ABOUT THE STATUE:
"This bronze by Henry Bain Smith (1857-1893) was cast in July 1892 and unveiled two months later. The daisy held by the national bard recalls his popular poem “To a Mountain Daisy”, written at the plough in April 1786. Burns personally identified with the daisy’s fate and despairingly reflected on his own circumstances at the time."
--Source (
visit link)
"Dr William Alexander, an Aberdeen author and journalist, was the prime mover behind the campaign to erect a statue of Burns in the Granite City.
In time-honoured fashion a public subscription was launched and the commission to execute a bronze figure of the poet was given to Henry Bain Smith (1859-95), a local sculptor.
The statue stands about ten feet high, on a pedestal of white Kemnay granite bearing the solitary word BURNS cut in the front.
Pinnington, as usual, had something to say about this statue, which was unveiled on Union Terrace on 15th September 1892. The Aberdeen statue is mildly expressive of dignity and thought. It shows the graver and sterner side of Burns, and standing close by the busiest thoroughfare of Aberdeen, although robbed of a fuller eloquence by its stiffness and frigidity, its message to humanity is at least salutary and bracing. The peasant deserved respect and homage, and he won them."
--Source (
visit link)
ABOUT THE MAN:
"Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Robbie Burns, Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as The Bard) was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a light Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish public in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV.
As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) "Auld Lang Syne" is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and "Scots Wha Hae" served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well known across the world today include "A Red, Red Rose"; "A Man's a Man for A' That"; "To a Louse"; "To a Mouse"; "The Battle of Sherramuir"; "Tam o' Shanter"; and "Ae Fond Kiss"."
--Wikipedia (
visit link)