Auld Nick and the Witches
Newly installed in Monument Gardens at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum Gardens are three life-sized, wood-carved characters from Tam o’ Shanter. Crouching on the left, Auld
Nick who plays the bagpipes for the Warlocks’ and Witches’ Dance, is depicted as a “towzie tyke” while the “rigwoodie hags” prepare to link arms and join the frenetic actions.
All three are perched on the stumps of a magnificent Monterey cypress tree which came down in Storm Babette 2024 but has now been regenerated as a platform for this legendary trio. Each of them is carved in a different wood by their sculptors. The De’il is crafted, appropriately for a devil, in redwood by Craig Steele while he has fashioned the witch next to him in spruce. The witch on the left is by Peter Bowsher who has brought her to life from cedar.
The local artists took inspiration from the famous frieze carved by Thomas Tweedie in 1860
which is held in the museum today. They have creatively reinterpreted the dance for a
contemporary audience in a new outdoor setting. As Head Gardener Luke Sargent
commented, “They’ve brought Robert Burns into the Gardens.”
Tam o’ Shanter, Souter Johnnie and the landlady, ensconced in their wee statue house
nearby, are joined by the three new companions first, vividly and hilariously, imagined by
Robert Burns and now expressively realized by Craig and Peter.
The new sculptures have already proved to be an attraction and topic of conversation for
children on school holidays, for tourists from home and abroad and for local people too.
Come and meet them for yourself.
The project was financed by The Friends of Robert Burns Birthplace Museum.
Friends of Robert Burns Birthplace Museum 