His Grace, his horse, and their cones

This famous Glasgow statue shows the Duke of Wellington, on a horse which is presumably his beloved Copenhagen. Copenhagen was his mount (for 17 hours, non-stop) at the Battle of Waterloo, and lived out a long and happy retirement at the Duke's home, Stratfield Saye. When he died, he was buried with full military honours. You can read more about Copenhagen here.

Of course, what the statue is really famous for is the cone. It's a tradition that goes back to at least the 1980s. Usually it's His Grace who gets coned, but it's nice to see Copenhagen get a cone of his own as well :)

When we passed by the statue yesterday, my American friends asked me if there was some deep significance to the cones, a gesture of defiance from the Scots to the English or somesuch. I explained that it's basically the combination of fun-loving Glaswegians and alcohol :)

Couldn't resist photographing it as I passed it again on the way to the station this morning.