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Scottish Art - Paintings of Scotland:
Ruthven Barracks Ruins

by D. Bruce Bennett

Storming Toward Ruthven Barracks

Let's pretend. Bruce did, when he painted this picture of Scotland. We may as well, too. He's wiped out evidences of the A9 just to the west and the skinny little tarmac B road that takes present-day tourists through this area just north of Perth, near Kingussie.

(Click for larger view of Ruthven Barracks.)

Let's pretend we've just stepped back in time to, oh say, 1750 and are traveling west on this simple dirt road. We're headed toward the man-made (or was it glacier-made?) hillock to the right, in the mid-ground. (Historians can't quite agree on this bit.) It holds what's left of Ruthven Barracks which, just four years earlier, was a functioning English fort.

Not any more. The ruins we see here were originally structures built by General Wade on a site previously used for five centuries. He had his men build Ruthven Barracks for 120 troops shortly after the Jacobite Uprising of 1715, the English logic running that an imposing fort like this would help them control those rebellious Highlanders. Hmm. Yes. Well. That didn't work.

After the Jacobite Uprising of 1746, Highlanders fleeing south from Culloden (perhaps as many as 3,000) stormed this fort, took it from the English, and stayed here until they received word from Bonnie Prince Charlie that it was every man for himself. They set fire to Ruthven Barracks – rather than let the English reclaim it – and hightailed it. Hence, the ruins we see "now" in 1750.

Now you may not care a fig about all this Scottish history or Ruthven Barracks, for that matter. You may care only for the striking composition of this original artwork, painted in watercolor style on watercolor paper, then glued to hardboard. You may care only about the dramatic blue-gray rain clouds that all seem to be storming toward Ruthven Barracks, directing your eye to the painting's center of attention.

In fact, you may care more about choosing framing to enhance the green grasses and trees of this Scottish Art so that it fits perfectly with your home's décor than about anything Bonnie Prince Charlie had to say. If so, not to worry. You don't have to be a Scottish history buff to enjoy this picture of Scotland.

Storming Toward Ruthven Barracks Picture of Scotland
Medium: acrylic on 300#, cold-pressed watercolor paper glued to hardboard
Image Dimensions: 16" w. x 12" h.
Mat: none
Glass: none
Frame: none

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