Newington Cemetery
Newington Cemetery
Newington Cemetery
Newington Cemetery
Helen Tulloch Nasmyth
Notable for its inscription - the last verse of a song called 'The Rosary'

Helen Tulloch Nasmyth was the wife of George Grieve, a plumber. Despite checking all the usual sources, the Friends of Newington Cemetery have been unable to find any other information about either husband or wife. But we were intrigued by the inscription at the bottom of the headstone, which turns out to be the last verse of a popular song called ‘The Rosary’. Among many others, this has been recorded by Perry Como, Mario Lanza, Johnny Mathis, Nelson Eddy, Dame Clara Butt and Josef Locke.

The full text reads:

The Rosary

Words by Robert Cameron Rogers, music by Ethelbert Nevin.

The hours I spend with thee, dear heart

Are as a string of pearls to me

I count them over evʼry one apart

My rosary, my rosary

Each hour a pearl, each pearl a prayer

To still a heart in absence wrung

I tell each bead unto the end

And there a cross is hung

Oʼ memories that bless and burn

Oʼ barren gain and bitter loss

I kiss each bead and strive at last to learn

To kiss the cross, sweetheart, to kiss the cross

tags: Notable monuments Women