Ruskin 's first visits to Scotland took place in 1824, 1826 and 1827. They each occurred as part of the Ruskin family's annual tours during this period and on each occasion they stayed with John James Ruskin 's elder sister, Jessie, and her husband Patrick Richardson in Perth. In 1828 Ruskin's cousin, Mary Richardson, became part of the Ruskin family at Herne Hill in London following the death of her mother. Ruskin met his wife to be, Euphemia (Effie) Gray, daughter of the Richardson's lawyer, George Gray, when she visited Herne Hill in 1841. They were married in April 1848. Ruskin and Effie toured the Highlands for a few days after the marriage. Other visits to Scotland occurred in 1838, 1847, 1850, 1853 and 1857.
The visit of 1853 was made because Ruskin had been asked to deliver his first public lectures at the Philosophical Institution in Edinburgh. Ruskin and Effie were accompanied in Scotland by John Everett Millais, with whom Ruskin had become acquainted through his association with the Pre-Raphaelites. They holidayed at Glenfinlas, Brig o' Turk, above Stirling. Here Ruskin drew and worked on his lectures and Millais commenced a painting of him. The close living conditions ensured that Millais and Effie were constantly in one another's company. The group returned to Edinburgh where Ruskin delivered his lectures, later published as the Lectures on Architecture and Painting. In April 1854 Effie left Herne Hill and returned to her family in Perth. The marriage was annulled in July 1854, and she and Millais were married in 1855. Ruskin's visit of 1857 was made in the company of his parents.