Landing the Catch

This is a painting of my mother's which came to me when she died. It's 11" by 8", oil on what might be but isn't hardboard, and has the artist's signature, which looks like RJ Burt or LJ Burt. I remember it on the wall in several of the houses my parents had but when I asked my mother where it showed, and what boats they were, she didn't know. What she did recall about the picture I wrote on the back, not very legibly in blue biro. It says....

...."Granny remembers this came from Stirling, from Aunt Christian and Uncle Dan. It hung in their dining room. Granny lived there when she came back from Burma in 1920. Given to Granny by Sandy." Aunt Christian and Uncle Dan were sister and brother of Granny's father.

I have no idea why it came to my mother through her brother, Sandy, and I have always assumed it is of a Scottish scene.

The type of boat interests me. It isn't a scaffie, a zulu, a lugger or a fifie, as all of these have pointed sterns and two masts, while this one clearly has a square stern. It also has a very straight-up stem, and has none of the leaner lines of the others. About the closest I can find is a boat called a 'beach punt', which does have a square stern and, as its name suggests, is designed to work off a beach. However, the only example I can find is recorded in Suffolk. Note also that the boat is steered with an oar, not a rudder, and that its single sail is lug-rigged.

Another thing in the picture which intrigues me is the location. It looks like the mouth of a small river which, because it has a bar across which the waves break, also looks none too easy to enter if the sea was rough. Presumably there was a village reasonably close, so where is it?

Finally, this is a detail showing the old lady who has come down the beach to collect the catch. She appears to be dressed in a very Scottish style but... is that a donkey?