The ghillie Francis Clark is pictured with two of the queen’s collies, Noble III and Fern. Noble was presented to the queen at Balmoral in May 1872. During her lifetime, Queen Victoria owned 88 collies. On the left is the queen’s favourite daschund, Waldmann, who was brought back to Britain from Baden, Germany, following the queen’s visit in 1872. In September 1878, when this photograph was taken, the queen wrote in her journal that she was ‘trying to sketch dear “Noble”’. This photograph may have been taken to aid her efforts.