Best ever sculpture of
kelpies for a Scottish arts event. A lighting test was carried out on the Kelpies in Falkirk, central Scotland, before they play a key role in a series of events beginning next week.
A night-time arts event, described as the international launch of the Kelpies, will take place at the equine sculptures on April 17 and 18.
Artist
Andy Scott's 300-tonne, 30-metre sculptures of horses' heads will be "brought to life" with a light, sound and flame performance by a pyrotechnic company.
Excerpt from "
Scotch Broom":
Two horses sloshed in the pool. Sunk up
to their hocks in the water, they struck at each other with raised
forelegs. Strangely, neither horse whinnied or screamed, but the
sounds of their huffing breath made it clear they were both near
exhaustion. One horse was sky blue, the other snow white. Kat looked
harder and thought she saw...yes! A horn grew from the white horse’s
forehead. A unicorn! A smile spread across her face before a scowl of
concern quickly replaced it. Blood ran down the unicorn’s neck,
splashing into the scummy, green pond water turning it a noxious
brown.
The two creatures, their muscles
rippling, hooves slinging the muck into the air, appeared to be
matched in strength. Steamy breaths came out in blasts from the blue
horse’s dilated nostrils. Kat lifted first one leg then the other
out of the mire, only to have them sucked down again. Now up to her
knees, she could hardly move at all. She’d lost one shoe somewhere
along the way and would have to spell another up as soon as she
figured out what to do about the battling beasts.
Kat reached out with her thoughts,
trying to break into the mind of either the unicorn or the blue
horse, but hit the same frustrating wall blocking her ability to read
animal thoughts. Then, she heard something in her head.
“Help me!” It was the
unicorn pleading for aid. For a moment, Kat was puzzled. She had not
been able to hear the thoughts of the other creatures in the
Otherworld. She felt the sincerity in the plea and had to help the
unicorn.
The edge of the pond had a raised bank,
which kept the water from streaming across the bogs. Kat glanced
around but couldn’t see anything to use as a weapon. Pulling her
legs out of the muck, she climbed atop the small berm. When the
battle moved her direction, she bent her knees and jumped as far as
she could. Grabbing the long mane of the blue horse, she pulled
herself forward and slung both arms around its powerful neck. At
first, she thought she had him when his head ducked toward the water.
Her grip didn’t last long.
The blue horse reared back on its hind
legs, but Kat held on, her body whipping back and forth under the
horse’s neck. When its forelegs came down hard, her hold slipped.
Plunging toward the water, her stomach knotted, and she held her
breath. But when her feet hit the bottom the water was not quite
waist deep. She fell backward onto her rear end with her head just
above the surface. Kat let out her breath in relief...until she
looked up into a wide-opened mouth full of black teeth surrounded by
a flash of blue. It lunged at her head. She tensed her shoulders and
brought her arms to cover her face in a feeble attempt to protect
herself.
The unicorn had jumped backward when
Kat launched herself at the blue horse. Now it lunged forward with
its head down, its spiral horn pointed at the breast of the blue
horse. The blue reared, barely avoiding the unicorn’s attack.
Kat risked a glance while she struggled
to stand. She saw Sianach, Cusith, and Cait Sidhe were all standing
around the pond, looking on with interest, but doing nothing.
“Why don’t you help?” she
screamed at them.
“Who would you have us help?” asked
Sianach with a mild tone.
“Me,” Kat yelled.
Cusith jumped into the pond and slogged
his way through the shallow water to her side. “Grab hold, and I’ll
get you out.” Kat clutched his neck and pulled herself to her feet.
Looking around, she saw that the two horses stood still at opposite
sides of the pool, their heads down, sides heaving.
“What is this? I cannot believe you,
you people! All I wanted was to take my Winter Abroad. But
could it be that simple? No! Instead, I get a bunch of gladiator
animals all intent on proving whose attitude is bigger! What is wrong
with you...you...see! I don’t even know what to call you!” She
waded ashore holding Cusith’s fur to keep herself upright.
Sianach laughed his bugling, grunting
laugh. “Not an attitude comparison at all. These two are quite
intent on killing each other.”
Kat looked over her shoulder but saw
only the unicorn. The blue horse had disappeared. Scanning the land
all around, she saw neither hide nor hair.
“Where did he go?”
“Into the pond’s depths,” said a
sweet tenor voice behind her. Kat whipped around to find the unicorn
standing behind her, his front legs on the berm. “If you could
please step away so I can remove myself from his pitiful puddle.”
Kat moved. The unicorn rose out of the
pond, stopped, and shook himself violently from ear tips to back
fetlocks, spraying Kat with muddy water. The unicorn would have been
pure white, despite the layer of mud and weeds. Kat took in the long
beard, like a goat, and cloven hooves and decided this wasn’t a
breed of horse at all.
She ducked to avoid too much of a
soaking, and asked, “What kind of horse lives underwater?”
“He is a kelpie, a water creature.
They are quite wild and very protective of their territory. I
happened to stumble into his dubh lochan, and he attacked me.
He wouldn’t let me out of the pool, so I had to defend myself.”
