This is a painting of the ghillie (gamekeeper) Peter Coutts, in a snowstorm with a dog at his feet and holding a dead eagle. Landseer was commissioned to paint this picture as one of a pair with a painting of a Highland Lassie (RCIN 401516). The artist wrote to Queen Victoria asking if she wanted him ‘to illustrate the peaceful and sunny side of the Highlanders – character in preference to Mist and savage treatment’. The Queen replied that ‘Highland Lassie should be all peace and sunshine – on the other hand the Highlander ... should represent the national sport of the country but perhaps without actual storm.’ The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1851. Inscribed on the back with the name of the artist, the title and the date, 1850, and as a portrait of Peter Coutts.