Local authorities in East Wemyss say that a sculpture of a giant cock has become a real tourist attraction in this small town. The artist, 73-year-old Jim Hughes erected the 14 foot cockerel in his front garden out of an old cherry tree that Hughes was afraid had gotten so big it could pose a threat to neighbors and passing autos.
The retired man told reporters that it all started innocently enough when he decided to prune the giant ivy covered tree, then realized that it had the appearance of a male chicken. It was at then that Mr. Hughes decided to refine the work of art even more. Hughes said he added a beak and comb to make it look even more cock-like.
“Originally, it was an old cherry blossom tree,” Hughes told a reporter for Fife Today. “It got so big that I was worried it would be blown over and hit a car.” ”It’s in the front garden and looks out into the street. Since then, quite a few people have been stopping to take photographs,” he added. “I call it Jock. And it’s crowing for independence.”
Jim isn’t the only keen horticulturalist making headlines with bizarre topiary. It seems that Back in February, a tree surgeon named Chris Bishop rose to fame after pruning an 18 foot (5.5 metre) tree on his property into a giant penis. The Worcestershire resident spent three years growing out the Cypress tree before he was able to trim it to look like a huge gentleman’s appendage.
The green-fingered 43-year-old told Caters: “No-one’s commented when I’ve been out in the garden, people have just looked at it and walked past. I think it’s because they’re trying to work out whether it’s just their dirty minds.” Despite protests from angry neighbors, Chris says he plans to grow the foliage out even more so he can add a pair of testicles to the sculpture.
Let’s face it, you just got to love those crazy Scots. Maybe it is the long cold winters that gives them too much time on their hands, or the quality of their famous liquor, but whatever it is, they are always coming up with weird stuff to make people wonder.