4. The Horse Statue - Adam Lindsay Gordon Memorial

4. The Horse Statue - Adam Lindsay Gordon Memorial 1969 Sculptor: Raymond B Ewery, Cast bronze, granite

The Horse Statue / Adam Lindsay Gordon Memorial
At the western side of the Sturt and Lyons Street crossroads there is magnificent bronze statue by Evans of a horse mounted on a stone plinth.
In front, by the gutter, is a hitching post with a plaque inscribed "A.L. GORDON, AUSTRALIAN POET, 1833 - 1870."
He was a celebrated poet and horseman who set a record at Flemington when he won 3 steeplechases in an afternoon. At Mount Gambier in South Australia he performed an amazing feat on his horse at a place immortalised as Gordon's Leap'.

The inscriptions around the base of the statue read:

He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength:
He goeth forth to meet the armed men.
He mocketh at fear, and is not afraid,
Neither turneth he back from the sword.
JOB 39 V21-22

* ERECTED BY THE ADAM LINDSAY GORDON SOCIETY TO MARK THE CENTENARY OF THE POET'S LIVING IN BALLAARAT, ALSO AS A MEMORIAL TO THE 958, 600 HORSES AND MULES KILLED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR, INCLUDING 169, 000 THAT LEFT THESE SHORES NEVER TO RETURN. * UNVEILED BY HIS WORSHIP THE MAYOR OF BALLAARAT, CR. M.J. BROWN 1969. PRESIDENT CR W.E. ROFF, C.B.E., SECRETARY P. ABSON, ESQ. *

THE LAY OF THE LAST CHARGER
Forward, the trumpets were sounding the charge.
The roll of the kettle drum rapidly ran
That music, like wildfire spread at large
Madden'd the war horse as well as the man.
Where are they? The war steeds who shared in our glory,
The "Lanercost" colt and the "Acrobat" mare,
And the Irish division "Kate Kearney" and "Rory"
And rushing "Roscommon" and eager "Kildare".
We, too sprung from the loins of the Ishmaelite stallions,
We glory in daring that dies or prevails
From counter of squadrons, and crash of battalions,
The rendering of blackthorns and rattle of rails.
And what then? The colours reversed, the drums muffled.
The black nodding plumes, the dead march and the pall
The stern faces, soldier-like, silent unruffled,
The slow sacred music that floats over all.
BY A.L. GORDON

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Created : 28 June 2003
Last Modified : 18 July 2007
Email : jburrell@ncable.net.au
URL : http://users.ncable.net.au/~jburrell/his/statues/4gordon.htm