Burns Statue, Dumfries with Tam O'Shanter and Souter Johnnie statues "on tour"

  A monochrome photographic print of Burns Statue with James Thom's statues of Tam O'Shanter and Souter Johnnie passing in an open cart.    The statue to Robert Burns which commands a central position in the town of Dumfries was designed by Amelia Paton Hill. She had previously exhibited portrait busts, animal figures and genre groups at the Royal Academy, and all these elements are to be found in her statue of Burns, which is probably her best known work.   The statue was carved in Carrara by Italian craftsmen working to Amelia Hill's model. It was unveiled by the Earl of Rosebery on 6th April 1882. In this photograph another pair of statues are passing in an open cart. These are versions of the statues of Tam O'Shanter and Souter Johnnie made by James Thom, a stonemason of Tarbolton. His original pair are situated in the Statue House at the Burns Monument Gardens, Alloway.   Thom made many copies of these statues and they continued to be reproduced throughout the 19th Century. These life size figures of two of his fictional characters are undoubtedly the most popular sculpture associated with Burns.   A recent visitor to this website tells us:   The 'cart' on which they are travelling has been identified (by The National Traction Engine Society of GB) as an early "chain driven - undertype steam lorry", the earliest of which dates from around 1798. These steam lorries remained in use until the mid 1930s, but this photo has all the look of a pre 1914 scene.