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

Although this sketch is perhaps too rough and lacking in distinction to make identification certain, one possibility is Glen Croe, a glen that runs between steep mountains between the northern ends of Loch Fyne and Loch Long. A sketch on folio 58 verso (D26551) depicts the glen and somewhat resembles this sketch.

At the right of the page, drawn with the sketchbook turned to the left is a sketch of buildings by water with hills in the background. Without further distinctive features this could be any number of small loch-side villages that Turner passed during his tour of the Highlands. The inscription, which looks like ‘Alarn’, does not help, though it is possible that it could be a reference to the Bridge of Allan, a settlement to the north of Stirling that Turner visited (see folio 13; D26460), although there is nothing in the sketch to confirm this suggestion.