Two weeks ago, we invited readers to scour the length and breadth of Edinburgh in search of sphinxes (Breaking news, 28.6.16).
We wondered if anyone could beat our grand total of four unique designs, arrived at after weeks of neck-cricking investigation about the city.
Contrary to expectations, sphinxes seem to be thin and far between in the capital. Or rather, muscular and far between.
The specimen shown in our original photograph is one of two on the north side of Charlotte Square. Congratulations to Candia Dinshaw and Patrick Hadfield who were first to identify it, hotly pursued by Lizzie Rynne and Helen @chronicknitting.
The latter two were also quick to spot the eight sphinxes atop the Royal Scottish Academy on the Mound.
Only Lizzie Rynne noted the six legal sphinxes above Parliament House, drily described as ‘firm bosomed’ in Gifford et al.’s The Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh (1983).
All the sphinxes mentioned so far have been malevolent Greek ones, with the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion, and occasionally wings.
Nobody duplicated Spurtle’s discovery of a benevolent and flightless Egyptian sphinx (with a male head) in Dean Cemetery, commemorating the 1800 North African campaign of the 90th Regiment of Foot, the Perthshire Volunteers. Close examination of his anatomy reveals either a confused misrepresentation of the masculine form, or a surprisingly candid depiction of man boobs.
If readers have found other examples around the city, they haven't yet sent them in. Perhaps they failed to answered the creatures’ riddles and were eaten as a result. Serves them right. Not so @NewTownFlaneur, who submitted this erroneous but entertaining last-minute entry yesterday evening.
And finally, a reminder on how important it is to keep those claws trimmed: http://goo.gl/QRWwX6
What next?
Now for our next challenge.
Spurtle has so far located three unique foxes in Edinburgh (see below). And not simply your boring old living foxes – telling awful jokes or acting superior – but dead-as-a-doornail foxes shaped, sculpted, or moulded by human hand.
You have until noon on 24 July to identify their locations and/or add other examples of your own.
Reach us at
spurtle@hotmail.co.uk and @theSpurtle and Facebook
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New Town Flâneur @NewTownFlaneur
@theSpurtle Fox. [Melgund Terrace]
@theSpurtle Northumberland Street fox waiting for the Waitrose van.
Gill Finlayson @palimpest1
@NewTownFlaneur @theSpurtle I LOVE him Bru-beast No need for Waitrose.....
Broughton Spurtle @theSpurtle
Not sure you've completely grasped the rules.
@_MMaritima @theSpurtle @NewTownFlaneur Another Fox in Edinburgh
@_MMaritima@theSpurtle@NewTownFlaneur How about this - Leith Walk
@NewTownFlaneur @theSpurtle fox
@thespurtle Another fox. This one eyeing up its prey. You can actually see the fear in the poor duck's eyes.
Camera Stellata @officeorpub
@NewTownFlaneur @theSpurtle or is it love?
@officeorpub @theSpurtle Duck knows.
Another fox spotted in Embo Safari on Forth St. Will have to disqualify, though, as indoors: http://www.broughtonspurtle.org.uk/news/edinburgh-safari-5 …
@theSpurtle I'm afraid the same fate will strike for this #gruffalo fox...
@theSpurtle fox spotted in Rosslyn Crescent a few while ago.
@theSpurtle Middle of the night Academy fox #lateforlessons
@theSpurtle Found it! It may be a twin, given the different door colour. [Montpelier Park, Bruntsfield]
@officeorpub @NewTownFlaneur @theSpurtle Urbane wildlife at Warriston Allotments.
@officeorpub @theSpurtle @NewTownFlaneur I drew him for you! #fox
Late addition to collection of Edinburgh foxes—this one run to earth on Castle St: http://www.broughtonspurtle.org.uk/news/edinburgh-safari-5 …
