Andrew Currie (1812–1891) was a Scottish sculptor and antiquarian. His most noted works are the statue of

James Hogg James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...

St Mary's Loch St Mary's Loch is the largest natural loch in the Scottish Borders, and is situated on the south side of the A708 road between Selkirk and Moffat, about south of Edinburgh. Description It is long and wide, and was created by glacial acti ...

(1860) (sometimes called the Ettrick Shepherd), the statue of

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

on the esplanade at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

(1876), and the figures of

Edie Ochiltree Edie Ochiltree is a character in Sir Walter Scott's 1816 novel ''The Antiquary'', a licensed beggar of the legally protected class known as Blue-gowns or bedesmen, who follows a regular beat around the fictional Scottish town of Fairport. Scott ...

and

Old Mortality ''Old Mortality'' is one of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott. Set in south west Scotland, it forms, along with ''The Black Dwarf'', the 1st series of his ''Tales of My Landlord'' (1816). The novel deals with the period of the Covenanters, ...

on the

Scott Monument The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the second largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opp ...

Life

Currie was born in the

Ettrick Forest Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk ( gd, Siorrachd Shalcraig) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. ...

area, the son of a Howford sheep farmer, in 1812. He was apprenticed as a mill-wright in

Denholm Denholm is a small village located between Jedburgh and Hawick in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, UK. The estimated population of Denholm is 600. There is a village green in the centre. It lies in the valley of the River Teviot. Denho ...

. He is known to have attended Yarrow church with

and knew him personally, adding greatly to the authenticity of his later statue to him. After initially travelling south to London and working in the

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

Currie returned to Scotland in 1839 and continued to work as a mill-wright in

Earlston Earlston ( sco, Yerlston; gd, Dùn Airchill) is a civil parish and market town in the county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders. It is on the River Leader in Lauderdale, Scotland. Early history Earlston was originally called ''Arc ...

until his forties when he began his career as a sculptor.SSAH Newsletter
ssah.org.uk He was aged 43 when he begin exhibiting at the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

. He exhibited from 1855 to 1877. Around 1857 he moved to

Darnick Darnick is a village near Melrose in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former Roxburghshire. The name was first recorded in 1124, and has changed from Dernewic, Dernwick and Darnwick to the present Darnick. was built in c. 1425, a ...

, operating a workshop in the grounds of Darnick Tower. Currie converted to Catholicism in 1864. He died in 1891 and is buried in Weirhill Cemetery in Melrose.

Other known works

*Statue of Mungo Park in Selkirk (1859) *Edie Ochiltree, The Gaberlunzie man, (probably a practice-piece for the second

figure), in the grounds of Scott's home,

Abbotsford House Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...

. *Girl with Flowers,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

City Art Centre (1882). *Carved bookshelf, originally carved for Cowdenknowes House *Fairy Flower Stand, (wood-carving) exhibited RSA 1855, current whereabouts unknown *Side altar and pulpit, Our Lady and St Andrews Church,

Galashiels Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive ...

*Moss Trooper,

Netherby Hall Arthuret is a civil parish in the Carlisle district of Cumbria, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,434, increasing to 2,471 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the town of Longtown and the village of Easton. It is ...

*Fireplace and over-mantle exported to his brother, John Lang Currie, for his mansion in St Kilda, Melbourne

References

*Carving History: The Life and Works of Andrew Currie by Bob Johnstone

External links

The Character StatuesSouthern Reporter

Andrew Currie - Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951
{{DEFAULTSORT:Currie, Andrew 1813 births 1891 deaths 19th-century British sculptors 19th-century British male artists 19th-century Scottish people Scottish sculptors Scottish male sculptors People from the Scottish Borders Converts to Roman Catholicism Scottish Roman Catholics