Thought I'd grab this photo while I was in town today because its a bit unusual.Now the keen eyed amongst you think "aha, the horse has a traffic cone on its head" and you would be partially right.
However ask any Glaswegian and they will immediately tell you its unusual because the cone should in fact be on the rider, the Duke of Wellington, and not the horse.
The statue of the Duke of Wellington sits on Glasgow's Royal Exchange Square outside the museum of modern art and has over the years become a Glasgow icon and a fine example of Glasgow's well known sense of irreverent humour.
The conqueror of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, is obviously not supposed to have a traffic cone on his bonce however some years ago a cone appeared overnight, presumably the result of a youthful prank. Although it was removed, it kept magically re-appearing and eventually the authorities gave up.
It has now become such a landmark that the statue and its cone have featured in tourist guidebooks. A few years ago, when Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board wanted photographs to launch their new web site, they removed the cone. Immediately many Glaswegians, including the Lord Provost, Alex Mosson, complained that the cone was missing and that it highlighted the Glaswegian sense of humour.
The end result was that the photographs were ordered to be re-shot with the cone in place and Wellington (and sometimes his horse too) can now usually be seen sporting traffic cones!
3 comments:
It's interesting that the cone has become such an integral part of the statue. I suppose the sculptor is smacking his head against marble about now.
That's hilarious; I would have loved to have been the first teen who put it up there ;-)
HA!
I kinda wish I lived there. All the youthful pranksters do around here is steal cars and soap fountains...
Although, a truly well soaped fountain is a thing to behold, I suppose.
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