ANECDOTES OF LANDSEER. 145 



splittiii:^ with laughter, hurried out of the shop, fearing 

 he might hear more of his supposed infirmity. Lord 

 Cliarles Fitzroy told me another characteristic story of 

 Landseer in connection with one of his most noted 

 pictures, that of a boat crossing a loch in Scotland, 

 containing portraits of the late Prince Albert and her 

 Majesty, with gillies in attendance, returning from a 

 shooting excursion. This picture was being painted at 

 Balmoral, and the Prince was particularly anxious that 

 the portrait of the Queen sliould be correct ; Landseer 

 indeed had painted it in and out several times. One 

 morning early, Prince Albert en'ered the studio before 

 Landseer was up, and found the Queen's portrait admir- 

 ably dehneated, and he immediately wrote on a half 

 sheet of paper, which he fixed to the easel, " Portrait of 

 the Queen excellent and highly satisfactory." Some 

 time afterwards, on entering the studio, he found Landseer 

 had smudged and painted out the likeness to show that 

 he was not to be interfered with or dictated to by any 

 one. Landseer was quick at catching likenesses ; once, 

 when lie was on a visit to Ardington, Mr. Vernon's 

 country seat in Berkshire, he was asked on coming out 

 of church, " Who preached } " He immediately took out 

 his pencil and sketched on the back of a letter a very 

 corrcc!; portrait of the rector, and replied, " I don't 

 know who he was, but that is he." So lifelike was it, 

 that no one who knew the subject could mistake it. 



A really clever artist, at the time not m.uch appre- 

 ciated, Charles Gow, who occasionally exhibited at the 

 Academy, told me an amusing anecdote of one of Land- 

 seer's models, a great brawny fellow, who often did duty 



