Joseph Mallord William Turner

Three sketches on this page, used with the sketchbook inverted, show shipping at Leith and relate, according to Gerald Finley, to the Mission of Sir Walter Scott (see folio 49 verso; D17590).1 At the top is a view of shipping with the east side of Leith in the background. Arthur’s Seat is at the far right with a line of smoke blowing east from the bonfire that was lit in celebration of the King’s arrival.2

The inscription above it may refer with the word ‘gun’, to the six-gun battery placed on Salisbury Craigs, during the visit.3 Another inscription, ‘Glas[s] Hou[se]’, refers to one of Leith’s many glass manufacturers, a major industry in the town.4 The reference to a ‘Green’ vessel is familiar from a number of other sketches (folio 52; D17595) and could refer to Admiral Beresford’s barge which conveyed Sir Walter Scott and Robert Peel to the King’s yacht on 14 August. The barge may be shown again, this time with its flag more prominently shown (as in the recto of this page; D17625) and again in the bottom sketch where it may be coming alongside another boat. Here, unlike in other sketches of the barge, the oarsmen are shown.