Corra Linn, the Falls of the Clyde

This expressive study centers on a waterfall in Lanarkshire, Scotland (linn is Gaelic for "falls"). Squared for transfer, the image must have been intended as the foundation of a finished work. It includes techniques that range from freely applied pen and ink (for foreground foliage), brush and wash (to indicate shade), and graphite (for the falls). Reserved paper suggests light falling from the left and represents patches of moving water. Few Englishmen ventured so far north at the time, but Farington sketched along the rivers Forth and Clyde in the summer of 1788, planning aquatints for a final volume in a set titled History of the Principal Rivers of Great Britain. Unfortunately, the French Revolutionary war affected the print trade and the volume devoted to Scotland never materialized.