Headstone in Wyke Churchyard - In Wyke (juxta Weymouth) churchyard, there is a headstone with the following inscription, which is copied in the same lines as exist upon the stone:

Sacred to the memory
Of
WILLIAM LEWIS
Who was killed by a shot
From the Pigmy schooner,
21st April, 1822 : aged 33 years.
Of life bereft (by fell design)
I mingle with my fellow clay,
On God's protection I recline,
To save me on the judgment day.
There shall each blood-stain'd soul appear.
Repent. Ah! Ere it be too late,
Or else a dreadful doom you'll hear,
For God will sure avenge my fate.
This stone was erected by his Wife,
As the last mark of respect to an
Affectionate Husband."

Upon the upper part of the stone, above this inscription, a picture is engraved representing the sea, with two vessels upon it (a schooner with two masts, and a cutter with one mast); and also a part of the coast, with a small tower upon it. The clerk informed me that Lewis was killed on board a vessel engaged in smuggling, which had been chased by a revenue schooner; and the imputation intended to be conveyed by the picture and inscription was, that the shot, by which Lewis was killed, was fired from the schooner after the cutter had "brought to".

There are no ancient monuments in Wyke Church; but there is a stone with the arms of Henry VII, ie 1^st and 4^th France, 2^nd and 3^rd England, and a lion and dragon as supporters, extremely well sculptured upon it. This stone is said to have been brought from some abbey, the name of which the clerk could not remember.

There are two rows of pillars in the church: on a pillar in one row is the crowned head of a king (said to be Henry IV) projecting towards the centre of the church; and on the opposite pillar, in the other row, is the head of a queen in a similar position. C.S GREAVES.

Notes and Queries Vol. 3 2nd S. (59) Feb 14 1857 Page 123

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