At the eastern end of St
Mary's Priory churchyard in Whitecross Street, Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales,
there lies a gravestone of JOHN RENIE, a house painter who died in 1832 at the
age of 33. The gravestone comprises a rectangular carved 285-letter acrostic
puzzle. From the larger H on the center square the sentence "Here lies
John Renie" may be read in any direction.
It is believed that Renie
may have carved the stone himself which contains 19 squares across and 15
squares high. It comprises a rectangular carved 285-letter acrostic puzzle. In
each square is a letter. The center row, for example, reads “o J s e i L e r e
H e r e L i e s J o.” You can make out some clear words. “Here” and “Lies” are
in that in that string above, and you can see the start of “John.”
It is claimed that the
sentence may be read a total of 46,000 different ways. It is likely that Renie
carved the stone himself. Writer and cleric Lionel Fanthorpe has suggested that
his intention may have been to confuse the Devil, so ensuring Renie his passage
to heaven.
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