Painting of Tam O'Shanter and Nannie (figurehead of Cutty Sark) (SEB)
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- Synopsis
- Cutty Sarks figurehead is Nannie the witch, a character from Robert Burns poem Tam OShanter. This painting, by an unknown artist, depicts Tam on horseback being chased by Nannie, who is wearing her cutty sark. The ships figurehead has her arm outstretched with a horses tail clasped in her hand. When the ship was in port one of the apprentices would place some unpicked rope in her hand to represent Megs tail. In the centre of the painting is Tam riding his white horse Meg across the bridge over the River Doon. Meg's legs are shown striding out, arching over the arch of the bridge that has no sides, in her flight from the pursuing witch Nannie. Tam is wearing a blue bonnet, long brown jacket over a white shirt with red neckerchief round his neck, a paisley shawl around his shoulders, blue trousers and knee-high black and brown riding boots. He is holding his knobbly stick called a kebbie in his right hand above his head and he holds the horse's reins tightly in his left hand close to the bottom of Meg's neck. He turns his head to look back at Nannie who is immediately behind Meg and has managed to grasp Meg's tail in her left hand. Her white cutty sark billows out behind her showing her quick forward movement and her right breast is exposed. Behind Nannie, in the distance, you can see the church with flames leaping from the roof with the figure of a witch on a broomstick and the Devil playing bagpipes silhouetted against the flames. The whole scene is set against a dark sky with bolts of lightening zigzagging across it.
- Copyright:
- 2013
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Publisher:
- RNIB
- Date of Addition:
- 05/12/17
- Copyrighted By:
- RNIB
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Art and Architecture
- Submitted By:
- Caroline Walker
- Proofread By:
- N/A
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.