The 19th century saw Scotland's place in the world change.
Internally, Scotland was changing too and industrialisation was causing great social upheaval.
Scotland's economy and politics were becoming increasingly bound up with that of England. And the country's independent international influence was lessening.
There were worries about being 'lost' in the political union with England. This led to Scotland looking to its past to find nostalgic symbols of independent identity.
Scottish artists sought to create a Scottish school of painting. This took the form of depictions of Scottish heroes and heroines or events in Scotland’s history.
This was a romanticised view of Scotland. It was not always historically accurate. And it was at the heart of the creation of a romanticised view of Scotland.