188
consistent with that unity which picturesque composition generally requires, but
because the varied profusion of beauty, displayed by the whole, cannot fail to raise
in the mind astonishment and delight.”
Loch Katerine, Image No. XI, conversely, according to Robson, “meets with no
competitor in the variety of rude magnificence displayed by its eastern shores,
which baffles description, and leaves far behind it the boldest flights of the poet and
the painter.” Elsewhere among the infinite varieties of the Grampians, Robson comments on “the inhabitants of these remote tracts [who] are seldom visited by strangers, and live as if shut out from civilized intercourse. Their habitations are rude and
comfortless huts; and their best food is milk, oatmeal, and potatoes, of which their
store is often scanty; yet are these poor people given to hospitality, and if they see a
stranger about to ascend the steep sides of the valley, will run and invite him to
partake of their homely fare, before he ventures on so toilsome a journey.” This
commentary accompanies the image of Ben Lawers, No. XIX.
The killing of red deer is made much of, as multitudes of men forced them into
enclosures which they called “elrig,” a word connoting “strife”; and thus fenced in
by stakes and thick brush-wood, the deer were slaughtered. Why? For fun, of course.
These thousands of acres, and tens-of-thousands of deer were part of the “Duke’s
pleasure-grounds” (referring to “His Grace” the Duke of Atholl who owned “the
most extensive trace of the Grampians frequented by them [the deer]” as seen in
Image No. XXVII of Ben-Y-Gloe
13
.
Between 1850 and 1854, John Parker Lawson, an Episcopal clergyman/historian
of the natural history of the Bible, assembled his oddly titled, Scotland Delineated.
The 1854 edition has been rightly characterized with unrivaled superlatives as “One
of the major achievements of British topographical lithography…”
14
. A smaller,
13 From Scenery Of The Grampian Mountains; Illustrated by Forty-One Plates, Representing The
Principal Hills From Such Points As Display Their Picturesque Features; Diversified By Lakes And
Rivers: With An Explanatory Page Affixed To Each Plate, Giving An Account Of Those Objects Of
Natural Curiosity And Historical Interest , With Which The District Abounds, by George Fennell
Robson, The Engravings Executed By Henry Morton And Coloured From Original Drawings
Made On The Spot By The Author, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, And Brown, London, 1819.
14 As written by bookseller Sims Reed Ltd., London: Scotland Delineated in a Series of Views, with
Historical, Antiquarian and Descriptive Letterpress, Turner, Roberts, Nash et. al., Lawson, John
Parker. Published by E. Gambart & Co. / Joseph Hogarth., London, 1854. Sims Reed Ltd. has a
copy of the work for sale at over US$80,000., and the bookseller’s descriptive copy continues,
“The hand-coloured lithographs are, in the main, after drawings of Scottish scenery commissioned
especially for the work from the foremost landscapists of the day by Joseph Hogarth, the publisher.
The outstanding plates combined with the outstanding scenery they depict give the work a dramatic grandeur that is unparalleled in British topographical illustration. Among the artists represented (in the order they appear on the title) are J. M. W. Turner (2 plates), Sir W. Allan (2 plates),
Clarkson Stanfield (4 plates), George Cattermole (11 plates), W. L. Leitch (16 plates), Thomas
Creswick (3 plates), David Roberts (14 plates), J. D. Harding (4 plates), Joseph Nash (2 plates),
Horation MucCulloch (5 plates), D. O. Hill (1 plate) and W. A. Nesfield (2 plates). The lithographs
were drawn by Harding, Carrick, Gauci, Needham and others.” See https://www.abebooks.com/
servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7059000024&searchurl=bi%3D0%26ds%3D30%26bx%3Doff%26so
rtby%3D1%26tn%3Dscotland%2Bdelineated%26an%3Dlawson%26recentlyadded%3Dall
&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1.
20 The Grampians
consistent with that unity which picturesque composition generally requires, but
because the varied profusion of beauty, displayed by the whole, cannot fail to raise
in the mind astonishment and delight.”
Loch Katerine, Image No. XI, conversely, according to Robson, “meets with no
competitor in the variety of rude magnificence displayed by its eastern shores,
which baffles description, and leaves far behind it the boldest flights of the poet and
the painter.” Elsewhere among the infinite varieties of the Grampians, Robson comments on “the inhabitants of these remote tracts [who] are seldom visited by strangers, and live as if shut out from civilized intercourse. Their habitations are rude and
comfortless huts; and their best food is milk, oatmeal, and potatoes, of which their
store is often scanty; yet are these poor people given to hospitality, and if they see a
stranger about to ascend the steep sides of the valley, will run and invite him to
partake of their homely fare, before he ventures on so toilsome a journey.” This
commentary accompanies the image of Ben Lawers, No. XIX.
The killing of red deer is made much of, as multitudes of men forced them into
enclosures which they called “elrig,” a word connoting “strife”; and thus fenced in
by stakes and thick brush-wood, the deer were slaughtered. Why? For fun, of course.
These thousands of acres, and tens-of-thousands of deer were part of the “Duke’s
pleasure-grounds” (referring to “His Grace” the Duke of Atholl who owned “the
most extensive trace of the Grampians frequented by them [the deer]” as seen in
Image No. XXVII of Ben-Y-Gloe
13
.
Between 1850 and 1854, John Parker Lawson, an Episcopal clergyman/historian
of the natural history of the Bible, assembled his oddly titled, Scotland Delineated.
The 1854 edition has been rightly characterized with unrivaled superlatives as “One
of the major achievements of British topographical lithography…”
14
. A smaller,
13 From Scenery Of The Grampian Mountains; Illustrated by Forty-One Plates, Representing The
Principal Hills From Such Points As Display Their Picturesque Features; Diversified By Lakes And
Rivers: With An Explanatory Page Affixed To Each Plate, Giving An Account Of Those Objects Of
Natural Curiosity And Historical Interest , With Which The District Abounds, by George Fennell
Robson, The Engravings Executed By Henry Morton And Coloured From Original Drawings
Made On The Spot By The Author, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, And Brown, London, 1819.
14 As written by bookseller Sims Reed Ltd., London: Scotland Delineated in a Series of Views, with
Historical, Antiquarian and Descriptive Letterpress, Turner, Roberts, Nash et. al., Lawson, John
Parker. Published by E. Gambart & Co. / Joseph Hogarth., London, 1854. Sims Reed Ltd. has a
copy of the work for sale at over US$80,000., and the bookseller’s descriptive copy continues,
“The hand-coloured lithographs are, in the main, after drawings of Scottish scenery commissioned
especially for the work from the foremost landscapists of the day by Joseph Hogarth, the publisher.
The outstanding plates combined with the outstanding scenery they depict give the work a dramatic grandeur that is unparalleled in British topographical illustration. Among the artists represented (in the order they appear on the title) are J. M. W. Turner (2 plates), Sir W. Allan (2 plates),
Clarkson Stanfield (4 plates), George Cattermole (11 plates), W. L. Leitch (16 plates), Thomas
Creswick (3 plates), David Roberts (14 plates), J. D. Harding (4 plates), Joseph Nash (2 plates),
Horation MucCulloch (5 plates), D. O. Hill (1 plate) and W. A. Nesfield (2 plates). The lithographs
were drawn by Harding, Carrick, Gauci, Needham and others.” See https://www.abebooks.com/
servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7059000024&searchurl=bi%3D0%26ds%3D30%26bx%3Doff%26so
rtby%3D1%26tn%3Dscotland%2Bdelineated%26an%3Dlawson%26recentlyadded%3Dall
&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1.
20 The Grampians