Joseph Mallord William Turner

Turner made this sketch of the rocky foot of Ben Venue from the east end of Loch Katrine. The mountain’s summit can be seen at the top right of the sketch, inscribed ‘B Venue’. The inscription at the lower left of the page is illegible, though David Wallace-Hadrill has suggested that it may say ‘?Croil Back’ or ‘Coille Beg’.1 In either case it seems to be an attempt by Turner to make a phonetic transcription of a Gaelic place name. The place depicted is near to Coir-nan-Uriskin, or Goblin’s Cave, which is depicted on folio 32 (D26498) where there is another transcription.

For more information about Turner’s visit to Loch Katrine and references to further sketches of it, see folio 47 (D26528).