Alexander Carse was a Scottish painter who originally worked as a wigmaker. In the 1790s he produced topographical illustrations in Edinburgh and reputedly trained under David Allan and at the Trustees' Academy. Turning to figure subjects c. 1800, he contributed to the development of Realism in Scottish genre. He evolved a frank but subtle style with a sensitive response to character and the nuances of light, seen in Arrival of the Country Cousins (c. 1812; Duke of Buccleuch private collection).

His art was admired by the young David Wilkie, who based his Pitlessie Fair on Carse's Oldhamstock Fair (1796; both in Edinburgh, National Gallery). Wilkie also took up many of the subjects that Carse had already derived...