File:Tam O'Shanter.JPG

Acrylic painting depicting the Tam O’Shanter story, of unknown date. Tam is shown escaping on his horse, whilst being pursued by Nannie who grabs the horse’s tail. The churchyard is visible in the background, engulfed in flames and surrounded by witches and warlocks.

Citation from Victoria Art Gallery Bath: The painting depicts the last dramatic moment in Robert Burns' poem where Tam's faithful horse, Maggie, saves his life from the witches 'but left behind her ain grey tail'. Tam, rolling home drunk one night past the ghostly ruin of Alloway Church, chances upon a witch's coven dancing with the devil. He shouts out something to the witches and they chase him to the River Doon. But, like in stories of vampires, these witches cannot cross water, so when his horse clears the river, Tam is safe.

John Joseph Barker (1824–1904) was the third son of Thomas Barker. He lived and worked in Bath all his life. Although his first works were landscapes, he soon started producing more commercial pieces to make a living. Tam O'Shanter is typical of these dramatic, literary subjects that were popular among the middle classes who had neither the money nor the room for large portraits or mythological scenes, but who wanted an original work of art for their house. NB Artfact credits this painting to Abraham Cooper - http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/henry-hoppner-meyer-1782-1847-,-after-abraham-co-p4drbuv6nn-0-m-24c8c84ce9