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there are a number of pictures of Roslin Castle and Rosslyn Glen recorded as having been painted in 1895 and we can
surmise that A Spate on the Esk is in the glen and so on the North esk. the location is a few miles from the convergence
of the North and south rivers at Dalkeith and seven miles before the esk disgorges into the forth at Musselburgh.
Mctaggart captures the river in full flood, the river bank bursting with autumn rain. a dreich grey sky hangs over the
painting ominously, while a burst of sunshine highlights the curve of the river bend. Mctaggart captures the movement
of the tempestuous waters with strokes of blue, red and white.
William Mctaggart (1835–1910)
A Spate on the Esk, 1895
oil on canvas, 58.5 x 76 cms
signed and dated lower left
Provenance:
Mr. W. h. Wood, slough
exhibited:
Whitechapel art Gallery, 1903
W Mctaggart Collection in Dundee, 1928
aitken Dott & son, the scottish Gallery, 1933
William McTaggart Exhibition, City of Manchester art Gallery, 1937, (no. 6814)
Exhibition of Scottish Art, Royal academy of arts, london, 1939
McTaggart Centenary Exhibition, the tate Gallery, london, 1955
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