Wherever the Queen rambled during her stay by the shores of Loch Tay, she was guarded by two Highlanders, and it recalled to her mind "olden times, to see them with their swords drawn." Walking one day with the Duchess of Norfolk, the Queen and her noble companion met "a fat, good-humoured little woman." She cut some flowers for the ladies, and the Duchess handed to her some money, saying, "From Her Majesty." The poor woman was perfectly astounded, but, recovering her wits, came up to the Queen, and said naively that "her people were delighted to see the Queen in Scotland." Wherever the royal visitors were, or went, the inevitable strains of the bagpipes were heard. They played before the Castle at frequent intervals throughout the day, from breakfast till dinner-time, and invariably when they went in or out of doors. When rowed in boats on the lake, two pipers sat in the bows and played; and the Queen, who had grown "quite fond" of the bagpipes, was reminded of the lines of Scott, with whose poems she had, from an early age, possessed the most intimate familiarity:-- "See the proud pipers in the bow, And mark the gaudy streamers flow From their loud chambers down, and sweep The furrow'd bosom of the deep, As, rushing through the lake amain, They plied the ancient Highland strain." [Sidenote: DEPARTURE FROM SCOTLAND.] On the 13th of September the return journey from the Highlands by Stirling, the ancient Castle of which was visited, to Dalkeith Palace, had been completed. Two days later the Queen and Prince re-embarked at Granton, _en route_ for Woolwich and Windsor. Although a by no means excessive quantity of time--but a fortnight--was consumed in the tour, some idea of the rapidity with which distances were traversed, and the extent of ground covered, may be gathered from the fact that no fewer than 656 post-horses were employed. The Queen touched the hearts of the Highlanders--among whom Jacobitism remained, not as an element of personal devotion to a fallen house, but not the less as a deep chord of pathos and poetry--by commanding a Scottish vocalist, at a concert given in her honour at Blair Athole, to sing two of the most beloved of Jacobite songs--"Cam' ye by Athole," and "Wae's me for Prince Charlie." When she once more embarked at Granton on her homeward route, she left memories of pleasure and affection which far exceeded the intensely ardent excitement which had preceded and greeted her landing. On the last day which she spent in Scotland, the Queen wrote in her journal--"This is our last day in Scotland; it is really a delightful country, and I am very sorry to leave it." And the day after, watching its vanishing coast--"As the fair shores of Scotland receded more and more from our view, we felt quite sad that this very pleasant and interesting tour was over; but we shall never forget it." CHAPTER XVI. WHAT ENGLAND OWES TO PRINCE ALBERT.