Alloway Parish Church
Poet's path - the TWA DOGS
Artist - Sally Mathews. Installed 2020.
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This tableau, installed late in 2020, is based on the Burns' satirical poem in the form of a conversation between two dogs - Luath and Caesar.
Luath is a working collie, the name has Gaelic origins and is found in the poem Fingal, thought to be the work of the 3rd century blind poet Ossian and retold by James Macpherson in 1760.
Caesar is the gentry owned Newfoundland
who nonetheless offers a critical view of his owner's lifestyle.
The story behind the sculpture can be found at
'Twas in that place o Scotland's Isle,
That bears the name of Auld King Coil,
Upon a bonie day in June,
When wearin thro the afternoon,
Twa dogs, that were na thrang at hame,
Forgathered ance upon a time.
The first i'll name, they ca'd him Caesar,
Was keepit for 'his Honor's' pleasure:
The tither was a ploughman's collie,
And in his freaks had Luath ca'd him.