This gorge was named the ‘Colonel’s Bed’ after Colonel John Farquharson (d. 1698), the Jacobite sympathiser who sought refuge there from government soldiers. It is a further example of a site that was significant in creating a romanticised past for Scotland.

This photographic print is of the larger size that Wilson introduced in May 1862, called the cabinet. Wilson introduced this size of print after trialling a new wide-angle lens called the ‘Triplet’, invented by John Henry Dallmeyer (1830–83). The lens was a success in the hands of Wilson and became known as the ‘Wilsonian’ lens. By giving the public more choice in the way they bought his photographs, Wilson was able to maintain his status as the nation’s leading photographer.