North West view of Carey Castle, Pembrokeshire

Paul Sandby made at least three visits to Wales. In 1770 he stayed at Wynnstay in North Wales, the seat of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, whilst in 1773 he toured South Wales in the company of a group of botantists led by Sir Joseph Banks. The present large view of Carey Castle is dated 1773, and it is tempting to associate the smartly-dressed rider with Banks. (However, a print by Richard Godfrey after Sandby states, probably erroneously, that 'this view was taken in anno 1772', see Paul Sandby: Picturing Britain, ed. John Bonehill and Stephen Daniels, exhibition catalogue, Nottingham Castle and elsewhere, 2009, p. 61.) In the aquatint of 1777 the mounted figure, a cowman and cow are replaced by a young man scrambling out of a small tent that is being charged by a bull. In this alternative foreground narrative the young man clutches a notebook or sketchbook, suggesting that he is one of the botanists of Banks' party. Sandby's earlier print, 'Carey Castle' in the First Set of Views in Wales of 1775, depicts the building from the opposite direction, without the benefit of the water, as does his smaller drawing in the British Museum.