Kelso Abbey, Roxburghshire, Scotland

This and the following drawing are part of a group of around thirty drawings on this scale made for Dr Thomas Monro in around 1795-6. Many of these were acquired by J.M.W. Turner after Monro's death and are now part of the Turner Bequest at Tate Britain, but these, and another of Loch Lomond with which they were previously framed, were separated. This watercolour was based on an outline drawing now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, which in turn was copied from an engraving after Thomas Hearne - it is unlikely Girtin had visited Kelso by the time these drawings were made.
We are grateful to Dr Gregory Smith for his help in preparing this catalogue entry and for including this drawing in his forthcoming online catalogue raisonné.