Ayr (Fish) Market Cross

This lively image of the Fish Cross in Ayr shows the activity of the market place in detail.  Note also the statue of William Wallace towards the end of Newmarket Street, which can still be seen today.   Between 1834 and 1840 David Octavius Hill toured around the south-west of Scotland painting a series of landscapes and townscapes in oil and watercolour which were then engraved and published in a book entitiled "The Land of Burns". Hill himself was born in Perth and studied at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh. He was Secretary of the RSA which he helped to found. He also helped to found the National Gallery of Scotland in 1850. Hill is best known for his pioneering work with photography in collaboration with Robert Adamson. He embarked upon this work whilst working on his most famous painting The Signing of the Deed of Demission (1843 - 1865). The painting contained so many figures it was not feasible to have all those present sit for their portraits. Hill and Adamson worked together to gather photographic portraits from which Hill could work on his painting.