This is a list of over sixty known memorials (statues, busts, fountains, buildings and street names) to the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Of these, the oldest outdoor statue is given to be at Camperdown, Victoria, Australia (1830).
Dumfries town centre statue
Burns Monument at the poet's birthplace, AllowayBurns Monument, EdinburghStatue by John Flaxman, Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Arbroath – statue by Dundee sculptor Scott Sutherland in the grounds of Arbroath Library.[1] Sutherland may be better known for his work of the Commando Memorial.
Bathgate – Statue or Rabbie Burns with Highland Mary in grounds of Partnership Centre.
Dalkeith – cast iron drinking fountain originally erected in the High Street in 1899 to commemorate the centenary of the death of Robert Burns in 1896. Removed from the High Street in 1968, the restored monument was relocated back to the High Street in a new location in 2017.
Dumfries – at the end of the town centre, the statue in white marble of Burns leaning on a tree stump, a dog laying across his foot, is opposite Greyfriars Church. The front panel is inscribed: "Erected by the inhabitants of Dumfries (with the aid of many friends) as a loving tribute to their fellow townsman, the national poet of Scotland. 6th April 1882."
Dumfries – mausoleum at burial site in St Michaels Churchyard
Edinburgh – monument on Regent Road, Calton Hill. The marble statue inside by John Flaxman was moved to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh in 1889.[3]
Portpatrick – statue produced by local sculptor James Watt, and erected in Portpatrick in 1923 by the village's Burns Club.[1] Damaged by storms in the 1980s, it was refurbished and repainted by the Stranraer Burns Club and Portpatrick Bowls Club in 2016. The statue now overlooks the bowling greens.[6]
Prestonpans – Burns Bicentennial Memorial, erected by the local Burns Club
Stonehaven - a stone bust of Burns, and an information board entitled "The Fatherland of Robert Burns", is within the Burns Memorial Garden at the corner of David Street and Belmont Brae.
Adelaide, South Australia – A standing Burns in marble holds a book with the right arm, and the left poised away from the body. The statue is outside the State Library of South Australia. Erected May 1894, by the South Australian Caledonian Society.
Ballarat, Victoria – statue of a standing Burns with a dog to his left, in Sturt Street (corner of Lydiard Street) Ballarat. On the grey granite plinth the front panel details his dates and places of birth and death, followed by stanzas from There was a man from Kyle. The other three sides have stanzas from various poems about humanity and learning.
Camperdown, Victoria – statue, possibly the oldest existing outside Burns statue, carved in 1830, and the first one in the Southern Hemisphere.[7] Based on a 1786 live painting of Burns, it was displayed at a Crystal Palace exhibition before coming to Australia. Due to vandalism in 2009, the plinth remains in the botanic park but the statue has been moved to the shire council chambers. It is presently being considered for restoration.[8][9]
Canberra, ACT – statue outside the eponymous Burns Centre, National Circuit, Forrest (1935)
Melbourne, Victoria – statue in Treasury Gardens, with bronze friezes decorating the plinth. The granite plinth is beneath a standing Burns in bronze, with right foot slightly forward, and the right arm almost crossed above the left across the chest. "Erected under the auspices of the Caledonian Society Melbourne 1904", the front brass states the last name of the poet. The plinth followed clockwise displays almost-identical reliefs of scenes from his poems, To a mountain daisy (1786), Tam O'Shanter (1790), and The cotter's Friday night (1785). The sculptor George Anderson Lawson also had later-erected memorials in Vancouver (1928) and Montreal (1930), Canada.
Fredericton, New Brunswick – statue on the Green, by the banks of the Saint John River, across from the Provincial Legislature. The Fredericton Society of Saint Andrew sponsored the erection in the Kilmarnock style in 1906.[11] Absent from 2008 to 2011, the statue has been remodelled for flood-proofing.[12]
Toronto, Ontario – the erect Burns in brass is on top of a light granite plinth in Allan Gardens. Erected 21 July 1902, "to the memory of the poet by his admirers". Scenes reflecting The cotter's Friday night (1785), Tam o' Shanter, John Anderson my jo, and possibly To a mountain daisy (1786).
Victoria, British Columbia – near the southern car park in Beacon Hill Park – his statue sits, almost kneeling, with his arm around Highland Mary. In the grey granite plinth front face, beneath a rampant lion upon a shield, is inscribed "To the memory of Scotia'an immortal bard. Born 1759. Erected by his admirers 1900." Going clockwise from the front panel, an inscription "The golden hours, on angel wings flew o'er me and my dearie;" above a lion's head drinking basin, a shield with the saltire, and a coloured framed picture of the bard (perhaps added after erection) with the words above, "For dear to me as light and life was my sweet Highland Mary."
Windsor, Ontario – large bronze bust presented to the City of Windsor by The Border Cities Burns Club in June 1952. Located on the east side of Jackson Park, beside the parking lot.[14]
Winnipeg, Manitoba – statue in the grounds of the Provincial Legislature, on Kennedy Street. It was erected in 1936 by the Winnipeg Burns Club.[15]
London – Burns Close, a street in Welling, one of a group of streets named after authors
Newcastle upon Tyne – statue in Walker Park. The statue was erected to commemorate the visit by Burns to Newcastle in 1787
Auckland, North Island – a brass statue in The Domain erected in 1921, with Burns leaning on a plough, on top of a stone plinth.[16] The front panel of the plinth is inscribed: "To the immortal memory of Robert Burns 1759–1796. The peasant bard of Scotland. The strong advocate of universal freedom and the brotherhood of man."
Cheyenne, Wyoming – bronze statue erected in Gilchrist Park in 1929, by Scottish sculptor Henry Snell Gamley (1865–1928)[1]
Chicago, Illinois – statue in Garfield Park, cast in Edinburgh by William Grant Stevenson, it was commissioned in 1906. Burns stands erect, his right hand clasped to his lapel, the left holding a book. Appearing on each face of the plinth is a single line of four different poems. By 2010, the bronze friezes had been removed.[23][24]
Denver, Colorado – bronze statue in the City Park, donated by the Scots Caledonian Club of Colorado and erected on July 4, 1904. Across the granite base, "A poet peasant born who more of fame's immortal power unto his country brings than all her kings". The sculptor was William Grant Stevenson (1849–1919), who also did the original Kilmarnock statue.[25][24]
Detroit, Michigan – bronze statue by George Anderson Lawson in Ayr, Scotland, in 1891, it was moved to Cass Park near the downtown and erected in 1921 sponsored by the City of Detroit Burns Club and the ladies auxiliary, The Jean Amour Club.[26]
Jacksonville, Florida – a deteriorating limestone bust on a large plinth in Springfield Park, erected in 1930 by the Robert Burns Association of Jacksonville. The four panels were stolen during World War II, allegedly sold for scrap steel.[28][29] It is located near the corner of Main and Phelps Streets.[30]
Milwaukee, Wisconsin – bronze statue in Burns Triangle between Prospect and Farwell Avenues on Knapp Street, donated in 1909 by a prosperous grain merchant of Scottish descent named James Anderson Bryden. The sculptor was William Grant Stevenson. The statue is based upon Stevenson's Kilmarnock style. The statue was unveiled on June 26, 1909.[24]
St. Louis, Missouri – statue on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis, where he was a favourite poet of many of the university trustees.[34] Artist Robert Aitken (1878–1949) completed the eight-foot high bronze, "erected under the auspices of the Burns Club of St. Louis by admirers of Robert Burns and his genius. 1928."
Belfast, Northern Ireland – a small pedestal and bronze statue stands in the reception area of the Linen Hall Library, being presented to the people of Belfast in 1893[35]
Tallinn, Estonia – statue (bust) in Scottish Park (Šoti Park), Uus 31 (street), beside the Old Town. Formerly the home of Tallinn's Scottish Club (Šoti Klubi), the park is now associated with the Leib restaurant. Opposite the Burns bust is the later bust of Sir Sean Connery, erected 2011.[36]
Other than text of his poems, a plow may be present to represent his earlier vocation as a farmer. Several statues show Burns' dog, Luath.
A number of statues of Burns, and the friezes around the plinths, are reproductions of an original work.
Sculptor George Anderson Lawson's original work of Burns with right arm folded above the left, in Ayr, Scotland, in 1892 can be seen at:[37]
Belfast, Northern Ireland (1893), a smaller copy
Melbourne, Australia (1904)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (1914)
Detroit, Michigan, USA (1921)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (1928)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada (1930)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (1936)
It has also been reported a second small copy was presented to the Sorbonne University, Paris, France, in 1938. It was then hidden during the German military occupation of France, and so avoided being melted down. Its present whereabouts is unknown.[38]
William Grant Stevenson's Kilmarnock design of Burns holding a book in the left hand whilst the right hand holds the lapel, can be seen at:
Denver, USA (1904)
Chicago, USA (1906)
Milwaukee, USA (1909).
The Frederickton, Canada (1906) statue is also in the Kilmarnock style.
John Steell has four copies of Burns seated on a stump, looking pensively to the upper right:
Sharon Alker, Leith Davis, and Holly Faith Nelson (eds), "Robert Burns and Transatlantic Culture", Ashgate Publishing, 2012, ISBN1283429306.
Thomas Keith, "Burns Statues in North America, a Survey" in Robert Burns & America, ed. by G. Ross Roy (Fife, Scotland & Columbia, SC: Thomas Cooper Library & Akros Publications, 2001): 23-33
Thomas Keith "Burns Statues in North America," in The Burns Chronicle (Kilmarnock, Scotland: The Burns Federation, 2001): 71-83
Elizabeth A. Sudduth (compiler), "The G. Ross Roy Collection of Robert Burns: An Illustrated Catalogue", ISBN978-1-57003-829-7.
"Barney Mowat, Hokitika piper". West Coast Times. Retrieved 27 January 2009. Barney Mowat, Hokitika piper, pays toast to Robert Burns statue at Cass Square. West Coast Times 27 January 2009
Goodwillie, Edward (1911). The World's Memorials of Robert Burns. Detroit, Michigan: The Waverly Publishing Co. pp.118–120, 124–130, 134–136. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
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