BALMORAL CASTLE
Sir James Clark's suggestion that the valley of the Dee was a
neighbourhood possessing all the qualifications of a health resort,
induced the Prince Consort to purchase Balmoral Castle in 1852. Both
he and the Queen found the lonely situation of the castle among the
rugged hills, quite delightful, and though Prince Albert had at first
only taken a lease, he soon bought the entire property, handing it
over to the Queen as a possession for the reigning monarchs.
Though belonging to the Farquharsons for about 150 years, the last
tenant of Balmoral had been Sir Robert Gordon, who, having been high
in the diplomatic world, filled his house with many distinguished
guests. Sir Robert had considerably enlarged the castle, but it was
not sufficient for the needs of a Court, quiet and homelike as it
might be. A new castle was commenced in 1853, largely from the plans
and ideas of the Prince Consort, whose devoted wife called it "his own
creation, own work, own building." To-day, the castle, built of native
granite in the Scottish baronial style, stands out strikingly white
among the dark wooded hills.
[Illustration: BALMORAL CASTLE.
Erected in 1853, following the plans of the Prince Consort. Built
of native granite in the Scottish baronial style, it stands out
strikingly white among the dark wooded hills.]
By August, 1856, the new castle was quite ready, and Queen Victoria
found everything delightful--"the house is charming; the rooms
delightful; the furniture, papers, everything perfection"--and from
that moment Balmoral remained her favourite residence, where she was
happy in the company of her beloved husband, and free from much of
the conventionality of State ceremonial. No one reading the Queen's
letters or her diary, can fail to see how blissful was the simple
domestic life, the gay picnic expeditions among the mountains, the
informal dances where the Queen joined in Scotch reels and country
dances.
It was among the heather of the Scottish hills that Prince Frederick
of Prussia proposed to the little Princess Royal, then only fifteen
years old. Prince Frederick (afterwards the Emperor Frederick III.)
was so much in love that he could not refrain from speaking of it,
though the Queen, owing to her daughter's youth, had wanted him to
wait a little longer. Picking up a piece of white heather, Prince
Frederick gave it to the Princess as they rode down Glen Girnoch,
telling her at the same time how _allerliebst_ she was.
In the midst of all this happiness came the sudden blow of the early
death of Prince Albert, a grief from which the Queen never recovered.
She wrote to her uncle, "my life as a _happy_ one is _ended_! the
world is gone for _me_!" Amidst all her desolation, it was a relief to
her to get away to Balmoral, where everything reminded her of him,
and where the beauty and calm of the mountains and glens were restful.
Though there were no longer any large shooting parties, Queen Victoria
did not shut herself up, but took a great interest in the tenantry,
whom she visited constantly.
Under the fostering care of Queen Victoria, the village of Balmoral,
once poor and barren, with mud cottages roofed with heather, became
prosperous. Constant employment has brought wealth to the village,
where schools and a library had been erected.
Whatever its subsequent history may be, Balmoral Castle will ever
remain enshrined as the dearly-loved home of Victoria the Good, among
the Highland folk she knew and loved so well. All her letters from the
castle breathe the same feeling as the one written on October 6, 1851:
"I love my peaceful wild Highlands, the glorious scenery, the dear
good people who are much attached to us ... my heart is _bien gros_ at
going from here."
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.
Transcriber's Note:
_ _ represents italic text
= = represents bold text
Sundry missing or damaged punctuation has been repaired.
Both hyphenated and non-hyphenated variants of many words
occur in this book. All have been retained.
Any illustration which interrupted a paragraph has been moved
to a more convenient location, between paragraphs.
Page 7: 'chepe' is an old word, meaning 'market'.
See 'THE HISTORY OF LONDON' BY (Sir) WALTER BESANT
(Project Gutenberg e-book 27995)
(p. 47) Most fortunately, there exists a document priceless
and unique, short as it is and meagre in many of its details,
which describes London as it was in the reign of Henry II. It
is written by one FitzStephen, Chaplain to Thomas (à) Becket.
He was present at the murder of the Archbishop and wrote his
life, to which this account is an introduction.
13. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY. PART I.
(translation from Latin) (p. 49)
"... Cheapside preserves the name of the Chepe, the most
important of all the old streets. Here, every day, all the
year round, was a market held at which everything conceivable
was sold, not in shops, but in selds, that is, covered wooden
sheds, which could be taken down on occasion. Do not think
that 'Chepe' was a narrow street: it was a great open space
lying between St. Paul's and what is now the Royal Exchange,
with streets north and south formed by rows of these selds or
sheds. Presently the sheds became houses with shops in front
and gardens behind. The roadway on the south side of this open
space was called the Side of Chepe...."
Page 38: 'Samual' corrected to 'Samuel'.
"Samuel Pepys watched the pageant...."
Page 57: "... that no Englishman knew how to enter a room,
nor any Englishwoman how to dress, nor English cooks how to
prepare a dinner, nor English coachman how to drive,..."
... is as printed, and 'coachman' is probably correct, in the
context, though 'cooks' may be questionable....
Page 76: 'castle' corrected to 'castles'.
"... though the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling were majestic,
they were...."
Page 79: 'seige' corrected to 'siege'.
"... sustain a siege of many months in 1304."
"... Edward Bruce, who was conducting the siege,..."