KING AND QUEEN AT THE BRAEMAR GATHERING
A HIGHLAND REVIVAL
FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.
BRAEMAR, THURSDAY EVENING.
The glories of the famous gathering here have been revived to-day in their beautiful Highland setting, and with the stirring and picturesque customs, in the presence of the King and Queen and members of the Royal family. Since the war broke out the quietude of this lovely countryside has never been broken. The men went away from the villages and the glens out into their great and patriotic adventure, and here, tucked away amid the solitude of the immemorial hills, Highland hearts, beating forth to the fears and anxieties of those testing years, awaited. The music of the pipes may have been plaintive or martial, but to-day the skirl of triumph filled the air. The restoration of the historic gathering has been done in a fashion which makes the event a record meeting in more ways than one. Never, I am assured, has there been such a crowd, and spectators came in to-day not only from everywhere in the immediate district, but from Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. The war deprived the Braemar Highland Society of a century celebration, and it was an auspicious start for the new series of gatherings, which will date from this time, that to-day’s reunion has met with an outstanding success. Queen Victoria’s discovery of the charms of a Deeside home turned out to be the best of good fortune for the society, for its enjoyment of Royal favour since that time brings to it a prestige of its very own.
Never has Deeside been so popular as this season. It is being discovered and rediscovered. Its beauties can scarce find an adequate pen. This village reaches its climax of activity in this annual occasion. Before the mist had lifted from the hills we heard the hoot of the first motor-horn, and for hours all kinds of conveyances filed into the village. Never for a minute was the dust allowed to settle on the white roads. The farm cart, the omnibus in which passengers sat with the luggage on the roof, and the luxurious motor were all in this mixed procession, and when it was at its height it made a long winding stretch, with only inches separating the vehicles. Long before noon people had taken their places at the Princess Royal Park.