Robert Burns

This magnificent statue of Robert Burns is located in the Fountain Gardens in Paisley. It was erected in 1896 to mark the centenary of the death of Scotland's National Bard.

Designed by the prominent London sculptor Frederick William Pomeroy (1856-1924), who had created the famous statue of " Blind Justice" on top of the Old Bailey in London and the statue of Gladstone in the Palace of Westminster.

The Statue shows Burns in tail coat, knee breeches and a broad Kilmarnock bonnet, leaning languidly against a plough and holding a pencil and notebook in contemplative mood. It is regarded as the finest ever statue created of the poet.

The Ploughman's Life
As I was a-wand'ring ae morning in spring,
I heard a young ploughman sae sweetly to sing;
And as he was singin', thir words he did say, -
There's nae life like the ploughman's in the month o' sweet May.

The lav'rock in the morning she'll rise frae her nest,
And mount i' the air wi' the dew on her breast,
And wi' the merry ploughman she'll whistle and sing,
And at night she'll return to her nest back again.
Robert Burns