Footnotes

• Pate or Patie (Patrick) Birnie was one of Scotland's most famous folk musicians. He played an inglorious part at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge but lived to entertain the passengers on the Kinghorn ferry. The poet, Allan Ramsay, celebrated him in verse. The Old Man's Mare's Deid, for which Birnie wrote both lyrics and music, is one of the oldest surviving strathspeys. This portrait, attributed to Aikman, is another mark of Birnie's contemporary fame.
  
  There is an unattributed engraving after this work in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
  

---

Category: Fine Art / Scottish Art

---

Auction terms and conditions