This work was commissioned by the officers and men of the East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry 'as a mark of respect and regard for their Lt Colonel Commandant, Sir James Gardiner Baird of Saughton Hall'. The colonel commanded the regiment from its embodiment in 1797 to the execution of the work in 1827 (marking the official end of the regiment).

John Syme has portrayed his subject in action on his charger, conducting his regiment's exercises on Belhaven Sands - the men and the Bass Rock appear under the hooves of his rearing horse. Colonel Gardiner is wearing the uniform of the East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry.

The East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry was formed in response to Napoleonic invasion scares and was part of the military establishment until 1827, when only the Dunbar Troop served on, unpaid. The regiment was re-embodied in 1846 and was still represented by a Territorial Army Company in the 1990s.