You won’t be needing a passport to check these odd gravestones out, as they are all in the United States. This first one is from a gravesite in Ruidoso, New Mexico:

Here lies
Johnny Yeast
Pardon me
For not rising.

This next one has long been considered just a joke, but the tombstone actually does exist in Tombstone, Arizona. Lester Moore was an agent of the Weels Fargo company in the late eighteen hundreds.

Here lies Lester Moore
Four slugs from a .44
No Les No More.

And, finally, on Margaret Daniel’s grave in Richmond, Virginia (at the Hollywood Cemetery):

She always said her feet were killing her
but nobody believed her.

Before I write the rest of this, I want to make it VERY clear that I IN NO WAY think it is acceptable to deface a tombstone, not for any reason. These markers are important historically and to the families of those whose names are on them. That said, well, there IS an exception to every rule, and here’s an interesting one to store in your computer memory. This example of an interesting defacement is from a cemetery in England. The original inscription reads:

Remember man, as you walk by,
As you are now, so once was I,
As I am now, so shall you be,
Remember this and follow me.

An different epitaph all on it’s own, and worthy of note, but even more so now… some enterprising person has added, scrawled beneath the original:

To follow you I’ll not consent,
Until I know which way you went.

William H. Bonney, better known to history as “Billy The Kid”, has always been a fascinating subject for a wide range of people. That the truth of his life was far different from the Hollywood legend never seems to matter one bit. Even the epitaph, chosen for him by those who didn’t know his real story, seems to add to the myth and legend:

Truth and History.
21 Men. The Boy Bandit King
He Died As He Lived
William H. Bonney “Billy the Kid”

There is actually some question about who is really buried in Jesse James’ official grave. The official story is that he was gunned down, shot in the back, by a member of his own outlaw gang. However, there is an entire museum in Missouri that is dedicated to proving that Jesse James wasn’t the guy shot, and that he lived out his life under an assumed name, eventually dying of old age. If that’s true, then the following epitaph could carry a double meaning…. since the body in the grave is unidentified as well. The epitaph reads:

MURDERD BY A TRAITOR AND A COWARD WHOSE
NAME IS NOT WORTHY TO APPEAR HERE

Winston Churchill was arguably one of the greatest statesmen that ever lived. His speeches are still cited in classrooms around the world. He was an extremely complicated man. Apparently, he realized this himself, as it is reflected in his chosen epitaph:

I am ready to meet my Maker.

Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal
of meeting me is another matter.

Rest in peace, Mr. Churchill.

William Shakespeare’s work has been the bane of high school and college students for decades. Perhaps these students should be very glad they didn’t have to be responsible for analyzing his epitaph as well, since it’s almost as confusing as his comedies. Apparently, the Bard couldn’t even leave this world behind without trying to solilequize:

GOOD FREND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE TO
DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE.
BLEST BE YE MAN YT SPARES THES STONES AND
CURST BE HE YT MOVES MY BONES

Ah, well. Rest in peace, Mr. Shakespear…. whatever you said.