PRIVATE JOHN GRAY
ARGYLL AND SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS
24TH JUNE 1916 AGE 37
BURIED: BERKS CEMETERY EXTENSION, BELGIUM
This is a line from 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' by Thomas Gray (1716-1771). It was chosen by Private Gray's wife and implies that those who have achieved the trappings of greatness should not underestimate the value of those whose lives appear to have been more humble - John Gray may only have been a private but he played his part in life and in the war. It's the following stanza that is much better known and to which perhaps Mrs Gray wanted to draw attention:
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour: -
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.