Maida (1813–1824) [1] sometimes called a Deerhound, was a crossbreed from a Pyrenean Wolfdog and a Highland Deerhound, [2] belonging to Sir Walter Scott, [3] and reported to be his favourite dog. [4] Named after the Battle of Maida, which took place in 1806, he was a gift from Alexander Macdonell of Glengarry (Alexander Ranaldson Macdonell), a friend of Scott, and whose brother led the 78th Highlanders in the battle, a victory for the British against the French in the Napoleonic Wars.
Scott wrote to his son Charles that "Old Maida died suddenly in his straw last week, after a good supper, which, considering his weak state, was rather a deliverance; he is buried below his monument, on which the following epitaph is engraved in Latin [Maidae marmorea dormis sub imagine Maida / Ante fores domini sit tibi terra levis], [5] thus Englished by an eminent hand : -
The monument mentioned is a statue of the dog at the hall door of Scott's home, Abbotsford House. [6]
A statue of Scott at the Scott Monument in Edinburgh includes Maida gazing up at the seated figure. [7] William Allan painted "Sir Walter Scott with His Dog 'Maida'" in 1831. [8] Alexander Nasmyth painted the dog alone. [9]
The part of Scott's statue in Perth featuring Maida was stolen, for a second time, in 2020. [10]
Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825. It is a Category A Listed Building and the estate is listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish historical novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Waverley, Old Mortality, The Heart of Mid-Lothian and The Bride of Lammermoor, and the narrative poems The Lady of the Lake and Marmion. He had a major impact on European and American literature.
The Scottish Deerhound, or simply the Deerhound, is a large breed of sighthound, once bred to hunt the red deer by coursing. In outward appearance, the Scottish Deerhound is similar to the Greyhound, but larger and more heavily boned with a rough-coat.
Sir John Robert Steell was a Scottish sculptor. He modelled many of the leading figures of Scottish history and culture, and is best known for a number of sculptures displayed in Edinburgh, including the statue of Sir Walter Scott at the base of the Scott Monument.
The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the second largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opposite the Jenners department store on Princes Street and near to Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station, which is named after Scott's Waverley novels.
Sir William Allan was a distinguished Scottish historical painter known for his scenes of Russian life. He became president of the Royal Scottish Academy and was made a Royal Academician.
The Battle of the North Inch was a staged battle between the Clan Chattan and the "Clan Quhele" in September 1396. Thirty men were selected to represent each side in front of spectators, including King Robert III of Scotland and his court, on land that is now the North Inch park in Perth, Scotland.
William Brodie was a Scottish sculptor, working in Edinburgh in the 19th century.
William Walker was a Scottish engraver. He is known for engravings of Sir Henry Raeburn's portraits of Sir Walter Scott and Raeburn himself, Sir Thomas Lawrence's portrait of Lord Broughham, and Alexander Nasmyth's portrait of Robert Burns.
John RhindARSA (1828–1892) was a Scottish sculptor, based in Edinburgh. He was born in Banff the son of a master mason. He was trained under Alexander Handyside Ritchie (1804–1870). He served this apprenticeship in a yard at 4 East Broughton Place.
Daniel Terry (1780?–1829) was an English actor and playwright, known also as a close associate of Sir Walter Scott.
John Hutchison was a Scottish sculptor based in Edinburgh. He was the son of an unnamed builder, and his artistic life began as a thirteen-year-old woodcarving apprentice. He attended art school in the evenings, then later became a student at the Trustees Academy. and attracted the patronage of its owner, Patrick Allan Fraser, who gave him commissions to fund his study in Rome. Although after Rome he continued to enjoy ancient Roman sculptural themes, he remained in Edinburgh for the rest of his life, working in wood, clay and marble, and concentrating on portraiture of Scottish people, and images of Scottish myth and history. He created the bust of Sir Walter Scott in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. He was a successful artist who received commissions from Queen Victoria.
Sir Walter Scott is an outdoor bronze portrait statue of Walter Scott and the writer's favorite dog Maida by John Steell, located in Central Park in Manhattan, New York. The memorial sculpture, a replica of the 1845 original in Edinburgh's Scott Monument, was cast in 1871 and dedicated on November 27, 1872. It was donated by resident Scottish-Americans.
Events from the year 1829 in Scotland.
Thomas Stuart Burnett ARSA was a Scottish sculptor in the 19th century.
John Greenshields was a talented but short-lived Scottish sculptor. His most notable works are probably the statue of Sir Walter Scott in Parliament House, Edinburgh, The Scott Monument in Glasgow and the statue of Bonnie Prince Charlie on the Glenfinnan Monument. He also created a series of works depicting scenes from the works of Robert Burns.
Jane Nasmyth was a Scottish landscape painter of the Nasmyth School in Edinburgh. She was the daughter and student of the portrait and landscape painter Alexander Nasmyth.
South Inch is a large public park in Perth, Scotland. About 31 hectares in size, it is one of two "Inches" in Perth, the other being the larger, 57-hectare North Inch, located half a mile across the city. The Inches were granted to the city, when it was a royal burgh, by King Robert II in 1374. Both Inches were once islands in the River Tay. The two Inches are connected by Tay Street.
The Statue of Sir Walter Scott is a Category C listed monument at the South Inch public park in Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Standing where Marshall Place and King's Place merge, at King Street, it is dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, author of The Fair Maid of Perth in 1828. The statue is the work of John Cochrane and Brothers, and was completed in 1845 as one of their final works before leaving for Canada. It was accidentally acquired by the city magistrates at the sale of a local sculptor's stock. The statue originally stood at the eastern end of Perth's High Street, but was removed to its current location in 1877.
Elizabeth Wemyss Nasmyth (1793–1862) was a Scottish painter and interior designer.
Sir Walter Scott Abbotsford Maida.