Sculptor Andy Scott explains the
purpose and intent of the Kelpies...
"The original title and inspiration for the project came from
British Waterways chief engineer George Balinger almost seven years
ago, and due deference should be paid to George's original
inspiration. However, the engineering evolution of the
project as well as my creative input has transformed the
concept.
"As far back as six years ago I wrote of the Kelpies as
monuments to the horse and a peaen to the lost industries of the
Falkirk area and of Scotland.
"The original concept of mythical water horses was a valid
starting point for the artistic development of the structures, but
from the original sketches of 2006, I deliberately styled the
sculptures as heavy horses.
"In early proposal documents I referred to Clydesdales, Shires
and Percherons, of the fabled equus magnus of the northern
countries.
"I wrote of working horses. Of their role in the progress
of modern society, as the powerhouses of the early industrial
revolution, the tractors of early agriculture and, of course, the
first source of locomotion for barges on the very canal which the
Kelpies will soon inhabit.
"In the Falkirk area, and indeed across the country, horses
would have ploughed the fields, hauled the wagons, carried the
goods, the mail, the people, and pulled the vessels which
transformed Scotland.
"At a local level, the horse Carnera once pulled the wagon for
local soft drinks company A.G. Barr in the 1930's The biggest
horse in the world apparently.... Made in Scotland. From
Girders....
"I see The Kelpies as a personification of that 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."
