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The statue of poet, Robbie Burns, has been a feature of Dunedin's Octagon for 113 years. In that time he's become an icon of the city.

The statue of poet, Robbie Burns, has been a feature of Dunedin's Octagon for 113 years. In that time he's become an icon of the city. Robert Burns (1759 -1796) wrote his verses in the Scots dialect and came to epitomise the nationalism of the Scots, particularly abroad. The Reverend Thomas Burns, a leading figure in the founding of Otago province, was a nephew of the poet, but the impetus to funding the statue came from the local Burns Club as a gesture of national pride. During the process of fund-raising in Dunedin in the 1870s there were some protests because of the poet's reputation for having written bawdy verses, but local Burns' supporters prevailed. Sir John Steell of Edinburgh designed and cast the statue, and Mr Munro, a local contractor, built the base. Steell was a notable sculptor of the period and cast four almost identical statues of Burns. The first of these is at the southern end of the 'The Literary Walk' in Central Park, New York; the second is in Dundee, Scotland; and the third on the Thames Embankment, London.
I have some affinity for Burns, as I was born in Edinburgh Scotland, and my Grandmother spent some years in Argyle, the heart of Burns country. This unframed watercolour measures 228mm x 290mm.