Robert Burns, by FW Pomeroy 1921

A middle of the day run today, and on my way through the Auckland Domain I spied this grand statue. Couldn't resist it.

I looked up the information I could find and copy it below.

James Milne Mennie, born in Methlie, Aberdeenshire, worked as a baker before he emigrated to Australia in 1868 coming to New Zealand a year later. Initially he set up a business in Thames baking bread and biscuits for the gold miners; after a fire at his bakery he moved to Auckland and established a jam and confectionery factory in Albert St, employing up to 100 people. Mennie took a keen interest in civic affairs and served on various city council committees, the harbour board, the hospital board and so on.
Mennie was proud of his Scottish roots and was well known throughout the country for his participation in Scottish gatherings and celebrations. He was also president of the St Andrews Society. When he retired in 1919 after 50 years in business, Mennie decided to gift a statue of Robert Burns to the people of Auckland, and he chose London sculptor Frederick William Pomeroy RA, who had already installed similar statues of Burns in Paisley, Scotland, and in Sydney.
The Auckland statue broke with tradition. Instead of Burns in writer's garb holding a pen, Pomeroy created an image of Burns as the ploughman poet. Burns is shown in a tailcoat, knee breeches and a big Kilmarnock bonnet, leaning lazily against a plough and wistfully holding a pencil and notebook.
Such was Mennie's standing in Auckland that the Prime Minister, William Massey, unveiled the statue, on November 25, 1921.
The inscription on the granite base reads:
to the
immortal memory of
ROBERT BURNS
1759-1796
the peasant bard of scotland
the strong advocate of
universal freedom
and
the brotherhood of man

presented to the?city of auckland?by?j.m. mennie?president of st. andrews society?1920-1921,?1908-1910

A great Scotsman, and a great humanist. Also a great poet. In "Man was made to Mourn, a Dirge", he wrote:
Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn

The frequency with which ordinary people show their humanity to others, often others they know not, provides me with hope, and I have seen a number of examples of this today on my scanning of various blippers. I am glad I have found this community.