In 1841, the Scots Charitable Society purchased a lot at Mount Auburn for its members. For the more than 200 people now buried here, it is the iron fence enclosing the lot that serves as their memorial. The Scots’ Charitable Society fence includes the image of St. Andrew, the patron Saint of Scotland, as well as Scottish thistles and crests.

This is one of the few group lots in the cemetery. Mount Auburn’s founders emphasized the idea of family lots which, at the time of the Cemetery’s founding, cost $60.  For Boston’s working-people, who often earned less than $500 per year, the price of a lot at Mount Auburn was not easily afforded.  The Scots’ Charitable Society lot was an imaginative financial solution for individuals who had neither relatives with whom to share a family lot, nor the means to afford such a great expense.