Passions: street art - why the bronze pigeons on Leith Walk rule the roost

Why the humble bird of the streets is worthy of a place on a pedestal

It was my sadness on hearing the news that the bronze pigeons that live on Edinburgh’s Elm Row had been vandalised that made me realise how much I love the various sculptures dotted around Edinburgh, and these little birds in particular.

Restored in July after way too long away from their pecking grounds while Leith Walk was overhauled for the trams, it was cheering when Shona Kinloch’s birds returned to their roost in July, this time round regrouped in their own dedicated space - I can’t be the only one who’d previously nearly been turtled by the unexpected intervention of a metal pigeon at shin height while hurtling up or down The Walk. Unlike some of the other illogical shenanigans that have gone on with the pavement and its zig-a-zag-ah bike lanes, the new setting is an improvement and it was good to have them back.

There’s something very satisfying about sculpture dedicated to the humble pigeon, a ubiquitous, peaceable bird, a bird of the streets, that doesn’t feature nearly enough in sculpture or heraldry - no Latin banners of worthy intentions for them, unlike all those overbearing eagles.

The cheery little birds are a nice change from all the effigies of the great and the good - royalty and politicians, middle aged white men that rule the roost - although it is nice to see Conan Doyle back on his plinth, complete with bollard, and Queen Victoria once more sporting a football scarf, the pair of them bookending Leith Walk. I’m also pleased to see one of the naked Antony Gormleys paddling in The Water of Leith has wrapped in a football top to keep off the chill.

I’m all for honouring the city’s greats like Walter Scott and James Clerk Maxwell (where would we be without his efforts? Without radio and colour photography apparently), but it’s the inclusion of their beloved dogs that humanises these statues for me. Maxwell’s canine companion is Toby, a shaggy mustard terrier with whiskers to match his master and Walter Scott’s Maida, a beautiful long-limbed deerhound immortalised in marble. Who doesn’t love Greyfriar’s Bobby and as for the life-sized giraffes outside the Omni Centre, well why not? But for me the pigeons are perfect so let’s hope it’s not too long before the full flock are back on their perch.

Janet Christie is a journalist and columnist at The Scotsman