''Scotland Forever!'' is an 1881 oil painting by Lady Butler depicting the start of the charge of the

Royal Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1707 until 1971, when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. The regiment's history began in 16 ...

, a British

heavy cavalry Heavy cavalry was a class of cavalry intended to deliver a battlefield charge and also to act as a tactical reserve; they are also often termed '' shock cavalry''. Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and histor ...

regiment that charged with other British heavy cavalry at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Sevent ...

in 1815. The painting has been reproduced many times and is considered an iconic representation of the battle itself, and of heroism more generally. Butler was inspired to paint the charge as a response to the

aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

paintings that she saw—and intensely disliked—on a visit to the

Grosvenor Gallery The Grosvenor Gallery was an art gallery in London founded in 1877 by Sir Coutts Lindsay and his wife Blanche. Its first directors were J. Comyns Carr and Charles Hallé. The gallery proved crucial to the Aesthetic Movement because it provide ...

. She had developed a reputation for her military pictures after the favourable reception of her earlier painting ''

The Roll Call ''Calling the Roll After An Engagement, Crimea'', better known as ''The Roll Call'', is an 1874 oil-on-canvas painting by Elizabeth Thompson, Lady Butler. It became one of the most celebrated British paintings of the 19th century, but later f ...

'' of 1874, on a subject from the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

, and her 1879 painting ''

Remnants of an Army ''The remnants of an army, Jellalabad (sic), January 13, 1842'', better known as ''Remnants of an Army'', is an 1879 oil-on-canvas painting by Elizabeth Thompson, Lady Butler. It depicts William Brydon, assistant surgeon in the Bengal Army, ar ...

'', on the 1842 retreat from Kabul. Although Butler had never observed a battle, she was permitted to watch her husband's regiment during training maneuvers, positioning herself in front of charging horses in order to observe their movement. In reality however, it appears that the Scots Greys did not start the charge at a gallop, due to the broken ground, and instead advanced at a quick walk. The horses which dominate the picture are heavy grey mounts, allegedly used by the regiment throughout its history until mechanisation, although at Waterloo (and earlier), it seems they had brown horses like the other heavy cavalry regiments, and the name "greys" is actually derived from the grey uniforms the regiment wore in the early 18th century. The bearskin caps were covered during the actual battle by black oilskin covers. The title comes from the battle cry of the soldiers—the Greys called "Now, my boys, Scotland forever!" as they charged. The painting was exhibited at the

Egyptian Hall The Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, was an exhibition hall built in the ancient Egyptian style in 1812, to the designs of Peter Frederick Robinson. The Hall was a considerable success, with exhibitions of artwork and of Napoleonic era re ...

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Cour ...

in 1881. Tzar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany both received copies and later during the First World War both the British and the Germans used the image in their propaganda material, with the Scots Greys transformed into Prussian cavalry by the Germans. In 1888 Colonel

Thomas Walter Harding Colonel Thomas Walter Harding (22 January 1843 – 26 March 1927) was a British industrialist and civic figure in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Life Harding was born in Lille, France, where his Leeds-based father Thomas Richards Harding (1 ...

donated the painting to

Leeds Art Gallery Leeds Art Gallery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a gallery, part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group, whose collection of 20th-century British Art was designated by the British government in 1997 as a collection "of national importance" ...

. The lead rider is arguably either Lt Col James Hamilton who led the first charge but was killed in the second smaller charge, or Captain

Edward Cheney Edward Hawkins Cheney CB (1778–1848) was a 19th century British soldier and hero of the Battle of Waterloo. His unique claim to fame was that he had five separate horses killed or wounded under him during the battle. His grave is said to ...

who had his horse shot from under him five times in the battle, once on each charge, who was promoted to Brevet Colonel in the field due to the death of both Hamilton and Sir William Ponsonby, and led the 3rd, 4th and 5th charge. The painting is not intended to be a portrait of either.

Cultural references

The scene was used as an inspiration for the depiction of the same charge in the 1970 film '' Waterloo''.

References

{{Elizabeth Thompson 1881 paintings Paintings by Elizabeth Thompson Waterloo campaign in paintings Military of Scotland Paintings in Leeds Horses in art War paintings