Joseph Mallord William Turner

These two sketches of a ruined castle, drawn with the sketchbook turned to the right, have not been identified with any certainty, though Hailes Castle in East Linton near Haddington is a possibility. Turner made a number of sketches of the castle in the Abbotsford sketchbook, of which several bear a resemblance to the present sketch (e.g. Tate D25971; Turner Bequest CCLXVII 24a). If this is the case then the hills sketched opposite on folio 31 verso (D25698) may have been made from nearby and therefore include Traprain Law (see Tate D26007; Turner Bequest CCLXVII 47a). Another possible identification of the current sketches is part of the ruins of Berwick Castle, which is depicted nearby in the sketchbook (folio 28 verso; D25692).