James Cowan Smith

James Cowan Smith (c. 1843 – April 1919) was a British civil engineer and philanthropist. He lived in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and was director of a railway company. In his last will and testament he left a bequest of more than £55,000 (£ in ) to the National Gallery of Scotland to be used to expand its collections. The fund has since purchased more than 40 works of art, produced by some of the world's most famous artists. An unusual condition of the bequest was that a portrait of his dog, a Dandie Dinmont terrier named Callum, was to be on permanent display at the gallery. The gallery has honoured this request ever since.

Life James Cowan Smith was born in 1843 and was the son of a shipowner from Banffshire, Scotland. Cowan Smith became a civil engineer and later moved to Yorkshire in England. Cowan Smith moved to Thrybergh by 1891 and lived there with his wife and two servants. His wife died before 1901.

Cowan Smith later moved to Nottinghamshire. He purchased land at Bothamsall from Henry Pelham-Clinton, 7th Duke of Newcastle on 3 September 1906 and built a house there, which he named Bothamsall Hall. Cowan Smith died in April 1919.

Will Cowan Smith's last will and testament was dated 26 May 1915. Cowan Smith's will stated that the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland was to have free choice of any items from his estate for their collection. The porcelain was subsequently lent to the Royal Scottish Museum for display in its ceramics gallery. The Cowan Smith bequest has been described as an important acquisition fund that helped to transform the museum. The fund has enabled the purchase of more than 40 works including those by Turner, Goya, Constable, Rubens, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, John Singer Sargent and Diego Velázquez. The unusual conditions attached to the donation have helped to draw attention to the Dandie Dinmont, which is one of the rarest terrier breeds in the UK.