endlessrarities | A Shrine to Rabbie... (Reply)

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!