Montagu Bridge, Dalkeith Park

George Barret, whose reputation rested on pioneering views of Ireland, Wales and Scotland, was among the most acclaimed landscape painters of the 1760s and 1770s. In 1766, he began work on a series of pictures set on the Lowland estates of the 3rd Duke of Buccleuch, recording an extensive programme of practical and ornamental improvements. This picture of the Montagu Bridge frames a moss house on the riverside, akin to the viewing stations and refuges that now dotted the landscapes of Dunkeld, Taymouth and other sites.