Highland Cattle in the Pass of Leny Signed and dated 1876 GOURLAY STEELL (1819-94). Osborne, Isle of Wight
The painting shows a herd of Highland cattle in the Pass of Levy which is about three miles north of Callender on the road to Lochearnhead in Scotland. The painting is stated to record a scene which had attracted Queen Victoria when she had driven through the Pass with Prince Albert. On a later occasion when she went through the Pass she noted that she had seen ‘endless droves of wild-looking, and for the most part extremely small, shaggy Highland cattle with their drovers and dogs – most wild and picturesque’. There is a preliminary sketch for the two calves in the foreground (RCIN 404116). Signed and dated: Gourlay Steell. RSA 1876.
Painted for Queen Victoria.