Victoria Park is an urban park on
Spring Garden Road
The Spring Garden Road area, along with Barrington Street (which it adjoins) is a major commercial and cultural district in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It acquired its name from the fresh water spring that flows directly beneath it. It comprise ...
in
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada, across from the
Halifax Public Gardens.
The
North British Society
The North British Society (also known as "The Scots" and "Scots Club") was founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1768, the oldest Scottish heritage society outside Great Britain. North British is an adjective used as an alternative to "Scottish".
...
erected various monuments and statues:
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 ...
, Sir
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
and
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling (c. 1567 in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire12 February 1640) was a Scottish courtier and poet who was involved in the Scottish colonisation of Charles Fort, later Port-Royal, Nova Scotia in 1629 and Long I ...
.
At the south end of the park
Sidney Culverwell Oland created a fountain in memory of his wife Linda Oland (1966).
Robert Burns statue
George A. Lawson created the memorial to
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 ...
in
Ayr
Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...
, inaugurated in 1892. Other versions were circulated to Dublin, Melbourne, Montreal, Winnipeg, Halifax and elsewhere. The statue was cast in Halifax in 1919. On the base of the Rabbie Burns statue are commemorations of the following poems:
*Front:
The Cotter's Saturday Night – “From scenes like these old Scotia’s grandeur springs.” (1786). A "Cotter" (a peasant given a Cottage in exchange for labour) and his family relax on Saturday evening, after a week of work, knowing Sunday is a day of rest.
*Right:
Tam O’Shanter’s Ride – “Ae spring brought off her master hale but left behind her ain grey tail.” (1791) One of Burns most famous poems. A sculpture of the final scene when Tam O'Shanter safely reaches
Brig o' Doon after almost being captured by
witches.
*Left: The Jolly Beggars : Love and Liberty - A Cantata (1785)
Scene of a group of
Ayrshire vagrants
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, tempora ...
drinking one night in
Poosie Nansie’s tavern in
Mauchline
Mauchline (; gd, Maghlinn) is a town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In the 2001 census Mauchline had a recorded population of 4,105. It is home to the National Burns Memorial.
Location
The town lies by the Glasgow and South West ...
. A
maim
Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: ''mutilus'') refers to severe damage to the body that has a ruinous effect on an individual's quality of life. It can also refer to alterations that render something inferior, ugly, dysfunctional, or imper ...
ed homeless veteran sings a song of his long service, fighting first in the
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec (french: Bataille des Plaines d'Abraham, Première bataille de Québec), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War to describe ...
("the heights of Abram")
*Back:
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 ...
, On Turning one Down, With The Plough, in April 1786 – “Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flow’r; Thou’s met me in a evil hour.” (1786) Scene of a farmer using the fate of a ploughed under flower (
Bellis perennis
''Bellis perennis'' (), the daisy, is a European species of the family Asteraceae, often considered the archetypal species of the name daisy. To distinguish this species from other plants known as daisies, it is sometimes qualified as common dais ...
) as a metaphor for life.
File:RobbieBurnsVictoriaParkHalifaxNovaScotia.jpg, Rabbie Burns by George A. Lawson (1919)
File:Tam O’Shanter’s Ride, Robbie Burns Statue, Halifax, Nova Scotia.png, Tam O’Shanter’s Ride, Robbie Burns Statue
File:To a Mountain Daisy, Robbie Burns Statue, Halifax, Nova Scotia.png, 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 ...
, Robbie Burns Statue
File:The Jolly Baggers, Robbie Burns Statue, Halifax, Nova Scotia.png, The Jolly Baggers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, Robbie Burns Statue
File:The Cotter's Saturday Night, Robbie Burns Statue, Halifax, Nova Scotia.png, The Cotter's Saturday Night, Robbie Burns Statue
Gallery
File:WalterScottVictoriaParkHalifaxNovaScotia.jpg, Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
by Sir Francis Chantrey
Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...
(1932)
File:WilliamAlexanderMonumentVictoriaParkHalifaxNovaScotia.jpg, William Alexander Monument, built of stones from his Menstrie Castle
Menstrie Castle is a three-storey manor house in the town of Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, near Stirling, central Scotland. From the early 17th century, it was home to Sir William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, who was instrumental in founding th ...
(1957) (also see Edinburgh Castle)
File:OlandMemorialFountain.png, Sidney Culverwell Oland's Memorial Fountain to his wife (1966)
See also
*
List of Robert Burns memorials
References
External links
William Alexander monument
{{coord, 44.6410, -63.5797, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title
Parks in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Urban public parks in Canada
Robert Burns