Lobey Dosser Statue

You can find the history behind this wee statue in previous reviews
Instead, I’m going to tell you about my history with Lobey Dosser. My dad has always been a big fan of cartoon art, and loved Bud Neil’s comic strips. I have many childhood memories of him retelling the stories of Lobey Dosser, Rank Bajin, and the two legged horse Elfie.
When this commemorative statue was unveiled, my dad was raging he couldn’t be there for it — but nowadays collects memorabilia from tshirts to mugs. Always handy for a birthday present
Now, the only times I visit here is with my nieces, who adore playing with Lobey and mimicking Elfie’s stance.

I love this little dude! He lives on the corner of Woodlands road and I walk past him pretty much everyday. It makes me chuckle as the horse only has two legs (the only two legged equestrian statue in the whole wide world apparently!) and I have seen countless people taking pictures of him.
There’s a wee dedication on a plaque at the statue which reads: ‘Statue erected by public subscription on May 1^st 1992 to the memory of Bud Neill, 1911 – 1970, cartoonist & poet, creator of Lobey Dosser, Sheriff of Calton Creek, his sturdy steed El Fideldo, resident villain Rank Bajin, and many other characters.‘
Make sure you check him out if you’re heading by and say hello!

I love stuff like this.
A drunken chat, a public appeal, a bit of a whip round, and voilà! A statue of a comic book cowboy, his evil nemesis and his two legged horse as well as a respectful nod to a Glasgow gent who wrote some cracking wee comics 60 years ago.
What’s not to like?

It’s not the Hanging Gardens Of Babylon, or the Collosus Of Rhodes, rather it’s an exceptionally inconspicuous little bronze statue, and the only one in the world of a horse with two legs, apparently.
While it’s «one of a kind» uniqueness might be a bit of a selling point for others, it’s worth pointing out that horses actually have four legs in real life, and so it’s status as a world exclusive comes by default. As someone who likes my statues fully anatomically correct, I can’t help but find this a bit of a sticking point.
It is based on a cartoon character I suppose, so I can let them off with that one, and it’s far more cute and charming than more or less every other bronze statue I’ve ever seen. A nice little curio of the West End.

Situated on the way to the University, and appropriately close to Futureshock comic store, The Lobey Dosser statue is a rare example of public art with a sense of humour. A rare tribute to a cartoonist, Bud Neil, it was originally discussed in The Halt Bar (on the other side of the street) and sees the hero, a strange mixture of cowboy and Glaswegian, in mid-​arrest of his nemesis.
The sculpture nicely captures Neil’s kinetic style, and adds a touch of humour to the landscape– self-​depreciating and wry, it speaks of Glasgow far more eloquently than even the Dewer statue. Since it was funded by an appeal in The Herald newspaper, it could be said to be more an expression of local pride than any more formal statue.
As the only two legged equestrian statue in the world, it is worth a visit for art buffs, but it is equally useful as a sign that you are, indeed, heading back to town after a night out at the QMU.

«Well howdee partners, ma name’s Lobey Dosser and ahm here to salute the people of Glasgow: the good, the bad and the ugly. Yeeee haw!»
Yes, it is odd to have a bronze statue of a cowboy in Glasgow’s Woodlands Road isn’t it. Even if the city is the wild wild west of Scotland, there is a severe lack of cactuses and stetsons to make any real comparison.
But Lobey Dosser is as part of Glasgow as fish suppers and kisses that start with the forehead rather than the mouth. Created by Bud Neill, Lobey appeared in various newspapers in the 1940s and 50s in a cartoon strip as the pint sized sheriff of the fictional Calton Creek who, assisted by El Fideldo (Elfie) his trusted two-​legged horse, strove to maintain law and order and protect the citizens against the evil plans of «Rank Bajin» («rank bad yin/​one»). Although Calton Creek was supposedly located somewhere in Arizona, its inhabitants bore an uncanny resemblance to Glaswegians and spoke with Glasgow accents.
The idea to erect a statue in Lobey’s honour, came up in a conversation between Neill and stained glass designer Calum MacKenzie and friends about Glasgow’s 1990 European City of Culture status. The statue was funded by donations following an appeal in the Glasgow Herald.
It may not be the biggest statue, it may not be the most impressive. But Lobey Dosser has the honour of being the only two legged equestrian monument in the world. And I for one, couldn’t imagine Glasgow without him.

While wandering the streets of Seattle over the summer I came across the iconic bronze statue of Jimi Hendrix. There was no warning, I wasn’t looking for it and it wasn’t sign posted. It was just there. On the pavement. For this reason, it felt like it was more memorable than most of the other statues I’d encountered in my life thus far.
However posing for photos, my arm resting on Jimi’s bronze afro, my mind started wandering to a similar figure. Where else had I seen a 4ft bronze statue that was one of the coollest in a city? Something told me I’d seen an even better one than this, somewhere, sometime. And then it hit me.
Glasgow’s very own Lobey Dosser. Situated across from the Halt Bar, where the idea was conceived over a drunken conversation, the statue commemorates the legendary Bud Neill, a Scottish cartoonist whose Sheriff Lobey Dosser of Calton Creek cartoon strip gained a worldwide following. The statue itself is inconspicuous but remains a favourite landmark of many Glaswegians and is well worth a visit and a photo.
Who cares if he wasn’t an international icon and one of the most influential musicians of all time? It’s not as if Rank Bajin could be stopped by playing guitar with your teeth anyway.