3-083-775 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Border Widow, 1861. This painting illustrates the border ballad "The Lament of the Border Widow" published by Sir Walter Scott in "The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border". It is said to tell the story of Cockburne of Henderland, a Border freebooter, who was hanged over the gate of his own tower, by James V, in the course of his expedition of 1529. The model for the romantic heroine in the painting was Alice Boyd whom Bell Scott met in Newcastle. They became intimate friends and formed a much talked about ménage à trois with Bell Scott's wife. Alice's home, Penkill Castle, Ayrshire, was the inspirational setting for Bell Scott's painting.