TWO portraits of members of Clan Grant have gone on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The oil paintings by Richard Waitt were commissioned in 1713 by Alexander, the Laird of Grant, as part of a larger series depicting members of his clan.
They were created for Castle Grant, the chief’s seat near Grantown-on-Spey.
The Piper depicts William Cumming, who was from at least seven generations of Cummings pipers to the Grants.
He flies the heraldic banner of the Grants, with Castle Grant in the background.
The Champion features Alasdair Mòr Grant, the strongest fighter in the clan, who managed the laird’s timber business.
Anna Groundwater, principal curator of Renaissance and early modern history, said: “This is not a romanticised version of an imagined past – the figures in their Highland dress are documented as they looked at the time.
“Together they provide an insight into clan society from a time when this way of life was on the wane.
“We are grateful to Reidhaven Trust for the long-term loan of Richard Waitt’s portrait of ‘The Champion to the Laird of Grant’.
“We are delighted that it has been reunited with ‘The Piper’ and is now on permanent display, as they once were in Castle Grant.”
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