So I Heard You Liked Horses – Titanic Horse Head Sculptures by Andy Scott

Welcome to Falkirk, Scotland. What you see here is The Kelpies, a pair of gigantic horse head sculptures put together by artist Andy Scott. A total of nine years were spent designing these monuments, which tower 100 feet above the ground.

A kelpie (or water kelpie) might best described as the Scottish nomenclature for a water sprite. While they are most often believed to take equine form, they purportedly also have the ability to adopt a human guise.

Falkirk is Scott’s father’s hometown, and the pieces are a testimony to Scotland’s industrial past. Scott remarks, “I see The Kelpies as a personification of local and national equine history, of the lost industries of Scotland. I also envisage them as a symbol of modern Scotland—proud and majestic, of the people and the land. They are the culmination of cutting edge technology and hand crafted artisanship, created by our country’s leading experts through international partnerships.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See Andy Scott’s page here for more information on his inspiration for these pieces.

(photography by dswain)