Statue of Lord John Douglas Montagu Scott(1809-60) at
Dunchurch, Warwickshire, England.
The statue shows the third son of the
4th Duke of Buccleuch
and stands on the cross roads. It was erected by his tenants in
affectionate
remembrance of him after he died on 3rd January 1860.
He was the first Lord of a Manor to choose to live in his location and
to become
part of his community. He was also a Grenadier Guards
officer and MP for Roxburghshire. He died 1860 aged 50.
The
statue was unveiled on 2nd December 1867 and was made and designed by
Joseph Durham A.B.A. from Portland stone.
A tradition developed
in the 1970's of clandestinely dressing the statue over the Festive
period in the attire of a fashionable television or
cartoon
character. The first time it was a soldier complete with gas mask, since
then it has taken many guises including Father
Christmas, an angel,
a Shepard, Harry Potter, Darth Maul from Star Wars, Bart Simpson, A
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Mr Blobby, Shrek
and Martin Johnson.
Lord John's wife, Alicia Ann Spottiswoode from Berkshire, composed
'Annie Laurie' first published in 1835 and attributed towards 'The
Bonny, Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond'. The couple resided in Cawston House
and were much loved benefactors in Dunchurch although they
are said
to have ruled with a rod of iron.
Lord John was a trustee of
Rugby School and a pillar in the church in his village. In 1841 he had
the seating of St. Peters entirely
renewed to the open system, doing
away with private box pews and asking for 'just a space where I may sit
among the labouring men of
the parish'. At the time of his death he
had equipped a new vessel to test some of the problems of deep sea
fishing.
Note:
Alicia Scott, née Alicia Ann
Spottiswoode (24 June 1810 – 12 March 1900) was a Scottish songwriter
and composer known chiefly for the tune, "Annie Laurie", to which the
words of a 17th-century poet, William
Douglas, were set.
She was the oldest daughter of John Spottiswoode of Berwickshire and his wife Helen
Wauchope of Niddrie-Mains. On 16 March 1836 she married Lord John
Douglas Scott, a younger son of the 4th Duke of Buccleuch, and
consequently is alternatively known by her courtesy title of Lady John
Scott.
Lady Scott was a champion of traditional Scots language,
history and culture, her motto being 'Haud [hold] fast by the past'.
"Annie Laurie" was published in 1838. Scott was born and died at
Spottiswoode, Scottish Borders, in the former Berwickshire.
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