This memorial commemorates the ideas of mateship through using the legend of the Pikeman’s Dog. According to the legend, the Pikeman's Dog 'Wee Jock' stayed by his masters side during the Eureka rebellion and stood guard over his body and grave. The dog was awarded a Purple Cross by the RSPCA for service to humans in 1997 and a bronze life-size sculpture commemorating him was unveiled on December 3rd 1999 at the Anniversary of the Eureka Stockade Rebellion, in Ballarat, Victoria. The bronze Irish Terrier has an expression of his sadness with his his head turned towards the place where once his master stood. This statue was relocated from inside the Eureka Centre to a more prominent position within the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park when the Museum of Democracy at Eureka (M.A.D.E) was constructed. The new memorial was unveiled at a ceremony on December 3, 2014 - the 160th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade. The new memorial consists of 22 large golden stockade posts – representing the number of diggers killed in battle – erected in a triangle behind the statue of Wee Jock, the work could be viewed from the cafe area of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka. The triangular shape of the monument is metaphorically symbolic. The V shape can be interpreted as symbolising victory, and the 22 golden posts represent the 22 diggers who were killed. At the time of awarding the building the new memorial in July, the sculpture artists Charles Smith and Joan Walsh-Smith were quoted: “This ‘new incarnation’ will be a much more significant memorial than the original, and much more accessible to the public,” they said. “We have set the golden stockade post/poles in a graphically precise angle to each other, which both leads the eye to the dog and the pike, while, at the same time, creating a sense of controlled visual ‘unease’. Essentially, the impression is one of ‘controlled collapse’ while suggestive of purpose and final victory.”The memorial is of historic and aesthetic significance to the people of BallaratA small bronze dog surrounded by gold-coloured metal polespikemans dog, eureka stockade

A sculpture unveiled on December 3rd 1999, the Anniversary of the Eureka Stockade Rebellion, in Ballarat, Victoria commemorates the Pikeman's Dog . The centerpiece of the sculpture is the bronze Irish Terrier. His stance, is a direct expression of his forlorn anguish, as he sits at the base of a symbolic bronze Pike, his head turned towards the place where once his master stood. The Pikeman's Dog statue was relocated from inside the Eureka Centre to a more prominent position within the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park. The new memorial was unveiled at a ceremony on December 3, 2014 - the 160th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade. The new memorial consists of 22 large golden stockade posts – representing the number of diggers killed in battle – erected in a triangle behind the statue of Wee Jock, on high ground outside the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka. The triangular shape of the monument is metaphorically symbolic. The V shape can be interpreted as symbolising victory, and the 22 golden posts represent the 22 diggers who were killed. The Pikeman`s Dog (known as Wee Jock), a little terrier, showed great devotion and bravery at the death of his master at the Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854. As a result of the attack on the miners by Crown forces, five British soldiers and some thirty miners died. Among the miners lay a Pikeman, mortally wounded with some 15 wounds. Guarding his body throughout the hours it lay unclaimed at the battlefield, and later accompanying it on the death cart as the remaining bodies were transferred to the cemetery, was this small dog. According to reports the dog howled continuously and could not be separated from his master. The dog was awarded the RSPCA`s Purple Cross which Honours exceptional behaviour in serving humans in 1997.Colour photographs of the Pikeman's Dog statue in the Eureka Stockade Memorial Gardens. pikeman's dog, eureka stockade, statue, charles smith, joan walsh-smith