A SCOT IN SCOTLAND

Southland Times, Issue 19395, 8 November 1924, Page 6

A SCOT IN SCOTLAND

GATHERING OF THE CLANSMEN

BRAEMAR ROYAL HIGHLAND SOCIETY GREAT SPECTACULAR EVENT. Mr A. M. Lindsay, of Balnevis, Otahuti, who is well-known throughout Southland, was an interested participant in the Braemar Royal Highland Society’s gathering on September 4 last, and he has forwarded the Times, from Aberdeen, a most interesting account of this spectacular gathering of the clans. He says:— THE SKIRL OF THE BAGPIPES. “It was a glorious summer morning when I, with a party of overseas visitors arrived at Ballater, Aberdeenshire, the railway terminus, on our way to the Royal Highland Society’s gathering at Braemar, sixteen miles distant. All was bustle and excitement. Hundreds of motor cars, char-a-bancs and every other available vehicle were in commission to convey the visitors to the grounds. Ballater is a delightful little Highland town, remote from stirring life, but to-day was a gala day: the skirl of the bagpipes, with the hoot of the motor car was heard from everywhere. A large proportion of the vistors were in Highland costume and from a spectacular point of view at once captured the imagination, apart from the scenic, which was very beautiful. Rising over Ballater is the mountain peak of Craigendarroch with granite boulders and well-worn water courses flanked with bracken and purple heather. As the sun shone on the purple of the heather and the reds of the rowan-berries, a lovlier scene could hardly be described. The mountain, dominating the whole landscape, must look dark and fierce in winter. It. is smiling to-day, and is in harmony with the whole scene. Lochnagar in the distance, with whom we are familiar in song and story, looks majestic in its wild granduer. I was greatly stirred, whether it was the magnificence of the scene or the Celtic blood that warmed up in my veins, I responded to the occasion and felt mentally and and spiritually superior. THE GLORY OF THE LAND. “Soon our car got into line, and we were on our way to Braemar passing along the banks of the Dee. The road is a long avenue with trees on either side, larches, elms, oaks and birches with the lovely rowan tree growing in rich profusion. The trees here, like everywhere else we travel in Scotland are the glory of the land. As we speed along the road we pass the castle of Abergeldie. Almost next door is Balmoral Castle with the Royal standard floating in the breeze, for their Majesties the King and Queen are at home in their summer residence. Lovely it looked with the richly wooded side of dark Lochagar immediately in the background and, above, its rugged peaks rising to the sky. In the foreground the crystal waters of the Dee sweep round it in a beautiful bend of its rocky channel as it chatters on its way to the sea. To the right is the church of Crathie, where the King and Queen with their suite attend Divine Service when in residence at the Castle. From the road, it looked small and unpretentious. I should have liked to have seen it closer. It will always be famous for its association with the memory of the late Queen Victoria. Invercauld House was another beautiful residence which we passed. Then came into view Braemar Castle with the Union Jack streaming from its martial towers. On the road we passed many small farmhouses and humble dwellings from which we got a rousing cheer as we passed by. Whether is was a Rolls-Royce, a Daimler or a humble Ford, each got a greeting for the spirit of good-fellowship was abroad. THE CHIEFS EXCHANGE COURTESIES. “As we entered the sequestered Highland village of Braemar the clansmen were gathering in the courtyard of the hotel where we alighted. We were in time to witness the time-honoured custom of the Chiefs of the Clans exchanging courtesies before leading out their men. Ringing cheers from the assembled clansmen greeted the meeting of their respective Chiefs, then the most spectacular event of the day began—the march past of the clansmen. This is a unique sight and can only be witnessed at its best on the Braes o’ Mar. This, indeed, was a thrilling scene reminding one of the historical account of how the Earl of Mar raised his standard in 1715 when ‘the Hielan’ men from hill and glen’ mustered to the call: and here it was that these men gave their lives for a cause so unworthy of their staunch loyalty. It was here also but for a nobler cause —to save our Empire for God and Humanity—that the same degree of loyalty was maintained when the Braemar boys joined up with Ballater boys, well knowing ‘they may tread on the heather no more’ to take their part in the struggle for the sacred cause of liberty, on the fields of Flanders in 1914. MARCH OF THE HIGHLANDERS. “So they marched over the Cluny Brig and through the village street into the Princess Royal Park where the games were held. As the Highlanders entered resounding cheers burst from the spectators. Fifteen thousand in number were awaiting them, many of whom like ourselves were from the far flung outposts of the empire. For them it was a memorable experience. The Balmoral Highlanders came first in Royal Stuart tartan kilts and plaids with the Scottish thistle and oakleaf as a badge, and carrying the Lochaber axe. Then came the Duffs in all the glory of the Duff tartan with sprigs of heather in their glengarrys bearing their pikes aloft. Coming up in the rear were the Farquhareons in their tartan kilts and heather badges armed with claymore which in their burnished splendour reflected the brilliant rays of the sun as they swung along. Each clan was proceeded by its own pipe band, then came the standard bearer, next the Chieftain who, with his splendid physique and proud bearing looked altogether a leader. As they marched past to the strains of “The Braes o’ Mar,” “Hielan Laddie,” and the “‘lnvercauld March,” the enthusiasm of the spectators rose to a high pitch and cheer after cheer broke from the crowd. At the end of this picturesque display, there was an impressive contrast. In that great concourse of people there was a subdued silence and most men uncovered their heads—the pipers were playing dirges and laments ‘to the memory of our men who had fallen in the Great War.’ Many were visibly affected as the sad, pathetic strains of “Lochaber No More,” “The Flowers of the Forest,” and the “Land of the Leal,” were wafted to our ears. Surely no lovlier setting could be found in all the world than this natural amphitheatre encircled by those grand old heath-covered mountains who seemed to be looking on with solemn dignity at the scene. THE ATHLETIC EVENTS.

“The clansmen were then dismissed and intermingled with the crowd until time for their march past the King and Queen in the Royal pavilion. There was keen interest in the athletic events which by this time had begun, every competitor, excepting the runners being in Highland dress. I will not attempt to describe the events in detail except to say intense interest was evident in the larger competitions. Sgt.Major Starkey, the Army crack from Edinburgh, and the ‘Cullen giant’ as he is called (James Maitland Ramoir Deskford Cullen) had a tremendous struggle for supremacy. There was great excitement when Maitland, the local man, broke his own record for throwing the fifty-six pound weight 31 feet six inches, Starkey taking third place exactly one foot behind. Then Maitland was eclipsed in throwing the twenty-two pound hammer by Ferguson, the Mintlaw athlete, quite a young man with remarkable physical strength who has created keen interest in athletic circles, and looks like becoming a local champion. Wrestling, and tossing the caber were also fine exhibitions of physical strength. The items of dancing and pipe music were the very finest and most graceful I have ever seen or heard.