Queen Victoria and Prince Albert made their first visit to Scotland in September 1842. The royal tour, which lasted two weeks, was largely organised by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Midlothian and Gold Stick of Scotland, and his wife Charlotte, who was Queen Victoria's Mistress of the Robes, in conjunction with the Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. This sketch relates to an episode from the tour which took place on 10 September 1842, when Queen Victoria described in her journal that the royal couple were “rowed 16 miles up Loch Tay to luncheon at a cottage”, which had been organised by their host Lord Breadalbane. Victoria thought that the boat trip “was the prettiest thing imaginable & one saw the splendid scenery to such advantage, on both sides.” The boatmen sang Gaelic songs to the royal party as they travelled.

This watercolour is one of a series commissioned by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch to present to Victoria and Albert as a souvenir of their visit. The artist, William Leighton Leitch, taught the Duchess of Buccleuch watercolour painting, and from 1846 would be Queen Victoria’s own tutor for almost twenty years. However, the watercolours of the 1842 Scottish tour, which were painted in 1844, were not presented to Victoria at the time; she did not receive them until 1888, when the Duke's daughter-in-law Louisa sent them to her in a leather portfolio entitled 'Sketches in Scotland by William Leitch 1842'.