John S. Davie

[3] He learned the art of sculpture at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, a seven-year course,[1] after which he worked as an assistant to John Hutchison.

[4] Around 1886 he left for Australia,[1] arriving in Sydney, where he did some architectural carvings, then moved to Melbourne, where he found work designing for a tile company, then around 1896 began his teaching career with the Victorian Education Department.

[7] It took him a year, and the seated bronze figure in front of a granite wall with four bas-relief panels was erected at the corner of Canberra Avenue and National Circuit, Forrest, and unveiled on 25 January 1935, the 176th anniversary of Burns' birth.

[6] Some controversy erupted on account of the verses transcribed onto the bronze plaques — some words, and the spelling of others, had been changed to make their meaning clearer to "Sassenachs".

[8] A grand "Burns Night" dinner was held after the unveiling, when (according to newspaper reports), everyone was toasted or thanked, apart from the sculptor.