J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Horsburgh Castle, near Peebles 1834

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 11 Verso:
Horsburgh Castle, near Peebles 1834
D26115
Turner Bequest CCLXVIII 11a
Pencil on white wove paper, 111 x 181 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Hors Bra Cas’ top right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Horsburgh Castle is a ruined sixteenth-century tower house on the northern bank of the River Tweed opposite the hamlet of Glentress, about two and a half miles to the east of Peebles. Turner made quick sketches of the ruin during his journey from Peebles to Innerleithen, on a two-day excursion to the Scottish Borders from his base in Edinburgh on 2 and 3 October 1834; see Tour of Scotland for Scott’s Prose Works 1834 Tour Introduction. Further sketches are on folios 11 verso–12 verso (D26115–D26117).
The sketch across the top half of the page shows the castle on a mound surrounded by trees, with a ridge of hills beyond as seen from the road to the north. The serpentine line to the right marks Eshiels Burn, which flows into the River Tweed. The sketch across the bottom half of the page may also depict the castle, but this time it appears as a small shape at the right of the sketch which faces in a more south-easterly direction. Turner’s inscription ‘Hors Bra Cas’, at the top right of the page, is a transcription of Horsburgh Castle.
Turner seems not to have sketched the nearby castle of Nether Horsburgh, which was perhaps hidden from the road as it is now, but he did draw Cardrona Castle as he passed it on the road to Innerleithen: folio 13 (D26118). On his arrival, Turner made several quick sketches of the town (folio 14; D26121) before turning south to Traquair House: folio 17 verso (D26127).

Thomas Ardill
December 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Horsburgh Castle, near Peebles 1834 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-horsburgh-castle-near-peebles-r1136043, accessed 29 March 2024.