Travel and Glasgow
Our Scottish Impudence Even Had Billy Connolly Laughing
Glasgow’s must-see tourist attraction.
One morning Billy Connolly woke, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and went to work. Billy passed the statue and rubbed its eyes again. He couldn’t believe the effrontery — someone had placed a traffic cone on the Duke of Wellington’s head.
The statue of the Duke of Wellington astride his horse was erected in 1844 and there it stood, with little fanfare, for one hundred and forty years.
Abused by a cone — no doubt placed there by a drunken reveler — Glasgow Council promptly had it removed. One week later, another cone appeared on his head, and the council removed that too — and the one after that.
It became a ritual. A few days after they removed a cone, another one would appear.
The council wasn’t happy; they complained to the police.
The Police Sting
The night shift sergeant picked two rookie cops, fresh out of the box, sticky tape still stuck to their uniform.
“Guys, you will do foot patrol in the city centre this evening. For your information, the council removed the cone from the Duke of Wellington statue today. Can you bear that in mind when you are on patrol tonight, please?”
As dawn broke, the two rookie cops arrived back at their station.
“How did you get on?”
“Fine sarge.”
“Did you remember the statue?”
“Yes, sarge,” the two cops looked at each other, pleased with themselves, “we did.”
“Well done, was there any trouble?”
“No sarge, we just waited until it was dead quiet and put the cone back. Don’t worry, nobody saw us.”
There are some quarters who believe the practice is disrespectful.
Arthur Wellesley
The 1st Duke of Wellington was best known for giving his name to the wellington boot (also defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo). He is a military hero who should be respected.
Being an object of ridicule is not how the city officials wanted him remembered, they sought to restore his dignity. They put forward a plan to heighten the plinth and thus prevent anyone from climbing the statue.
There was an uproar.
Glaswegians are proud of their culture, they wanted to keep the cone. And it wasn’t just the locals; all over the world, fans of the iconic red and white hat signed a petition to keep the statute as it was.
It was an ill-advised plan. Gallus Glaswegians would have taken it as a challenge. Raising the plinth wouldn’t prevent them from putting a cone on the statue’s head, it would only make it more dangerous. The council backed down.
Now, the statue has become an emblem and even promotes tourism; Lonely Planet named it as one of the top ten bizarre monuments on earth.
Old ‘conehead’ has become a symbol of Glasgow’s way of life. Glaswegians delight in cheeky humour, revel in the absurd, they cock a snook at authority and they don’t give a damn what people think.
Billy Connolly loves it too. Every time he sees that cone atop the Duke’s head he can't help but smile.
On a recent visit to the city of his birth, Billy wandered down Queen Street to have another shufti. The statue came into view. Instead of a single cone, there were seven piled up on the Duke’s head and a single cone on the horse. He couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
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