In 1865 Faed exhibited The Last of the Clan at the Royal Academy. The catalogue entry carried this narrative: "When the steamer had slowly backed out, and John MacAlpine had thrown off the hawser, we began to feel that our once powerful clan was now represented by a feeble old man and his grand-daughter; who, together with some outlying kith-and-kin, myself among the number, owned not a single blade of grass in the glen that was once all our own."

Faed executed several paintings based on the Highland Clearances and the forced emigrations. This work differs from most depictions of this sorry chapter in Scotland's history in that it portrays the plight of those left behind in Scotland. It also serves as a lament for the passing of an entire way of life. There are at least three versions of this painting, the major one being in Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow. This signed copy, smaller than the one in Glasgow, was commissioned from Faed so that the picture could be engraved for publication. When the painting was cleaned about fifteen years ago, a grid of fine lines was discovered under the varnish in the sky, no doubt to aid both Faed in executing the copy and the engraver in making the printing plate. 

Thomas Faed RA ARSA, 1826-1900

Thomas Faed, the youngest of three brothers who were artists, was a master of rustic and domestic genre painting, frequently with a strong accent on pathos. Continuing within the Wilkie tradition, Faed's The Mitherless Bairn was hailed in 1855, by critics and public alike, as the picture of the season. Faed was also a skilled portrait and figure painter, particularly of young women and children. His attention to detail was meticulous, on occasion almost to the point where it threatened to 'overburden' a composition. Many of his paintings were engraved for publication, adding to his success both artistically and financially. 

The fourth son of a miller and engineer, Faed was born in Gatehouse of Fleet, Galloway. An unwilling draper’s apprentice for two years, he followed two elder brothers to Edinburgh, enrolling shortly thereafter at the Trustee's Academy, the under the direction of William Allan, who was later succeeded by Thomas Duncan. Fellow students included Erskine Nicol, W.Q. Orchardson and Robert Herdman. In 1847 Faed won the life class prize. He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy for the first time in 1844 and was elected an Associate of the Academy five years later, at the age of twenty-three. In 1851 he exhibited three works at the Royal Academy in London, and their favourite reception prompted him to move to London the following year.