Arria

The wonderful 30 foot sculpture by Andy Scott sits on its site overlooking the North bound carriageway of the M80 north of Auchenkilns.

Arria Fadilla, from whom the statue takes its name was the mother of Emperor Antoninus who ordered the construction of the Antonine Wall. The name was chosen as a result of a competition. Of course, we also know aria as a type of song commonly found in operas, and the sculpture does indeed, with her arms outretched, look as if she is about to burst in to song - like some sort of four armed diva.

Scottish poet Jim Carruth was comissioned to write a poem which is inscribed on the finished sculpture.

The first sounds spoken
from the spring’s core
are of a new beginning
of people and place
a poetry that bubbles
and gargles to the surface
to leave this watershed
flow east and west
in a rush of words
that tumble and fall
to join the conversations
of two great rivers
a voice calling out
I belong I belong
adding to the language
of sea and ocean.

Watershed by Jim Carruth