About this artwork
This drawing illustrates a verse from Burns’s epic Poem ‘Tam O’Shanter’ that recounts the events after a night spent drinking and Tam’s journey home. Here, Faed shows the scene where a drunken Tam regretfully leaves the Ayrshire tavern and attempts to mount his horse Meg: “Nae man can tether time or tide; / The hour approaches Tam maun ride; / That hour, o' night's black arch the key-stane, / That dreary hour he mounts his beast in”. Faed shows Tam accompanied by his drinking companions, one of which steadies his horse. This drawing was engraved and published in an illustrated edition of Burns’s work.
Updated before 2020
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artist:
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title:Illustration to 'Tam O'Shanter' by Robert Burns. Study for an Engraving
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date created:Unknown
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materials:Brush, dark brown wash and white heightening on paper
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measurements:8.50 x 11.80 cm
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object type:
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credit line:William Finlay Watson Bequest 1881
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accession number:D 2589
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gallery:
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subject:
John Faed
John Faed
As a young boy John Faed displayed exceptional artistic talent as a portraitist. Despite his father’s objections towards a career as an artist, Faed moved to Edinburgh in 1839 to attend the Trustees’ Academy where he studied life drawing and painting. He began to move away from portraiture and...