GERALD LAING

Selected Citations and Comments

Commissioned by Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd, Ross-shire.

, ,

The Dingwall Marker is so called because I intend that it should mark both the past and the present of Dingwall. The Dingwall Marker consists of a black granite Obelisk surmounted by a gilt bronze Highland Bull. On the side of the Obelisk which faces the road are carved the Names of Dingwall. On the side facing the car park is carved a narrative of the history of Dingwall in the time that I have known it. The model for the Highland Bull is Dalriada, the current champion of his breed, who lives at Tordarroch, south of Inverness. The Golden Bull is not, I hasten to say, a reference to the Golden Calf which was worshipped by the Children of Israel. He is here to remind us that this was the site of the old livestock Mart, that livestock breeding and droving, especially of cattle, was the most important industry in the Highlands for hundreds of years, and that Dingwall was (and still is) a vital centre for this activity.

Gerald, Written for the Unveiling of The Dingwall Marker: A Sculpture by Gerald Laing, unpublished manuscript, 24 March 2006