Ginger The Horse sculpture
Public Art: Ginger The Horse sculpture
Sculptor: © Andy Scott
Date Unveiled: February 2011
Funded By: Riverside Inverclyde
Description: A 3.5m galvanized steel wire sculpture of a much-loved cart hose that drowned at the Greenock docks in 1889.
Location: Ginger the Horse sculpture is located on Cathcart Street (near Dalrymple Street), Greenock, Scotland
Plaque:
“Ginger” and Horsepower
The Andy Scott sculpture of “Ginger the Horse” is a tribute to the activities and people that influenced the history and development of Greenock. Powerful work horses laboured in the shipyards and pulled laden carts to and from the harbours and quaysides past this spot to factories and mills on the hillside. Reliable horses were loved and rewarded by their masters as they represented the primary source of the cartier’s income.
In his acclaimed novel, Dancing at the Rascal Fair, portraying Scottish emigration to America, author Ivan Doig describes how on the 23rd of October 1889, some 500 yards from here, “Ginger” the horse was conveying sugar on the quay at Albert Harbour when one of the cartwheels caught a mooring stanchion, cas=using the cart and animal to fall into the water where the magnificent creature drowned. The owner was inconsolable in his grief for his beloved horse and the sudden loss of his livelihood.
The term “horsepower” is more meaningful to Greenock than any other town. It was the measure of introduced by world-famous Greenock born engineer, James Watt (1736-1819) whose birthplace was at William Street, 100 metres west of this statue. He markedly increased the efficiency of the Newcomen steam engine effectively replacing the horse and creating a portable source of energy for powering machines that could be used anywhere, ushering in the industrial revolution and radically changing the face of Britain and the world. “Ginger” honours all the hardworking men and horses who helped build the wealth that shaped Greenock as a world-renowned trading port and cradle of shipbuilding excellence.
1st Place winner for Sculpture in the Ex Arte Equinus 5 Equine Art Competition 2012.
Sculptor Andy Scott