Inspired by the old roads used to drive cattle into Crieff’s drover’s trysts (cattle markets) from all over Scotland, Bigg Design’s concept subverts the archetypal black and white cow with ordnance survey lines derived from the surrounding landscape and combines them with highlighted pathways that represent these great journeys.
Crieff is a town shaped by landscape and location. Nestled amongst a group of hills, the town wraps around the slopes of the Knock as it descends to meet the River Earn to the south west. The High Street follows the line of the hillside whilst the incoming roads follow the valleys and river plain.
In the 18th Century, Crieff’s central geographical position led it to become the focus of Scotland’s cattle trade where vast herds of highland cows from across northern and western Scotland were driven along the traditional drove roads to the trysts (cattle markets) at Crieff, sold, and then driven onwards for their lowland buyers.
At these gatherings the surrounding fields and hillsides would be black with tens of thousands of cattle, whilst the town gained a reputation for wildness as the drovers, far from home, enjoyed the fruits of their efforts after the sales.
The painted fibreglass ‘cowches’ formed a series of decorative benches that populated the town of Crieff during the summer of 2019.
At the end of the summer, the cowches were auctioned and helped raised £24,900 for the Scottish Air Ambilance charity. Bigg Design’s ‘Drover’s Coo’ then went on its own journey - the successful bidders drove it all over Scotland on the top of their car, following the route of the droving roads to raise funds for another charity - Meningitis Now.