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Notes
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The 'Tam O'Shanter' coach was on the Bristol to Exeter run at the time this painting was made. It used to leave the Rummer Hotel in the High Street at 10am and it took nine hours to get to Exeter! The coach's name comes from Robbie Burns' poem and alludes to its fast speed; in the poem Tam rides so fast that he escapes from witches. Unusually, the artist has combined two fictional, historical figures with passengers of the 1830s. Tam O'Shanter himself is seen sitting up by the driver and the man in eighteenth-century dress on the back seat is probably Souter Johnny, his drinking companion in the poem. The pub is called the 'John O'Groats' and is part of the joke. The landscape is imaginary. Nothing is known about the artist, W. Rogers, although he may have been associated with a William Rogers who was a coach and harness maker in College Place, Bristol.
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Bristol
Title
The 'Tam o' Shanter' Coach
Date
1837
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 57.2 x W 82.2 cm
Accession number
K6242
Acquisition method
gift from the Friends of Bristol Art Gallery, 2007
Work type
Painting
