The Character Statues

Richard Coeur de Lion

Found on the upper tier of the South East buttress of the Scott Monument.

Richard Coeur de Lion (from the novels 'Ivanhoe', 1819, 'The Betrothed', 1825, 'The Talisman', 1825) is depicted wearing a crown and clad in chain mail, resting his hands on his shield and sword hilt.

In 'Ivanhoe', Scott introduces Richard I in disguise as the Black Knight of the Fetterlock, back in England after his imprisonment in Austria while returning from the Crusades in Palestine. He helps Ivanhoe in his struggles against the supporters of John, who aspires to the throne in his brother's absence. Scott describes Richard as "gay, good-humoured, and fond of manhood in every rank of life", "a generous, but rash and romantic monarch".

In 'The Betrothed' he is said, in comparison with John, to be "as much too hot as his brother is too cold", and in 'The Talisman', Scott is yet more critical, writing of his "reckless impatience" and "uncurbed haughtiness".

About the Sculptress

Mrs Amelia Robertson Paton (Mrs D.O. Hill), 1820 to 1904

Amelia Robertson Paton was a sculptress whose most notable work was the statue of Dr. Livingstone, the missionary explorer, which stands next to the Scott Monument (1869).

Other works include: The head and crown from the kings tomb at Fontainbleu; a bust of ‘John Fergus M.P.’(1861) in Kirkaldy Town Hall; ‘Countess of Elgin and Kincardine (1864); ‘James Wemyss of Wemyss M.P., Fife County Hall (1866); ‘Sir George Harvey, President of the R.S.A.(Royal Scottish Academy in 1867); ‘Thomas Carlyle’ (1867); ‘Sir Joseph Noel Paton’ and her husband D.O. Hill (1869) and a bronze bust of her husband - David Octavius Hill, which was erected in the Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh in 1886.

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