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Story: Scots

The sheepdog memorial, Lake Tekapo

The sheepdog memorial, Lake Tekapo

In the 19th century, Scottish shepherds came to work on the pastoral runs of the eastern South Island. The high country could not have been farmed successfully without the border collies they brought with them. To honour these ‘canine Scots’, a statue of a collie has been raised at Lake Tekapo.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

by John Wilson

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, Scots – Scots and the economy, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/201/the-sheepdog-memorial-lake-tekapo (accessed 6 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 August 2024.

Comments

Philip Freiensener
04 June 2025
My family’s foundry - The Art Bronze Foundry - in London, England cast this bronze. I recently found some photographs of the original sculpture when it was in plaster and had just arrived with us to be moulded.
mike evans
28 March 2023
The dog used for the model was called Haig and belonged to Paul Evans of Kaikoura, he was sculptured by Mrs Innes Elliot. Haig was accidentally killed on the road at Clarence Bridge not long after the statue returned to NZ from being bronzed in England.