Art Treasures of Kinloch Castle: February 2020

Oil Paintings, Watercolours and Prints

within Kinloch Castle - Part Two.

Sir George Bullough, Baronet. Lady Monica Lilly Bullough.

Written from on-site research and illustrated with photographs from his personal archive by George W. Randall, co-founder in July 1996 and former Vice Chairman Kinloch Castle Friends' Association.

A selection of the vulnerable 300+ Oil Paintings, Watercolours and Prints within Kinloch Castle, a late Victorian Hunting Lodge on the Isle of Rum, off Scotland’s West Coast.

The second of a series of blogs on the photographs and pictures within Kinloch Castle, in which I highlight the consequences totally failed management and complete indifference over sixty-six years,

have, and continue to wrought on the contents, particularly the pictures, in this publicly owned Castle purchased with tax-payers’ money!

The east façade of Kinloch Castle overlooks Loch Scresort, the island's only sea loch.
*

On the 28^th of February 1957, the eighty-seventh anniversary of the birth of

Sir George Bullough, Bt., his eighty-eight year old widow sold their forty square mile island along with Kinloch Castle - its late Victorian/Edwardian furnishings in-situ -

to the Conservative Government of the day for £23,000,
the island to be used in perpetuity as a nature reserve.

In a signed document it was agreed the contents were to be known as the Sir George Bullough Memorial.

INTRODUCTION:

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THE MOST DRAMATIC PAINTING IN KINLOCH CASTLE

A striking full-face depiction of a mounted cavalry officer wielding his sword in outstretched right hand, his snorting black Charger at full gallop!

Original Watercolour - signed R. C. W.

Displayed in the Billiard / Games Room at Kinloch Castle this undated original 18 x 12 inch watercolour signed R.C.W. still bears the Inventory of Contents identification number 150 carried out in 1978 by auctioneers Phillips of Scotland, Ltd.,

when it was described simply as

“Another water colour drawing.”

Phillips carried out further inventories in 1992 and 1996, the latter being an almost word for word copy of the former, in which the painting was described: “Other assorted items (including) watercolour of charging horseman.”

In the 2007 Inventory fine art auctioneers Bonhams also bundled it with other items,
describing them on page 60:

“The remaining contents of the (billiard) room including a framed photograph, ... watercolour of charging horseman ... print of Rum, carved elephant,
various photographs, various games.”

Regrettably this system of bunching items seems to have been common practice amongst Britain's leading auction houses,

thereby completely defeating the purpose of the exercise not
only in terms of identification and valuation of individual items,

but also highlighting any damage and more importantly, losses over time.

THE ARTIST: R.C.W.

RICHARD CATON WOODVILLE (b.1856 - d.1927)

Richard Caton Woodville was born in London on the 7^th of January 1856.

His father, also Richard Caton, was an American artist from Baltimore who spent his professional career in Europe and sadly died five months before his son was born.

Richard (jnr.) studied at the Düsseldorf School of Painting under the Prussian military artist

Professor Wilhelm Camphausen,

who specialised in historical and battle scenes,

later under Professor Franz Jean-Esuard von Gebhardt at the Academy of St. Petersburg and finally under the renowned French painter and sculptor Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824 – 1904) in Paris.

As an accomplished artist Woodville worked primarily for The London Illustrated News, but also made contributions to The Tatler,

Strand Magazine and Cornhill Magazine;

articles which very soon earned

him a reputation as a talented illustrator and reporter.

Hungerford Virtual Museum

At twenty-one years of age he was sent to report on the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War between the Russian and Ottoman Empires; a conflict involving over half a million men, it was his first experience of the horrors of bloody battle.

In 1879 joined the cavalry unit of the Royal Berkshire Yeomanry staying until 1914,
at which time, aged sixty, he joined the
National Reserve as a captain.

From July to September 1882 Woodville covered the Anglo-Egyptian War, between British forces under Field Marshal Viscount Wolseley and those of Egypt and Sudan under Egyptian nationalist, lieutenant colonel Ahmed Arabi who sought to end British and French influence in his country by deposing the ruler, Mohamed Tewfik Pasha.

(British concern centred on fear of default by Egypt on her national debt of
£100 million, requiring two-thirds of Egypt’s revenue to service, and control of the Suez Canal opened in 1869 which halved the journey time to the jewel in the British crown, India, and through which four fifths of shipping was British. The uprising ended with the bombardment of Alexandria, Egypt becoming a British protectorate remaining under British control until the end of
World War II.)

THE PAINTING

The Royal Berkshire Cavalry served in the Boer War, 1899 – 1902, and from his sketches Woodville saw action as a reporter and possibly as a combatant.
Indeed, the Elandslaagte battle entered British folklore under the title “Ell and Slaughter”, referring to the devastating, no quarter given cavalry attack.

Eight days into the conflict,
the 19^th of October 1899, after cutting the telegraph line, and just as a supply train steamed into the station
the Boers overran the small, dusty railway town of Elandslaagte, KwaZulu, Northern Natal, on the line between the towns of Dundee and Ladysmith, sixteen miles north-east of Ladysmith,

This not only cut the key British supply route but any prospect of retreat by rail for British forces under attack at Dundee.

On the 21^st of October, 1899, in what soon developed into a violent thunderstorm as darkness was rapidly falling, British and Boer forces engaged at Elandslaagte.

A total force of 3,500 British led by
Field Marshal Sir John French, a firm exponent of the use of cavalry, and General Sir Ian Hamilton in command of the infantry faced
one thousand Boers under General Johannes Kock (who was captured and died shortly after of his wounds in hospital at Ladysmith),
and Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Schiel, who was also captured but survived the war.

The British victory, which ended when a conventional cavalry charge turned the Boer retreat into a bloody rout, resulted in fifty-five of their number killed and 205 injured, with forty-six Boers killed, 105 wounded with 181 captured

or missing. Elandslaagte is seen as “one of the few clear-cut tactical successes

by the British during the conflict.”

Barely two weeks later the famous one-hundred and sixteen day Siege of Ladysmith commenced lasting from the 2^nd of November 1899 to 28^th of February 1900.

The writer suggests that based on the above facts, the darkness of Mr. Woodville's watercolour the work represents a scene from the Elandslaagte battle.

Further, the facial similarity between the rider in the painting and the artist suggest a self-portrait, real or imagined, of his participation in this famous cavalry charge.

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A Representation of the Battle on Drunmossie Moor,

Near Culloden in Scotland.

Published by Henry Overton, 30th June 1746.

Displayed at a height of over six feet at the east end of the ground floor south corridor

by Lady Bullough’s Drawing Room is this glazed, ebony framed

Representation of the Battle of Drunmossie Moor measuring 39 x 22 inches.

"A REPRESENTATION OF THE BATTLE ON DRUNMOSSIE MOOR

NEAR CULLODEN in SCOTLAND.

Shewing the manner of the Victory Obtained by HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS

THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND over the Rebels

on Wednesday the 16 of April 1746*
in which were killed and taken Prisoners about Five Thousand,

besides their Baggage, Tents, Colours and Standards, &c."

* NOTE: Although the descriptive title states Wednesday the 16 of April 1746,

the 16^th of April 1746 was in fact a Saturday.

Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (15 April 1721 – 31 October 1765)
was the third and youngest son of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland.
He is recalled in history as leading the King's forces at the Battle of Culloden
in 1746, brutally defeating the Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart ,
Bonnie Prince Charlie, and earning himself the title,
Butcher Cumberland.

The engraving depicts a series of scenes leading up to, during and

immediately following the Duke of Cumberland’s victory over Charles Stuart,

“Bonnie Prince Charlie”, and his Jacobite army at the

Battle of Culloden, near Inverness, Scotland.

Prince William, Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765) third and

youngest son of King George II of Great Britain and Ireland,

Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and prince-electorof the Holy Roman Empire,

was twenty-five years old the day before the battle.

LEFT: Cumberland’s Aid-de-Camp at the Battle was twenty-two year old

Coldstream Guards Captain Lieutenant George Keppel, Viscount Bury

(from 1754 3^rd Earl of Albemarle) who carried the dispatch of the Duke’s

success to the king in London.

RIGHT: The four officers attending the Duke:

Lieutenant-General Willem van Keppel,

2^nd Earl of Albemarle (father of the Duke’s Aid de Camp);

Lieutenant-General John Huske,

in December 1745 appointed deputy Commander-in-Scotland to Lt. Gen. Hawley;

Lieutenant-General Henry Hawley, Commander-in-Chief Scotland,

Cavalry commander at the battle appointed Governor of Inverness 1748-1752;

Brigadier-General Sir John Mordaunt, was detached after the battle to pursue

the Highlanders after which he was presented with Charles Stuart's coach by the

Duke as a “mark of favour.”

A Whig Member of Parliament from 1739-1761, Mordaunt was one of the

first governors of London’s Foundling Hospital for destitute children

established in 1741.

No. 7: Jacobite ladies at the Battle of Culloden:

Lady Margaret Ogilvie, Lady Janet Kinloch, Lady Henrietta Gordon, Lady Anne Mackintosh.

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The engraving depicts a series of events leading up to, during and following victory of the

Duke of Cumberland’s Government forces over the Jacobite army of twenty-five year old

Prince Charles Edward Stuart, “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, (respectively son and

grandson of James Francis Edward Stuart, son of the late exiled King James II of England),

on Drunmossie Moor, near Inverness, Scotland on the 16^th of April 1746.

Prince Charles initially landed from France on the island of Eriskay off Scotland’s west coast from where, in a small rowing boat,
he landed at Glenfinnan, Loch Shiel on the Scottish mainland on the 19^th of August 1745 where he raised his father’s standard and his army of supporters.
After a series of engagements, including the capture of Edinburgh and major battle at Prestonpans on the 21^st of September, the Prince and his army marched south heading for London, capturing Carlisle, Preston and Manchester before, in early December, reaching Derby, almost 450 miles from Inverness and less than 150 miles from England’s capital city.
Outnumbered by Cumberland’s swiftly advancing army, promised support having failed to materialise, the Prince and his weary army was left with no option but to turn back before their chance of retreat was cut by superior forces.
The decision, though supported
by the majority caused an irretrievable split between Charles and his Scots supporters.

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No. 5: French officer surrenders himself.

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By early February 1746, desperately short of food, weapons and money, the main Jacobite force retreated to Inverness.

By April, rather than risk a pitched battle in their continuing weakened state,
the Prince chose to launch a surprise attack at night on Cumberland’s sleeping troops;
but, stumbling in the dark from Inverness, exhausted and hungry,
(their rations by this time were down to “three biscuits a day”),
progress was painfully slow with many men falling behind.

Disagreement broke out between the Prince and his senior commanders as to whether
they should retreat in order to gain strength and fight another day preferably
on higher, drier ground?

But Charles was determined and despite the dawning of the new day
he took what proved to be the fatal decision to fight.

About 1 pm. on Saturday the 16^th of April 1746 to the skirl of bagpipes, the Jacobite artillery opened fire on government soldiers across the boggy ground known as Drunmossie Moor. Cumberland’s well fed, highly disciplined government troops

responded with their own cannon; the Battle of Culloden had begun.

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No. 30: Culloden House, about two miles distant east of Inverness.

In April 1746 Charles Edward Stuart, leader of the Jacobites, requisitioned Culloden House

using it as his headquarters in the days leading up to the Battle of Culloden.

With 33: The Highlands of Scotland as a backdrop.

No. 29: (Background) Fort Augustus blown up by the rebels.

No. 24: (Foreground) Kerr and Cobham’s Dragoons marching through the broken wall of

Culwhiniac Enclosure to flank the rebels.

* The Dragoons rode through “breaches made by the Argyleshiremen” in the six foot high
stone-built walls “at the rear of the Right flank of the Rebels.”

* Reference: “Culloden – The History and Archæology of the Last Clan Battle” Edited by Tony Pollard.

Bombarded by cannon shot and mortar bombs, the Jacobite clans held back, waiting for the order to attack. When at last they moved forward, it was through driving rain, smoke, gunfire and grapeshot. Those that reached government lines fought ferociously; many others never reached their goal. This time the government troops were prepared for the dreaded Highland charge; under brutal gunfire and faced with deadly bayonets, the Jacobites were forced to retreat.

Hardly an hour had passed between the first shots and flight of the Prince’s army.
Charles watched from safety as the Duke of Cumberland emerged victorious.

News of the Jacobite defeat was brought to King George II by his son’s aid-de-camp, Lieutenant George Keppel.* The Government victory was celebrated in most towns in Southern Scotland, and throughout England church bells rang out and bonfires were lit.

Although by European standards Culloden was a short battle it was exceptionally bloody, with no quarter given by either side; but battle allegiances and the brutality
of what followed changed lives and life in the Highlands forever, families were divided, clan was set against clan!

* Days/dates vary as to the arrival of news of Cumberland’s victory in London.

Thursday the 24^th of April is given, but the 24^th was a Sunday and eight days seems a long time. Thursday, being the 21^st April seems much more likely.

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Inverness and its Castle, from where the Jacobite army marched,

lies on the River Ness which runs into the Moray Firth an inlet of the North Sea.

The Kinloch Castle engraving was published by Henry Overton,

The White Horse without Newgate, London, on the 30^th of June 1746, some ten weeks after the battle.

The Overton family were leading retailers and publishers of prints and maps in the late

17^th and 18^th centuries in England. Henry was born in 1676 and took over the business

from his father, John*, on the 17^th of June 1707.

In turn his nephew, also Henry, ran the firm from 1751 until 1764 when it was sold to

London newspaper proprietor, print and patent medicine seller forty-nine year old Cluer Dicey,

whose father had established “a huge distribution network in England for patent medicines”

as well as being a newspaper proprietor and print seller.

* John Overton (1640-1713) had been apprenticed to Thomas Gould in the Stationer’s Company

and in 1663 bought the business and stock of leading print and map seller Peter Stent,

over the next three decades building it into the most successful in London.

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For Comparison:

A contemporary engraving by Luke Sullivan (1705-1771) in his depiction of

The Battle of Culloden by Augustin Heckel (1690-1770) with descriptive text.

A. Heckel, delin. The BATTLE of CULLODEN April 16^th 1746. L. S. sculpt.

This view of the Glorious Victory obtained over the Rebels shows His Majesties Army

commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of CUMBERLAND drawn up in three

Lines the Front consisting of Six Battallions of Foot, the Second of Five,

the Third was a Body of Reserve, composed of Four. Part of the Highland Army is here

represented as furiously attempting with Swords & Targets to break in upon the left of the

Duke’s front line, where their Rashness met with its deserved chastisement from the fire

and Bayonets of Barrels of Munro’s intrepid Regiments. The right wing of the Rebels

being covered by a stone Wall. Kerr’s & Cobham’s Dragoons, under Hawley & Bland

are describ’d as passing through a breech that has been made for them in it.

To attack the rear of the Rebels w’ch put them into immediate confusion.

Kingston’s Horse wheel’d off at the same time by the right of ye Kings Forces and

falling on the left of the Rebels met our Dragoons in their Center on which began

the total rout of these disturbances of the Publick Repose.

Printed for & Sold by Thomas Bowles in St. Paul’s Churchyard and

Jas Bowles at the Black Horse in Cornhill.

Published According to Act of Parliament 1 May, 1747.

RETRIBUTION:

The events at CULLODEN are described in CHAPTER XX of

and reproduced at the end of this post.

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The Will of King Louis XVI of France was recorded as “Item 1065: Engraving –

The Will of Louis XVI – Framed and Glazed in Hostel Bedroom 13 wardrobe.”

in the 1978 Inventory of Kinloch Castle Contents carried out by Phillips of Scotland

It is not individually recorded in later inventories.

Located on the floor in the Piper’s Room off the Great Hall and photographed in March 2006.

The paper print, mount and backing board all show stain damage consistent
with being kept in a damp environment.

The Will of Louis the Sixteenth

LATE KING OF FRANCE

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF

THE LEFT COLUMN IS IN ENGLISH THE RIGHT COLUMN IN FRENCH.

The Will of Louis the Sixteenth

LATE KING OF FRANCE

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF

Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesheres, (1721-1794) was a French statesman and a committed loyalist. He volunteered his services to defend King Louis, for which, in December 1793 he was arrested and imprisoned in the Prison Portes-Libres along with his daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren and his secretaries. In late April 1794 they were all guillotined.

François Denis Tronchet, (1726-1806) was a French advocate chosen by King Louis for his defence team, a difficult and dangerous task he performed “with ability and courage.”

He died at the age of eighty and was interred in the Panthéon (mausoleum) in Paris.

Raymond Romain, Comte de Sèze, (1750-1828) was a French advocate who “gained a remarkable reputation for passion and persuasiveness.” Although imprisoned he managed to escape the guillotine and upon the return of the Royal House of France in April 1814 was made a peer, a judge and member of the Académie Française.

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Louis XVI, last King of France and Navarre before the fall of the monarchy in the

French Revolution, May 1789 - November 1799, son of King Louis XV, 1710-1774,

was born on the 23^rd of August 1754. He married fourteen year old Austrian archduchess

Marie-Antoinette in 1770 and they had four children. Only two survived to witness the outbreak of the French Revolution, Madame Royale,
Marie Therese-Charlotte*, (1778-1851),

and the Second Dauphin (1785-1795) who as an eight year old became Louis XVIII following the execution of his father. Following the overthrow of the monarchy in September 1792 and the creation of the First French Republic, the King's family including the Dauphin, aged seven and his sister,
aged fourteen, were incarcerated in the 13^th century Temple prison,
built by the Knights Templar, where the Dauphin died three years later.
His sister was kept in solitary confinement for a year but eventually released.

Following his conviction by a narrow majority for treason, thirty-eight year old King Louis XVI of France was guillotined early in the morning of Moday the 21^st of January 1793
on the Place de la Révolution in Paris.

On the 16^th of October, after also being convicted of treason, his wife,

Marie Antoinette, was also executed.

Two years later, as a gesture of reconciliation after the turmoil of the Revolution, the Place de la Révolution was renamed the Place de la Concorde.