Scottish identity in stone: statues of Robert Burns and William Wallace in 19th century Ballarat

The statues of both Robert Burns and William Wallace, erected in the provincial Victorian gold mining town of Ballarat in the late·nineteenth century, are unique entry point into the world of diasporic Scottish culture. They were physical icons of identity - designed, executed, and interpreted to reflect hybrid Scottish, British and Australian ethnic identities. The intellectual and ideological re-imagining of both Burns' and Wallace's positions in Scottish tradition and history enabled Scots to present their lives and works in ways that accommodated both Scottish and British loyalty in an Australian colonial selling.