Mary was buried at the same time in a nearby, unmarked grave. The Inuit family had arrived in Peterhead in 1825, as guests of the Grays. Unfortunately they had little resistance to the diseases that were so rampant in Britain at the time and Jacob and Mary both died in March 1826.

Until recently the gravestone had fine white marble panels showing the names of the buried. You can see them here together with details of the Gray family. Sadly the panels have since fallen victim to mindless vandalism.