WP Frith described McIan as "a Highlander and fierce Jacobite",[4] Henry Vizetelly wrote that he "was generally voted an intolerable bore".

[3] His depictions of clansmen fanned the romantic revival of interest in Gaeldom that was led by Queen Victoria, to whom the book was dedicated.

McIan's early paintings concentrated on scenes from domestic life in the Highlands, such as illicit whisky stills and women grinding corn.

In later life his works increasingly took on overtly nationalistic subjects, celebrating the exploits of Highland soldiers against the English and overseas.

Paintings of the 79th Cameron Highlanders were commissioned by Colonel Lauderdale Maule[8] to celebrate the end of his ten-year colonelcy of the regiment in December 1852.

An Incident in the Revolutionary War of America showed the 71st Fraser Highlanders' heroic defense at the Battle of Stono Ferry[3] and was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1854.