A dignified Highland laird and one very mischievous white lurcher
The McLurcher™ Collection is a series of comic Highland illustrations by Ellie White, following a dignified laird and his mischievous white lurcher through a day on the hill that does not go to plan. Each artwork captures a single moment of Highland misadventure, drawn with affection for both the scenery and the dog who disrupts it.
The humour rests on contrast. The laird is turned out in tweed, tartan and a feathered tam o’shanter, while the lurcher shows no regret whatsoever. Around them sit richly detailed landscapes of heather, Scots pines, lochs and layered mountains, fictional but recognisably Scottish.
The artwork was created by Pippa using AI image-generation tools, from characters and scenes she devised. It is contemporary comic illustration, separate from the historic 18th Century watercolours of the Taylor White Collection. How the images were made is set out in the AI disclosure on this page.
McLurcher™ Boot Bandit Greetings Cards | Packs of 10, 20 or 50
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McLurcher™ Kiss and Make-Up Greetings Cards | Packs of 10, 20 or 50
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McLurcher™ Stolen Picnic Greetings Cards | Packs of 10, 20 or 50
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McLurcher™ The Stile Greetings Cards | Packs of 10, 20 or 50
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The Laird and the Lurcher
The Collection has two principal characters. The laird is an elderly Highland gentleman in a tweed jacket and waistcoat, a tartan kilt with a fur sporran, hose with red garter flashes and sturdy leather boots. His tartan bonnet carries a red pompom and a feather, and in several scenes a small white daisy. A rucksack and a curved walking crook are usually close at hand, though rarely within reach when they are needed.
The lurcher is a shaggy white dog who appears throughout, usually at the moment things go wrong. He seizes, tugs, carries off and, on occasion, apologises, but never with any visible sense of guilt.
A Day on the Hill
The artworks follow a single Highland outing as it unravels. In McLurcher™ Surprise, the lurcher takes hold of the hem of the laird’s kilt while a red stag looks on. In McLurcher™ The Fall, the laird lies flat on his back in the heather with his boots in the air. McLurcher™ The Cap sends him wading through a rushing river after his tartan bonnet, which the dog carries off through the shallows.
Lunch fares no better. In McLurcher™ Stolen Picnic, the hamper topples, the tea is airborne and a sandwich disappears across the hillside. McLurcher™ The Stile finds the laird astride a wooden stile as the dog pulls at the strap of his rucksack. In McLurcher™ Kiss and Make-Up, a sulking laird on a lichen-covered boulder is won over by the dog’s kiss as the sun sets over a loch.
McLurcher™ Montage brings these moments together in one composition and adds a further scene at a gate, where a sign declares that gates are merely a suggestion and a flock of black-faced sheep look on. Further artworks are planned, and the Collection will be added to over time.
The Highland Setting
The scenery is as carefully worked as the comedy. Purple heather and golden grasses cover the hillsides, lichen-dappled boulders break the ground, and Scots pines frame the paths. The scenes include a stone bridge over a tumbling river, a whitewashed cottage above a loch and a castle on a wooded islet, with layered blue mountains behind and skies that range from bright and cloud-dappled to the gold and pink of sunset.
The place names are invented. Wooden signposts point towards Ben Aonghas, Loch Dùin and Glen More, none of which refer to real locations. The setting is a composed Highland landscape rather than a depiction of any particular glen.
The Lurcher
The lurcher is a type of dog rather than a formal breed. It is traditionally a sighthound, such as a greyhound or whippet, crossed with another working type, such as a terrier or collie. The combination is associated with speed, intelligence and an independent streak, qualities that suit a dog with strong views about other people’s sandwiches. The Collection takes that character as its starting point and places it opposite a gentleman who expects the day to be orderly.