A statue of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

stands in Washington Park in Albany, New York, United States. The statue was designed by Charles Calverley and was unveiled in 1888. Four bas-reliefs around its pedestal, in part designed by

George Henry Boughton George Henry Boughton (4 December 1833 – 19 January 1905) was an Anglo-American landscape and genre painter, illustrator and writer. Life and work Boughton was born in Norwich in Norfolk, England, the son of farmer William Boughton. The fam ...

, were later added in 1891. The statue is one of the oldest pieces of public art in the park.

History

Background

was a Scottish poet active during the 1700s. Considered

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

national poet A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbo ...

, he was a significant figure in the

Romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and considered a

cultural icon A cultural icon is a person or an artifact that is identified by members of a culture as representative of that culture. The process of identification is subjective, and "icons" are judged by the extent to which they can be seen as an authentic ...

both in his home country and among the

Scottish diaspora The Scottish diaspora consists of Scottish people who emigrated from Scotland and their descendants. The diaspora is concentrated in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland and to a lesser extent A ...

. One such group made up of members of this diaspora, the

Saint Andrew's Society Saint Andrew's Society refers to one of many independent organizations celebrating Scottish heritage which can be found all over the world. Some Saint Andrew's Societies limit membership to people born in Scotland or their descendants. Some sti ...

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

, was established in 1803 and consisted of

Scottish Americans Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ameireaganaich Albannach''; sco, Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, d ...

. In 1886, Mary McPherson, a wealthy Scottish immigrant in Albany, died and left in her will funds to build a monument to Robert Burns. Peter Kinnear, a member of the society, served as the executor for her will and oversaw the creation of the monument. In March 1886, Kinnear traveled to New York City and, upon the recommendation of noted painter William Hart, commissioned Charles Calverley to design the monument. Calverley, a native of Albany, had worked as a stonecutter in that city before becoming an assistant for sculptor

Erastus Dow Palmer Erastus Dow Palmer (April 2, 1817March 9, 1904) was an American sculptor. Life Palmer was born in Pompey, New York. He was the second of nine children. He showed early artistic promise, and pursued his father's trade of carpentry. Palmer married ...

and, by the time of his commissioning, had become a successful portrait sculptor in New York City. He would later create several memorials in

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Colonie, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical A ...

. The statue was

cast Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William ...

by the Henry-Bonnard Company of New York City. The

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

for the monument was prepared at

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in Scotland, while the base was prepared at Quincy, Massachusetts. On June 30, 1888, Kinnear oversaw the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

laying ceremony, which was performed by Freemasons from the Grand Lodge of New York. On August 1, both the base and pedestal were set up in Washington Park. On August 29, the statue arrived in the city and was erected atop the pedestal.

Dedication

The statue was dedicated on August 30, 1888. In the days before this, invitations had been extended to Scottish groups throughout North America, with many traveling to Albany to see the unveiling. The ceremony commenced with a parade at 3 p.m. of members of these various groups which ended at the site of the statue. At this point, a crowd of several thousand had gathered around the statue, which was draped with an

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

. Kinnear gave the opening address of the ceremony, where he spoke about the McPherson family. Following this,

The Reverend The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

Robert Collyer, orator for the ceremony, gave an address where he spoke about Burns and his legacy. During this speech, the flag covering the statue fell slightly, exposing Burns's head. This caused a slight disruption among the crowd, and the band played " Ye Banks and Braes" before Collyer continued his speech without further interruption. After Collyer, The Reverend George C. Lorimer of Albany's First Baptist Church gave a brief speech, which was followed by a rendition of "There was a Lad was born in Kyle" performed by Thomas Impett of

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

. Following this, the statue was officially unveiled and Kinnear presented it to park officials.

Abraham Lansing Abraham Lansing (February 27, 1835 – October 4, 1899) was an American lawyer and politician. Early life Abraham Lansing was born in Albany, Albany County, New York. He was the son of Christopher Yates Lansing (1796–1872) and Caroline Mar ...

accepted the statue on behalf of park commissioners. Celebrations at the statue then ended with Impett's performance of " Auld Lang Syne". Following this, festivities continued at Union Hall, where Kinnear gave an opening address which was followed by short addresses by William B. Smith (president of the North American United Caledonian Association) and John Kinnear (Royal Chief of the Order of Scottish Clans). Numerous Scottish

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s were also sung. Additional festivities took place at the Delavan House. Albany mayor

Edward A. Maher Edward A. Maher (May 20, 1848 – September 13, 1920) was a business executive and political figure from Albany, New York. A Democrat, he was most notable for his two terms in the New York State Assembly from 1883 to 1884 and his term as mayor o ...

gave a brief speech, which was followed by other addresses, though numerous expected speakers were absent from the celebrations. The celebrations ended with several more toasts and a singing of "Auld Lang Syne". In total, celebrations had continued until past 2 am

Later history

In 1890, Calverley was commissioned to create a bust of Burns for

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

's personal library. Carnegie had been aware of the statue in Washington Park before commissioning Calverley and was so pleased with the result that he had a second bust cast in 1891 for display at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. In 1891, four

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s were added to the monument's pedestal. The reliefs were created by Calverley based in part on designs by his friend

. In 1978, the Saint Andrew's Society of Albany funded a conservation of the monument.

Design

The monument, which stands tall, consists of a bronze statue of Burns in a seated position, with a

Kilmarnock Bonnet The Balmoral (more fully the Balmoral bonnet in Scottish English or Balmoral cap otherwise, and formerly called the Kilmarnock bonnet) is a traditional Scottish hat that can be worn as part of formal or informal Highland dress. Developed from t ...

in his left hand and a book in his right hand, which is resting on his knee. Both the pedestal and base are made of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, and the entire monument is surrounded by a circular path. It is located near the park entrance by Hudson Avenue and Henry Johnson Boulevard. The bas-reliefs attached around the pedestal are illustrations of scenes from four of Burns's poems: " Tam o' Shanter", "

To a Mountain Daisy "To a Mountain Daisy", On Turning one Down, With The Plough, in April 1786 is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1786. It was included in the Kilmarnock volume of Burns's poems, published in that year. The poem tells of how the poet, wh ...

", "

The Cotter's Saturday Night ''The Cotter's Saturday Night'' is a poem by Robert Burns that was first published in ''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect'' in 1786. Composition Burns wrote "The Cotter's Saturday Night" at his Mossgiel farm, near Mauchline, during the win ...

", and "Auld Lang Syne".

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{Robert Burns 1888 establishments in New York (state) 1888 sculptures Bronze sculptures in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Albany, New York Monuments and memorials in New York (state) Outdoor sculptures in New York (state) Statues in New York (state) New York Tourist attractions in Albany, New York