A note of the circumstances in which the subject was painted, penned by the artist and kept together with the watercolour, records that:

“[Dawn with Lunar Rainbow from Goatfell]…was an effect I saw form the near the top of Goatfell, between 2 and 3 am, 8th August 1865.  Noel and Dan Wallace were with me. … We left the bridge at Broddick at midnight. It was clear moonlight with a high wind;  as we reached this point the mist was down upon us, but every now and then the wind cleared it away.  We saw the rainbow for nearly half an hour during which time I made a sketch - dark and drizzling and cold as it was. We then pushed on to the top through dense mist and lay there under some of the larger stones for nearly an hour, when it suddenly cleared and we found the sun had risen in great splendour. “The cold was ridiculous”. We could only face it by dancing like furies while it was clear and back to our holes the the mist came down. We got home in time for breakfast, pretty well done up.”