Some of Kirkcudbright's inhabitants

Dumfries and Galloway holiday 6

Near the town hall art gallery, I came across this art installation: Odin's Throne. Created by local craftsmen Ian Cameron-Smith, Ian Gillan and Callum King, it is a huge Viking chair, with Odin's ravens Huginn and Muninn (Thought and Memory) on the top, and Viking runes carved into the wood. It was originally linked to an exhibition of 'The Galloway Hoard', one of the most important archeological finds of this century. Discovered locally by a metal-detectorist in 2014, the hoard comprises more than 100 valuable and unique objects from Ireland, the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms and even Asia. It's thought to have been buried in AD 900, in a time of Viking raids. Read more HERE.

As for the four lovely young ladies, they were just settling on the chair as I was about to take a photo of it. They kindly agreed to pose for me, which they did, very nicely. 

This chap is John Paul Jones (1747-1792), the Kirkcudbright-born sailor who became a highly regarded US naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. From the age of 13, he went to sea on merchant and slave ships and eventually rose to the rank of master of the ship. In 1770, he had a crewman flogged for trying to start a mutiny. When the man later died, Jones was arrested and imprisoned in Kirkcudbright Tolbooth and then released on bail, whereupon he fled back to sea. After he killed another man (allegedly in self-defence) he escaped to Fredericksburg, Virginia, from there joining the American Navy to fight against the British. He lived a very eventful life, dying of natural causes in Paris at the age of 45. In 1905 his body was exhumed and taken to the USA for a state burial. It was said that: 'Jones was a sailor of indomitable courage, of strong will, and of great ability in his chosen career.... He was also a hypocrite, a brawler, a rake, and a professional and social climber.'  Hmm...

Rather gentler and less contentious, the rabbit was one of a series hidden all over the Kirkcudbright Gallery for children to discover. They are taken from decorations in children's books and pottery by the Scottish illustrator Jessie M King (b 1875). She lived with her husband E A Taylor, also an artist, in Kirkcudbright from 1915 until her death in 1949. They lived in the rather delightful house 'Greengates' (below) on the High Street and here, in cottages that she owned in Greengates Close (through the alleyway under the mosaic memorial plaque), she established an artists' community, ran workshops and mentored young artists. That is partly why Kirkcudbright is now 'an artists town'. 

And these two?... Well, I'm not really sure, except that they clearly have a musical connection as they are holding instruments and surround by musical notes. These crocheted post box toppers seem to be all the rage wherever you go.  

I don't know why there should be a 1920s diver's helmet in a bookshop window either... nor what its connection to 'A Dairy Story' is (if it has one). It just caught my eye. So many questions...! But that is the joy of exploring a place that you have never visited before and, in Kirkcudbright, there was much to be interested in.