Lord Mungo Murray

Artist

John Michael Wright (English)

Born 1617 - Died 1694

Depicted

Lord Mungo Murray (Scottish)

Born 1668 – Died 1700

(Gaelic) Am Morair Mungo Moireach

Son of the 1stMarquess of Atholl

Subject

Aristocracy

Date Created

About 1638

About

This nattily dressed fellow is Lord Mungo, the fifth son of the Marquess of Atholl. He welcomes you as you enter the entrance hall at our Loch Ness property.

He wears a belted plaid – a double width of tartan about five metres long, belted around the body to form a kilt and cloak and here he is dressed for hunting carrying a flintlock sporting gun and two pistols in his belt, as well as a ‘dirk’ (a long dagger) and a ‘ribbon basket’ sword. Notice in the background his long-suffering servant carrying a longbow, used to hunt deer.

Lord Mungo died young, fighting the Spanish in Panama in Central America. Clearly a bellicose character and in fact, the earliest highlander to adorn the walls at The Old Manse. The Murray family name features widely in the various Jacobite uprisings throughout the 1700’s, most notably General Lord George Murray.

The English artist, John Michael Wright painted Lord Mungo Murray in around 1638. Wright served his apprenticeship, from 1636, with George Jamesone in Edinburgh. In the early 1640s Wright went to Rome, becoming a member of the Academy of St Luke eventually returning to England and latterly Ireland. Wright is one of the most distinctive British-born painters of the seventeenth century, with a confident approach to his sitters and a subtle sense of colour.

Prince Charles Edward Stuart

Artist

William Mosman (Scottish)

Born 1700 – Died 1771

Depicted

Prince Charles Edward Stuart

Eldest Son of James Francis Edward Stuart

Born 1720 (Rome) – Died 1788

Subject

Royalty, Jacobite

Date Created

Around 1750

About

This famous face is that of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, son of the ‘Old Pretender’, Prince James Francis Edward, and grandson of King James VII and II, who was overthrown in 1688. Popularly known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ or the ‘Young Pretender’ he embodied the hopes of the exiled Jacobite dynasty.

He hangs on the wall at the foot of the staircase and begins our historical journey of local characters leading up the staircase to the top of the house.

The Young Pretender’s cause and that of the Jacobite rebellion came to an end when his army was defeated by government forces lead by the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Culloden (not far from the Old Manse) in 1746. The Prince managed to escape to France and remained in exile for the remainder of his life. He is buried in St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Rome.

In this portrait, the young prince is wearing the order of the Garter and the Jacobite blue bonnet with a white cockade. The latter represents the white rose, a symbol for Jacobite sympathies, and was worn by the prince’s troops in the absence of a formal uniform.

The artist, William Mosman, was born in Aberdeen in 1700, became a pupil of Francesco Imperiali in Rome in 1732 and spent around six years in Italy. He returned permanently to Scotland in 1740 and eventually set up a drawing academy in Aberdeen in the early 1760’s

Kenneth Sutherland,

3rd Lord Duffus

Artist

Richard Waitt (Scottish)

Active 1708 – Died 1732

Depicted

Kenneth Sutherland, 3rd Lord Duffus

Born 1679 - Died 1732/34

Subject

Jacobite, Aristocracy

Date Created

Around 1712

About

As we ascend the staircase, you come to the brightly dressed Lord Duffas, a Scottish aristocrat born in Elgin in 1679. The painting is an early and complete depiction of Highland dress. Lord Duffus is shown dressed for hunting and the image conforms to the traditional Gaelic ideal of the aristocrat as ‘the hunter of deer’.

Having supported the act of Union of the Scottish and English parliaments in 1707 he then defected during the 1715 Jacobite uprising joining the rebels who wanted to restore the exiled Stuart dynasty. The Rising failed and Duffus’s estates were forfeited. He fled to the continent, but was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. This portrait was painted before Lord Duffus joined the Jacobite cause.

Released in 1717, he later served in the Russian Imperial Navy where he rose to the rank of Admiral. He clearly led a fascinating life!

The artist of our subject here, Richard Waitt, specialised in portraiture, but began his career as a decorative painter. His first recorded work is a coat of arms for the Earl of Hopetoun. Believed to have trained in Edinburgh studio of the painter John Scougal he painted, mostly notably, still life. He married into a family with Jacobite sympathies and possibly left the country, temporarily, after the Rising of 1715. He must have returned by 1722 however, when he resumed work for the Clan Grant. Waitt’s portraits formed a unique clan gallery.

William Augustus,

Duke of Cumberland

Artist

Artist Unknown – ‘after’ Sir Joshua Reynolds

Depicted

William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland

Youngest son of George II

Born 1721 – Died 1765

Subject

Wars and Conflicts, Jacobite Risings

Date Created

Around 1758

About

At the top of the staircase we come to the eventual victor in the Jacobite story, William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The second surviving son of King George II. He served in the navy and the military, notably at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 where he was wounded below the knee, an injury he never recovered from.

He commanded the army which relentlessly pursued ‘Bonnie’ Prince Charlie during the 1745 Rising and defeated the Jacobite army and essentially their cause, in 1746. As a result of his ruthless treatment of the rebels he earned the nickname the ‘Butcher’… Not a pleasant man, clearly.

The sash of the Order of the Garter is visible across his chest, the Duke was given this honour in 1730 when he was still a child.

The artist of this portrait is ‘unknown’ however it is after the style of Sir Joshua Reynolds the English painter who specialised in portraits and one of the major European painters of the 18thcentury.

Sir Joshua Reynolds was the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, and was knighted by King George III in 1769.

Sir James

and Sir Alexander

Macdonald

Artist

Artist Unknown – Attributed to William Mosman

Depicted

Sir James Macdonald 1741 - 1766

Sir Alexander Macdonald 1744/45 - 1795

Subject

Highland Chieftains, Clan Macdonald

Date Created

Around 1749

About

In the drawing room at The Old Manse we meet the two Macdonald boys. James on the right and Alexander on the left, the sons of Sir Alexander Macdonald of Macdonald, a great Highland chieftain with estates in the nearby Isle of Skye. An essential visit if you have time while you stay with us.

James is shown with his gun, Alexander with his golf club. Golf was already a well-established pastime in Scotland by this time having been around since the 15th Century.

The children wear three different patterns of tartan between then, as individual family or clan patterns did not become widely established until the end of the eighteenth century.

The artist in this case is ‘unknown’ however it is attributed to the Scotsman, William Mosman, who we have discussed in previous passages.

John Stuart Hepburn Forbes

Artist

Sir Henry Raeburn (Scottish)

1756 - 1823

Depicted

John Stuart Hepburn Forbes, later 8th Baronet of Monymusk, and of Fettercairn and Pitsligo

Born 1804 – Died 1866

Subject

Notable Scots

Date Created

Around 1809-1813

About

Positioned next to the Macdonald boys in the drawing room at The Old Manse is a delightful painting of a young John Forbes, the son of Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, a prominent Scottish banker and patron of the arts.

The 8-year-old Forbes is shown in an affectionate pose with a black and white spotted dog, possibly a Dalmatian Pointer cross, and presumably the family pet as it wears a padlocked metal collar. John grew up to be a prominent figure in society as an advocate and elected member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

We, at Highland-Escape, love great art but even more so, when it includes dogs, hence its prominent position in the drawing room.

The artist, Henry Raeburn, painted Forbes’s elder brother William, in a painting which also sits in a collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.

Originally an apprentice to a goldsmith, Henry Raeburn showed great artistic talent at an early age. He moved to London in 1784 where he met the important painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. Raeburn then spent some time in Italy but returned to Edinburgh in 1787. He began painting the rich, famous and important people of his day and was knighted in 1822 when the King visited Edinburgh. Sadly, he died shortly after.

Reverend Dr.

Robert Walker

Artist

Sir Henry Raeburn (Scottish)

1756 - 1823

Depicted

Reverend Dr Robert Walker

Born 1755 – Died 1808

Title

Skating on Duddingston Loch

Date Created

Around 1795

About

In our ‘Snug’ room you’ll find a favourite picture of ours, this playful looking painting of an ice-skater is thought to be the Reverend Robert Walker, minister of the Canongate Kirk and a member of the Edinburgh Skating Society.

The club – the oldest of its kind in Britain – usually met on the frozen lochs of Duddington or Lochend on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Walker’s pose, as he glides across the ice, looks effortless, but he is in fact showing off his skill, as this would have been recognised by fellow skaters as a difficult and sophisticated manoeuvre. Something of a showman then it seems.

This small picture, another of the Raeburn’s in the house, is quite unlike other known portraits by the artist.

Wandering Shadows

Artist

Peter Graham (Scottish)

1836 - 1921

Title

Wandering Shadows

Date Created

Around 1878

About

On the west facing wall of the dining room sits a grand painting by Peter Graham. Graham’s observations of fleeting effects in nature provided the basis for his painting.

You’ll notice the ever-changing look of the landscape around you in the highlands as the weather goes through four seasons in a day! It can change the whole look and feel of the scenery in a moment and that drama is some of what inspires our love of the Highlands.

Graham captures the sense of movement and constant change and the movement of the clouds and is echoed in the mountain stream flowing down to the river.

Graham produced series of grand paintings like this, particularly appealing to an urban-based audience he was surrounded by upon his moving to London. Graham's large paintings celebrate the romantic character of the Scottish Highlands. He trained at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh under Robert Scott Lauder and at first worked on figure subjects.

From 1859 he began to concentrate on landscape painting after an inspiring holiday in Deeside. Graham chose to paint on a scale which emphasised the magnificence of the scenery. He was influenced by the paintings of Horatio McCulloch and the poetry of Sir Walter Scott. He enjoyed great success at the Royal Scottish Academy and from 1866, at the Royal Academy, London.

If you like this painting, we suggest you seek out ‘O’er Moor and Moss’ which he painted in 1867.

Monarch of the Glen

Artist

Sir Edward Landseer (English)

1803 - 1873

Title

The Monarch of the Glen

Date Created

Around 1851

About

We imagine this painting shall need little or no introduction as it is one of the most famous British paintings of the nineteenth century. A masterpiece of Victorian romanticism, the Monarch of the Glen encapsulates the grandeur and majesty of Scotland’s highlands and wildlife. First exhibited in 1851 it’s gone on to achieve legendary status.

In this picture Landseer depicts a monumental and precisely defined ‘royal’ or twelve-point stag – a reference to the numbers of points on its antlers.

It became widely admired in the nineteenth century, when it was reproduced in prints, and achieved even greater renown in the twentieth century when it was employed as a marketing image for various products, so endowing it with global recognition.

Landseer displayed his remarkable artistic skills at a very early age; when he was only twelve one of his paintings was exhibited at the Royal Academy. He excelled at painting animals, often bringing great drama, animation and wit to his portrayals. Landseer's enthusiasm for Scotland prompted annual visits from 1824 onwards, and he combined hunting expeditions with sketching trips.

Landseer was the favourite artist of Queen Victoria, he was commissioned by the Royal household several times in his lifetime eventually being awarded a Knighthood by the Queen in 1850.

The painting, quite rightly, takes pride of place behind the head of the table in our dining room and adds a sense of highland majesty to the surroundings.

Sir David Wilkie

Artist

Sir David Wilkie

Born 1785 – Died 1841

Depicted

Sir David Wilkie, Artist

Subject

Self-Portrait

Date Created

Around 1804

About

This painting which sits above the head of the bed first-floor, right hand bedroom. It is a favourite portrait of ours and one that really follows the viewer when looked at from any angle.

The subject and artist, Wilkie was born in the village of Pitlessie in the parish of Cults, Fife in 1785. Here, he gazes straight out at the viewer, just as he would into the mirror to paint this striking self-portrait, made when he was twenty. He had by this time demonstrated his remarkable ability to portray contemporary events and with this work confirmed his skills as an accomplished portrait painter.

Wilkie grips a portfolio in one hand and his pencil holder in the other. His fashionably tousled reddish hair and brown jacket stand out subtly from the similarly toned background.

He is thought to have painted the work just before his move from Edinburgh to London in 1805.

Mother and Child

Artist

Norah Neilson Gray (Scottish)

Born 1882 – Died 1931

Title

Mother and Child

Date Created

1920’s

About

On the top floor of the house you will find this painting above the fireplace in what is a lovely room with one of the best views in the house, looking down along the shore line of Loch Ness. It shows the winding road and trees stretching out into the distance.

This wonderful contemporary artwork is by the renowned Scottish artist Norah Gray. Her paintings are characterised by unconventional placing of figures, unusual colour schemes and shadow patterns, as can be seen in this work.

Gray was born in Helensburgh. While still a student at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) she exhibited at the Royal Academy, where she continued to show until 1926.

She taught fashion design and drawing at the Glasgow School of Arts and remained on the staff from 1906 to 1918. In 1910 she established a practice as a portrait painter in a studio at 141 Bath Street, Glasgow, painting mainly in oils but also in watercolour. In addition, her illustrations to ‘Wordsworth’s Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood’ were published by Dent in 1913.

After WW1, Gray built up her portrait practice, she produced decorative but unsentimental images of young women and children.

At the time of her death from cancer in 1931, aged merely forty-eight, she was considered ‘the foremost Scottish woman painter’. We love this picture and hope you do to.

Landscape with Tourists

at Loch Katrine

Artist

John Knox (Scottish)

Born 1778 – Died 1845

Title

Landscape with Tourists at Loch Katrine

Date Created

Around 1815 - 1820

About

Again, at the top of the house, we are in a bedroom with views up the hills leading towards Lairgmore we find this famous picture by the artist John Knox. This picture hangs in the Scottish National Gallery and is a favourite of ours for the colour and setting on the landscape.

Knox captured the sweeping grandeur and beauty of the Trossachs and Loch Katrine, as described by Sir Walter Scott in his poem 'The Lady of the Lake'. Its publication in 1810 boosted the number of visitors to the area.

In the left foreground of Knox's painting visitors, welcomed by a piper, wait to board a ferry to Ellen's Isle, named after Scott's heroine. Ellen and her exiled father Douglas found Loch Katrine to be a haven of peace and tranquillity, the very qualities which mass tourism threatened to undermine.

John Knox was one of Scotland's most significant and original landscape painters. His family moved to Glasgow in 1799 and he may have trained with Alexander Nasmyth. As well as fairly conventional views of the Clyde valley and other picturesque sites, composed in the classical tradition, he produced some highly unusual and dramatic panoramas, taken from unusual viewpoints, such as the top of a mountain. Knox was also an influential teacher; Horatio McCulloch and Daniel McNee are both associated with the older artist.