Not all of the quartets have explicit extra-musical references, although the landscape and culture of Davies' adopted Orkney remain ever present. Davies has stated that the Third Quartet is a manifestation of his feelings of outrage at the invasion of Iraq in 2003. By contrast the Fourth Quartet, subtitled "Children's Games", takes as its inspiration Pieter Bruegel the Elder's of 1560. The Fifth Quartet uses a motif of the flashing of lighthouses in Orkney. The Seventh Quartet is a tribute to the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini, and the Eighth Quartet, based on John Dowland’s "Queen Elizabeth’s Galliard", is dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her eightieth birthday.