March 10, 2021

Glasgow is a city of commerce, murals, museums and sharp tongues. We had a day to take it all in. It wasn’t nearly enough but I think this horseman pretty much typifies the Glasgow experience.

He stands in front of the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art where I had gone to see their avant garde installations. Of course I thought it must be some goofy artist's idea of an avante garde statement along the lines of Jeff Koons’ vacuum cleaner on a pedestal or Duchamp's urinal.

When I stepped inside I asked the greeter and she said “It's the Duke of Wellington and he's had a traffic cone on his head for as long as I can remember. Every now and then someone will go up a ladder to remove it but it's always back a couple of days later.”  

The Duke of Wellington KG, CBG, GCH,PC,FRS is a giant of 19th century British military and political history, revered especially for the Catholic Emancipation and his defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. But apparently the Scots aren’t fans. I'm not sure why, but it probably has to do with an inbred disdain for fame and the hifalutin on top of Wellington's bitter opposition to the Reform Acts of 1832. When the Tories finally gave into reform, it expanded Scottish suffrage exponentially. It also gave Scots and other excluded populations many more seats in the House of Commons.

When asked what he thought of the new Parliament, a snarky Wellington answered, “I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life!”  

The next morning, while trying to find an ATM, I saw the Duke again still sporting his traffic cone. And now his horse wore one too. Avant garde, I don't know...

But it is definitely a statement.