Oldest Highland flinger in town
Clan chief calls it day at the age of 102
HE was honoured for bravery during the Normandy landings and gave away his castle to the local community so it could be used as a tourist attraction.
Now, at the age of 102, a clan chief has decided to call it a day as chieftain of Highland Games regularly attended by royalty.
Captain Alwyne Farquharson, the 16th Laird of Invercauld, will pass the mantle of heading Ballater Highland Games to his 40-year-old great-nephew Philip Farquharson on May 1, his 102nd birthday.
The games are held close to the royals’ Aberdeenshire retreat of Balmoral and the captain is Scotland’s oldest chieftain.
The family home of Invercauld House neighbours the royal estate and it was said to be the inspiration for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert when they purchased land to build Balmoral Castle.
The captain, who was awarded the Military Cross for his role in the Normandy landings, received a standing ovation when he arrived at the 2019 Ballater Highland Games in his 71st year as chieftain. He now lives in Norfolk, and prior to the pandemic he would travel north to Aberdeenshire every year for a number of engagements, including the annual gathering at Braemar, home of Braemar Castle, the traditional seat of Clan Farquharson.
The younger Farquharson will be chieftain of this year’s Ballater Highland Games, in whatever form it takes.
Although last year’s event was held digitally, a decision has not yet been made on the 2021 event.
To mark what would have been the start of the games last year, Philip Farquharson represented the longserving chieftain at a sociallydistanced raising of the Games Standard on the Monaltrie Park grounds.
Scott Fraser, vice-chairman of the Ballater Highland Games, paid tribute to Captain Farquharson’s more than seven decades of commitment to the event.
He said: “Captain Farquharson is 102 on his birthday on May 1, and he’s decided to stand down from being chieftain mainly because he’s not so fit, and the last thing he wants is to be wheeled on to the games park and other events.
“As far as we know, he’s the longest-serving chieftain of any Highland Games.
“Philip will officially become the new chieftain when Alwyne stands down on his birthday.”
Captain Farquharson gifted Braemar Castle to the community 13 years ago with the attraction flourishing as a visitor attraction.
He assumed the chieftain title in 1941 after his aunt, Myrtle Farquharson, was killed in a London bombing raid.
The captain served with distinction in the Royal Scots Greys during the Second World War.
Following the war, as he recovered from his injuries at his father’s home in Yorkshire, he met his first wife Frances, a fashion editor with Vogue in the United States,
She visited Braemar Castle to help organise its contents and the two soon fell in love and married, with the laird’s new wife famously painting parts of the castle’s exterior pink.
In 1831, the military garrison was withdrawn from the castle and it returned to the Farquharson clan.
Restoration to provide a family home began under the 12th Laird of Invercauld who entertained Queen Victoria there when she attended the Braemar Gatherings in the grounds of the castle.
It has also featured in the video for Andy Stewart’s A Scottish Soldier.
Since 2006, the castle has been leased to the local community after Captain Farquharson struck a deal with locals. It is now run on behalf of the community by a local charity.
Captain Farquharson is the 16th Chief of the Clan Farquharson and can trace his lineage back to Farquhar, 4th Son of Alexander Ciar (Shaw) Mackintosh of Rothiemurcus (14111492), his Aberdeenshire descendants calling themselves Farquharson.
Clan Farquharson branched from Clan Shaw in the 16th century and the first Clan Chief, Finlay Mhor, was standard-bearer for Mary, Queen of Scots at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547.
The 9th Laird of Invercauld stood alongside the Earl of Mar when the standard was raised to start the 1715 Jacobite rebellion in Braemar.
Ballater Highland Games are due to be held on August 12 – a decision to go ahead will be made next month.
There have been games held in Ballater since 1864 and they have been honoured in recent times by visits from Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay.
As far as we know, he’s the longestserving chieftain of any Highland Games