Queen Elizabeth bought the isolated sixteenth-century Castle of Mey in 1952, shortly after the death of King George VI. The Castle stands on the northernmost coast of the Scottish mainland in Caithness, about six miles west of John o’ Groats. This watercolour, which was presentedto Queen Elizabeth by the artist, is one of an extensive series made as part of a coastal tour which was published in four volumes as A Voyage round Great Britain.