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

There are three sketches of Dumbarton Rock on this page. With the sketchbook turned to the right at the centre of the page is a view of the rock and its reflection in the Clyde from the south-east, with the Governor’s House prominent on the plateau at its lower reaches. There are further fortifications at the top of the rock, and part of the town of Dumbarton can be seen to the right. Above the sketch to the right is another view of the rock, this time just showing the outline of the ‘beak’, or eastern peak; it is also reflected in the river. The third sketch of the rock, drawn at the foot of the page with the sketchbook inverted, is from the west and shows the Governor’s House at the right. For further sketches of the rock and castle see the inside front of the sketchbook (D41131).

With the sketchbook turned to the left along the page’s gutter is a sketch labelled ‘Glen Goil’. The view is of the glen from near Lochgoilhead at the northern end of Loch Goil. The inscription is written over the mountain, Ben Donich. Turner made two similar sketches on folios 15 and 16 verso (D26647, D26650). There is also a view of the other end of the Glen from near Loch Fyne on folio 10 verso (D26638). For sketches of Loch Goil and Carrick Castle in this sketchbook see folio 15 verso (D26648). These were made during a round trip by steamboat and coach from Dumbarton to Loch Long, Loch Goil and Loch Fyne.1 The fact that this sketch appears on the same page as views of Dumbarton Rock suggests that both locations were sketched from the deck of a steamboat during the same trip (see Loch Long sketchbook Introduction). There are also sketches of Loch Goil in the Stirling and the West sketchbook (Tate D26470, D26471; Turner Bequest CCLXX 18, 18a).