Shooting unicorns

Well, it's not every day I get invited to photograph a unicorn! 

The beast in question sits on top of Cullen's mercat cross, and is thought to date back to 1696. (Most of the rest of the cross was rebuilt in 1872.) A cherry picker's been on site recently for renovation work on the old Town House across the street (now becoming part of the Seafield Arms hotel).  The proprietor kindly agreed to the Heritage group's request to borrow it to get a closer look at the unicorn, and first thing this morning I took my camera to the Square and was raised aloft.

The poor old thing has seen better days. A big section of the head has been lost at some point, so it's lacking its horn and ears - from various angles it looks like a sheep, a dog or some sort of dinosaur! And that crack through the statue and its base is rather worrying...