Engraving of Samuel McDonald, the Scottish Hercules, by John Kay

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Samuel McDonald is shown in the uniform of the Sutherland Fencibles, in which he was a private. He kept a pet deer, which sometimes accompanied him on walks around Edinburgh.

This was the second portrait that Kay executed of Big Sam. Known as Big Sam or the Scottish Hercules, he was six feet ten inches tall. It was said that he was given extra pay, because 'so large a body must require more sustenance'.

John Kay was born near Edinburgh in 1742. A keen artist from childhood, he was a barber until 1785 when he became a full-time engraver and painter of miniatures. His portraits of Edinburgh characters are vivid and unmistakable.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-100-227-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: The Thistle at War
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  Lib.1640.66
• Date: 1796
  
• Material: Paper
  Print / portrait
  
• Dimensions: 280 mm H
  
• What: Print / portrait
  
• Subject: Prints
  
• Who: John Kay (artist)
  Samual Macdonald
  Sutherland Fencibles
  
• Where: Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh (depicted)
  
• Event:
• Description: Portrait of Samuel McDonald in the uniform of the Sutherland Fencibles, by John Kay, Edinburgh, 1796. From Kay's Portraits. Volume II, Plate LXVI.
  
• References:
  • Kay, John A series of original portraits and caricature etchings with biographical sketches and anecdotes 2 volumes Edinburgh: Hugh Paton, 1837-38 
• Translations:
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