You can clearly see the devil glowering in the back corner, with his bagpipes in hand and mouth, casting a huge shadow on the back wall the witches and warlocks are in a dance spinning each other around the numerous coffins encircling the dancers with their skeletons holding candles as light. That shaw’d the Dead in their last dresses He screw’d the pipes and gart them skirl, This refers to the below section of the poem which is full of vivid imagery:īut hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys and reels, It depicts the chaotic and shocking scene Tam beholds once he has approached the kirk: as a viewer you do not know where to look as it is so full of action and faces. This is one of the treasures of the collection. It is preparing the viewer for what is about to come next… The crack of lightning has inspired the use of black and white and Goudie has depicted a truly spooky scene with the trees looking ghostly bare and the town and bridge totally empty. This is one of three images that are in black and white although this one here has Tam’s clothes clearly visible, with the famous blue tam hat and yellow waistcoat drawing the eye, which isolates him even more so. This is very contradictory to the shock and horror that is to follow… A moment captured in time with two lovers lying in a field, with the man picking a poppy, and the rainbow overhead. In the painting Goudie has shown a scene that is a delicate paradise. This is typical Burns: returning to nature which is his greatest source of inspiration. This of course refers to the beautiful and philosophical extract: 12 “And drouthy neibors, neibors meet” but it comes before it in the cycle. 11 “As market days are wearing late” is the line after No. It is worth noting that this painting is number twelve – even though it refers to the first two lines of the poem – so Goudie has used his artistic licence and imagination to fill in the gaps of what happened before this point as well as not putting the images in order according to the lines of the poem i.e. The reflection in the window is very life-like as is the woman pulling the curtain aside to have a good nosey at what is happening on the street. This could reflect that this is the part of the poem before Tam boozes at the nappy, thus, he is not intoxicated and he will have a clearer vision now compared to the rest of the poem. It is arguably one of the best paintings in the cycle as it has been painted with such attention to detail. This scene is full of vibrant colours, objects and action: Tam looks well, as does Meg, and they are surrounded by other animals and people greeting them warmly. This painting refers to the first two lines of the poem: A select few will be shown and analysed below. He accomplished this and the results are spectacular. He was apparently totally obsessed by Tam o’ Shanter and his lifelong aim was to create 54 complete cycles of images inspired by the epic tale. Some of the most expansive and impressive works are that of Alexander Goudie. Many artists have been inspired by the poem and some of the artwork produced really brings the poem to life. His Aunty- a Betty Davison – told him many and Burns said that“ had, I suppose, the largest collection in the country of tales and songs, concerning devils, ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks, spunkies, kelpies, elf-candles, dead-lights, wraiths, apparitions, cantraips, giants, inchanted towers, dragons and other trumpery.” The poem is full of wild scenes, dramatic and exciting twists and turns, bloody and gothic content as well as witty machoism through the characters and their antics. Burns apparently wrote this in only one night and it appeared in the book just as a footnote! Now Burns was known to have enjoyed superstitious, supernatural stories as a child. A long, narrative, epic poem written in 1790 by Burns whilst living at Ellisland Farm, Dumfriesshire and published in Captain Francis Grose’s Antiquities of Scotland in 1791. Tam o’ Shanter is Robert Burns’s masterpiece. Goudie’s Dazzling Tam o’ Shanter Paintings
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