Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Shooting community pays respects to HM The Queen
Gillies, gun salutes and honour guards made a poignant tribute for a monarch to whom the countryside and fieldsports meant so much
The rural and shooting communities have paid their respects to HM The Queen as Britain observes a period of official mourning.
Her Majesty’s funeral, which was held on Monday, 19 September, in Westminster Abbey, saw the country fall silent in honour of her 70 years of dedicated service to the nation.
In the days following
The Queen’s death, tributes poured in from fieldsports and countryside communities and groups. Across the UK, 96-round gun salutes were fired in honour of Her Majesty, and villages, clubs and organisations sent a tidal wave of floral tributes to the Royal palaces.
Keen-eyed observers noted that the last photograph taken of The Queen showed her leaning not on a crutch or cane, but on the simple and traditional antler-topped stick well known and used in the countryside.
The late Queen’s deep and abiding relationship with that countryside and with fieldsports was symbolised by the role of the Balmoral gamekeepers and gillies. Traditionally, gamekeepers are among the first to stand vigil over the coffins of members of the Royal Family and did so for both the Queen Mother and HRH
The Duke of Edinburgh. This tradition was again observed, with gamekeepers standing vigil over Her Majesty’s coffin. In an additional and striking mark of respect, the keepers, not military personnel, then acted as the first pallbearers, carrying Her Majesty’s coffin from Balmoral Castle to the waiting hearse.
Among the first of many honour guards to greet the hearse as it passed through the Scottish countryside was one drawn up of the tractors of Aberdeenshire farmers. Later, mounted members of a local hunt sat in silence with heads bowed as the cortège passed by.
In advance of the funeral, BASC issued advice to shoots, saying that shoots and individual sportsmen and women should consider “the impact of their activities on neighbours and other countryside users”. The organisation added: “As a mark of respect, we advise wherever possible shooting should not take place on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’S funeral.”
Shooting Times understands that the guidance was widely observed, with shoot days being cancelled and only essential wildlife management activities taking place.
“Hunt members bowed their heads as the cortège passed by”
24% Tea
10% Hot chocolate