Rare Robert Burns statue arrives in city for weekend display after completing trip from South Africa
dailyrecord.co.ukA rare surviving cast-iron statue of Scotland’s Bard, Robert Burns, has completed a trip from South Africa to a display in Stirling.The statue, which is likely the only surviving example of its type, will go on display at the city’s Engine Shed as part of a ‘Doors Open Day’ on the weekend of September 21 and 22.The metal sculpture, which was discovered in a compost heap in the 1950s in Durban, South Africa, has made its new home at the Engine Shed – Scotland’s dedicated building conservation centre in Stirling.The statue had been in Cape Town but was lost and forgotten until it was happily rediscovered under a compost heap in a Durban garden.The statue then remained in South Africa until purchased by Paul and Alexandra Morris in 2013, who organised for the statue to be shipped back to Scotland.The statue was designed by the eminent sculptor David Watson Stevenson and originally cast at the famous McFarlane’s Foundry in Saracen, Glasgow, prior to the First World War.The Saracen Foundry had a reputation for producing high quality pieces of work, many of which are now considered to be of major historical importance.After its rediscovery, the statue was carefully transported back to the Morris’s home in Alloway.There, ‘Rusty Rabbie’ was sympathetically restored, including lead testing on flakes of paint to confirm the original colour.
Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area. It has now been re-painted with colours that reflect the original finish from when it left the McFarlane’s Foundry around 1900.After enjoying sharing their home with Rabbie and giving talks about his discovery at Burns Clubs and historical societies, Paul and Alexandra Morris decided the time was right for him to move on to a place
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