Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen — Volume 1Tytler, Sarah
History
Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen — Volume 1
Tytler, Sarah
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901
On September 10th, a fine morning, the Queen left Taymouth. She was rowed
up Loch Tay, past Ben Lawers with Benmore in the distance. The pipers
played at intervals, the boatmen sang Gaelic songs, and the representative
of Macdougal of Lorn steered. At Auchmore, where the party lunched, they
were rejoined by the Highland Guard. As her Majesty drove round by Glen
Dochart and Glen Ogle, the latter reminded her of the fatal Kyber Pass
with which her thoughts had been busy in the beginning of the year. By the
time Loch Earn was reached, the fine weather had changed to rain. By
Glenartney and Duneira, earthquake-haunted Comrie, Ochtertyre, where grows
"the aik," and Crieff with the "Knock," on which the last Scotch witch was
burnt, the travellers journeyed to Drummond Castle, belonging to Lady
Willoughby d'Eresby, where her Majesty was to make her next stay. Lady
Willoughby was a chieftainess in her own right, the heiress of the old
Drummonds, Earls of Perth. Lord Willoughby was the representative of the
lucky English Burrells and the Welsh Gwydyrs, one of whom had married a
Maid of Honour to Catharine of Aragon, and come to grief, because, unlike
her royal mistress, she and her husband adopted the Protestant religion,
and fell into dire disgrace in the reign of Bloody Mary. The Drummonds.
like the Murrays and unlike the Campbells, had been staunch Jacobites.
The mother of the first and last Duke of Perth caused the old castle to be
blown up after her two sons had joined the rebellion in the '45, lest the
keep should fall into the hands of King George's soldiers. [Footnote: She
is said to have been the heroine of the popular Jacobite song, "When the
King comes over the water."] The Queen alludes in her Journal to the steep
ascent to the castle. The long narrow avenue leads up by the side of the
fine castle rock, tufted with wild strawberries, ferns, and heather, to
the courtyard. Her Majesty also mentions the old terraced garden; "like an
old French garden," or like such an Italian garden as was a favourite
model for the gardens of its day.
The Willoughby Highlanders, wearing the Drummond tartan and the holly
badge, were now the Queen's guard. The lady of the castle and her
daughters wore the Drummond tartan and the holly when they met the Queen.
It was at Drummond Castle that Prince Albert made his first attempt at
deer-stalking, under the able guidance of Campbell of Moonzie. The
Prince's description of the sport was that it was "one of the most
interesting of pursuits," in which the sportsman, clad in grey, in order
to remain unseen, had to keep under the hill, beyond the possibility of
scent, and crawl on hands and knees to approach his prey.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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