An army-inspired Oor Wullie has celebrated the character’s links with the Black Watch by visiting the regimental museum in Perth.
Sudger Wullie is one of ten sculptures from Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail, Dundee’s largest ever mass-participation public art event, which have been on a national tour of Scotland.
The sculpture, designed by artist Lesley D McKenzie, dropped in to the Black Watch Castle and Museum yesterday to see the Weeping Window installation, a cascade of several thousand handmade ceramic poppies to commemorate 100 years since the First World War.
Oor Wullie already has a historic connection to the museum as The Black Watch was the regiment of Wullie’s Uncle Wattie Russell.
Oor Wullie’s very own tartan, designed in 2010, took inspiration from the Black Watch, with the red from the hackle on the regiment’s bonnets having been incorporated into the tartan. Tartan Wullie, another Oor Wullie sculpture which is sponsored by Visit Scotland, features the iconic character’s official tartan.
Launching in the City of Discovery in June, Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail introduced 55 sculptures, all individually designed and painted by local and international artists, to the streets of Dundee and will be in place throughout the summer to raise money for The ARCHIE Foundation’s Tayside Children’s Hospital Appeal.
The Weeping Window installation has proved to be a massive draw for the Fair City, and Wullie’s visit has added some extra impetus.
Neil Cooney, project manager for Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail, said: “It has been incredible to see how popular the national tour has been during Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail.
“Every city the touring Oor Wullies have visited has offered a very warm welcome and many people have come to see our intrepid sculptures to enjoy a bit of the magic that is going on in Dundee.
“It is lovely to be able to link up with organisations such as The Black Watch Castle and Museum to celebrate Oor Wullie’s many connections to the area and people all over the world.”
The national tour has already visited Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling and, after leaving Perth, will travel to Inverness and St Andrews before finally arriving back in Dundee for the final few weeks of the Bucket Trail.
At the end of the trail, all the sculptures will be sold at auction on September 13, with all proceeds going to The ARCHIE Foundation’s appeal to raise funds to create a brand new twin operating theatre paediatric surgical suite for the Tayside Children’s Hospital at Ninewells.
