A Shrine to Rabbie...

[endlessrarities]

It's time to venture inside the Burns Monument, which, perhaps not surprisingly, contains a 'shrine' to the poet himself.  It continues the Classical theme, giving pride of place to a heroic statue of Our Hero Rabbie, which is executed in the style of a Roman bust, complete with laurel wreath:-

 

Hamilton's attention to detail continues in this part of the monument, as this doorway clearly demonstrates:-

But it's not all roses with regards to the Burns Monument.  Here's a view of the ceiling at the ground floor level.  Again, there's some lovely stonework, but the paintwork is tired and the whole effect is a bit shabby:-

 

To be honest, I found it rather sad that a monument to Scotland's 'National Bard' is in such a poor, forlorn state.  There's been much media hype just recently about the revamped Burns heritage centre in Alloway, a state-of-the-art building which has cost a fortune to design and build.  It's just a shame that when sufficient money can be found to create a modern purpose-built 'museum'  dedicated to the poet, there isn't enough left over to keep the Burns Monument looking bright and clean. 

It must be such a let-down, for foreign visitors in particular, to come all the way to Alloway and find this 19th century monument looking so dowdy and down-at-heel.  Let's hope it's given a makeover in the very near future!

Comments

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

I hope it can be as well; shame that something so lovely has been allowed to get shabby.

At the same time, having read so much about him, I can't help but wonder if he'd be both amused and chagrined that they'd done him up as a stuffy Classical Roman bust. I could be wrong...

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Yep, amused and chagrined would pretty much sum up his thoughts, I think. And this monument was put up only a few decades after his death! It definitely represents the appropriation of 'Everyman's' poet by the noble literati of the day!

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

I love that door. I take it that this post means you are home safe. Nice score on the Tweety food.