At the rear of the cottage sits another small, thatched building, known as the alehouse. This houses the life-size sculptures of Tam o' Shanter, Souter Johnnie, the innkeeper and his wife. These evocative pieces were carved in 1802 by the self-taught sculptor James Thom from Tarbolton. They sit around, much as Burns visualised them, drinking and laughing as ‘The Souter tauld his queerest stories;’ – the landlord’s laugh, no doubt, offering up a ready chorus.
Life-size sculptures of Tam o' Shanter, Souter Johnnie, the innkeeper and his wife