Buried 30 April 1810 aged 92
Spofforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Buried in the churchyard of All Saints', Spofforth, under a stone erected at the cost of Lord Dundas. Epitaph: "Here lies John Metcalf, one whose infant sight / Felt the dark pressure of an endless night; / Yet such the fervour of his dauntless mind, / His limbs full strung, his spirits unconfined, / That, long ere yet life's bolder years began, / The sightless efforts mark'd th' aspiring man; / Nor mark'd in vain—high deeds his manhood dared, / And commerce, travel, both his ardour shared. / 'Twas his a guide's unerring aid to lend— / O'er trackless wastes to bid new roads extend; / And, when rebellion reared her giant size, / 'Twas his to burn with patriot enterprise; / For parting wife and babes, a pang to feel, / Then welcome danger for his country's weal. / Reader, like him, exert thy utmost talent given! / Reader, like him, adore the bounteous hand of Heaven. / He died on the 26th of April 1810 in the 93rd year of his life."