Robert Burns comes home to Montrose
ANGUSalive Museums & Galleries is delighted to announce that for the first time a bust of Robert Burns by renowned Montrose sculptor William Lamb is now on display at Montrose Museum, on loan from Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens.
Lamb set up a studio in Montrose in 1924. He gradually fell under the influence of Hugh MacDiarmid and the Scottish Renaissance literary movement which was centred in Montrose. This confirmed his resolve to make his work distinctly Scottish; by modelling the ordinary men and women working in the community around him.
Burns of course, needs no introduction, but not everyone is aware of his connections to Montrose. William Burnes, his father, originally came from a farm near Glenbervie. The Burnes family was well-known in Montrose and included lawyers, teachers, and a provost, and their house can still be seen in Bow Butts. Despite living in Ayrshire and Dumfries, Burns corresponded regularly with his cousin James Burnes until his untimely death in 1796.
In 1787, Burns embarked on four tours of Scotland. His final tour, the ‘Highland Journey’, started in August 1787, lasting 22 days and covering 600 miles. On 12 September 1787, Burns and his friend William Nicol crossed the North Esk and arrived in the ‘finely situated handsome town’ of Montrose, where they visited James Burnes and supped in The Turk’s Head Inn.
This sculpture of Burns was presented by the Sunderland Burns club to Sunderland Museum on the 7 April 1936, with Lamb in attendance wearing his kilt. He created the original model in his studio but had the bust cast in Sunderland. Sunderland has longstanding connections to Burns: Robert’s nephew Lieutenant Colonel James Glencairn Burns married Sarah Robinson, daughter of James Robinson Postmaster at Sunderland, and the first conference of the Robert Burns Federation to be held outside Scotland took place in Sunderland in 1907.
Emma Gilliland, ANGUSalive’s Museums & Galleries Collections Lead says, ‘We have enjoyed working with Montrose Burns Club to bring this bust home to Montrose and hope visitors enjoy this beautiful sculpture which is a wonderful marriage of Scottish artistic and literary genius through the ages.’
Montrose Burns Club are leading on discussions regarding the potential manufacture of a replica of the Burns bust, which along with a replica of Turk’s Head plaque would potentially be sited in George Street, Montrose, close to the original location of The Turk’s Head Inn.
Kirsten Tomlinson, President of Montrose Burns Club says, ‘This is a prestigious initiative, with many local heritage connections celebrating the links between Robert Burns in Montrose and Angus, and it adds immense value to the civic pride of Montrose and its citizens, for this and future generations.’
The group will be required to turn their efforts towards funding, obtaining necessary neighbourhood permissions, and the Council planning permissions required.
Explore the Montrose Robert Burns walking trail here: https://montroseburnsclub.com/burns-trail/
Find out how to visit the William Lamb Memorial Studio here: https://www.friendswilliamlambstudio.uk/
ANGUSalive’s Montrose Museum, Arbroath Signal Tower Museum and Forfar Meffan Museum & Art Gallery are now in their summer hours and are open from1 April – 31 October, from Wednesday to Monday 10:30 – 16:00. https://angusalive.scot/museums-galleries/