Queen
Victoria’s reign and marriage
Victoria Alexandrina,
born 24 May 1819, was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent (1867 –
1920). He was the fourth son of George
III (1738 – 1820) and must have had little expectation that his only child
would succeed to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland. But, because of the laws of succession of the
nation and the vagaries of Royal procreation, on the death of her uncle,
William IV, on 20 June 1837, Victoria became the next monarch at the tender age
of 18. Her coronation was held just over
a year later. Victoria became close to
her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and proposed marriage to
him, which he accepted. They were joined on 10 February 1840. It was a marriage
founded on a deep and enduring affection between the two partners.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert 1854
In the period
1840 – 1857, Victoria bore nine children, five girls and four boys, the
youngest child being daughter Beatrice.
But Queen Victoria proved to be a carrier for X-linked haemophilia,
which is caused by a recessive allele (variant of a gene). This meant that each of her sons had a 50%
chance of suffering from this debilitating error in the blood clotting
mechanism. Also, her daughters had a 50%
chance of being carriers for the defective gene, like their mother. In fact, only one son, Leopold (1853 – 1884),
suffered from haemophilia but two daughters, Alice (1843 – 1878) and Beatrice
(1857 – 1944), were carriers of the condition, as demonstrated by their subsequent
reproductive careers.
Prince Albert,
the Royal Consort, died young at the age of 42, on 14 December 1861, allegedly
of typhoid fever, though that diagnosis has been challenged, since he had suffered
some signs of illness for the previous two years. Victoria’s life was desolated by the loss of
her soul mate. She mourned his passing
throughout much of her widowhood, which lasted for 39 years, until her own
death on 22 January 1901.
Queen Victoria
Queen
Victoria’s journals
Queen Victoria
wrote a journal, usually daily from 1832, when she was 14 years old. In all, 122 volumes were produced, estimated
to contain 60,000,000 words. Princess
Beatrice (1857 – 1944), the Queen’s youngest daughter, companion and close
confidant was widowed in 1896. She was
appointed as her mother’s literary executor, with instructions to edit the
journals and to remove anything that might be embarrassing to the royal
family. This task took her 30 years and
the result was 111 hand-written notebooks containing perhaps only 1/3 of the
material in Victoria’s original journals.
The primary texts were subsequently destroyed. It is only possible to compare the original,
or a near-original, version with Beatrice’s expurgated offering for a few days over
many decades. With reference to Queen
Victoria’s life in Scotland, the main sources of pre-Beatrice material are two compilations
cobbled together by the Queen entitled, “Leaves from the Journal of our Life in
the Highlands from 1848 to 1861”, published in 1868 and “More Leaves from the
Journal of a life in the Highlands from 1862 – 1882”, published in 1884,
dealing respectively with the 14 years before and the 20 years after Albert’s
death. These two volumes will be
referred to here as “Leaves” and “More Leaves”.
The Princess Beatrice version of the diaries remains the only
comprehensive source of information on Her Majesty’s thoughts and actions
throughout her reign. It is a reasonable
assumption that, while Beatrice redacted much material from the originals, she
did not invent topics or timings for inclusion.
There are still significant facts, hiding in plain sight, waiting to be
mined from the Beatrice version of the Journals, as will be demonstrated. The, otherwise
excellent, online version of Queen Victoria’s Journals contains some incorrect
attributions for sleeping locations during the Balmoral sojourns, for which the
user should be alert. On a positive
note, Princess Beatrice’s handwriting is easily legible, while her mother’s
script is difficult to transcribe.
Princess Beatrice
Acquisition
of the Balmoral estates
Victoria and
Albert first visited Scotland in 1842, then returned in 1844 and 1847. By that latest year the Royal couple had
become impressed by the beauty of the Highlands and by Highland culture -
bagpipes, tartan, kilts, dancing and athletic sports - then undergoing a
revival as cultural symbols of the whole of Scotland, after the suppression of
the Highlands which followed the 1745 Jacobite rebellion.
In the early
part of the 1840s, the royal couple was also exercised by security
considerations. Several attempts had
been made on Queen Victoria’s life and discontent, even rebellion, simmered in
Ireland, where the Fenian movement was agitating for Irish independence and
avowedly prepared to use violence to achieve that end. Between 1841 and 1851 it is estimated that
the population of Ireland fell by two million, about half, the very young and
the old, due to death from starvation caused by the Great Famine, and partly
due to emigration. The Fenians were supported by Irish emigrants, especially
those who went to the USA. The Queen and
her consort sought country properties which were geographically isolated, where
they could enjoy family life relatively free from worries about their personal
safety. They leased the Osborne estate
on the Isle of Wight in 1844 and bought it outright a year later. The Highlands of Scotland seemed to offer an
even greater degree of security to the Royal couple.
The Eastern
Highlands, principally in Aberdeenshire, proved to be more attractive than the
Western Highlands, due to the lower level of precipitation and, in late 1847,
an opportunity arose to acquire the Balmoral estate and castle on Deeside, due
to the sudden death of the lessee, Sir Robert Gordon, leaving the balance of a
40-year lease from the Mar estate available for transfer. The Queen and her husband, after some investigation,
decided to take assignment of the 20-year balance of the Balmoral lease, though
they had never visited Aberdeenshire.
They first entered on the property in September 1848.
Old Balmoral Castle
Victoria and
Albert were immediately impressed, not only by the physical environment of the
estate but also by the Highlanders who worked there and the local
community from which they came. The
royal couple threw themselves into the exploration of their new domain, with
the support of their staff, many of whom had worked for Sir Robert Gordon. They joined in with local activities,
including divine worship at nearby Crathie church and attendance at the Braemar
Gathering, an annual celebration of Highland culture held in late summer/ early
autumn.
The couple also
sought to increase their landholdings on Deeside. Prince Albert approached the Gordon family in
late 1848, seeking to buy the freehold of the adjacent estate of Abergeldie, which
bordered Balmoral on the east side. The
Gordons declined this request but did offer a 40-year lease to the property,
which was accepted. Another estate
adjacent to Abergeldie, Birkhall (6,500 acres), also excited royal
attention. It was offered for sale in
November 1848 and bought on behalf of Prince Albert by Dr Andrew Robertson, a
local general practitioner, who had been appointed as the Royal Commissioner on
Deeside. The price was £14,000 and,
after purchase, the Birkhall estate’s ownership was transferred to Prince
Albert Edward, the eldest son and heir apparent. The freehold of the Balmoral estate of 17,400
acres, was finally acquired for £31,500 in 1852, after the Queen received a
windfall legacy of £500,000 in the will of John Camden Neild, a London
barrister with miserly tendencies, at least towards his own family. The money was also used to fund a string of
improvements to the royal Deeside properties, the most significant of which was
the construction of a new castle at Balmoral.
It was completed in 1856. This
program of improvements was ongoing for many years.
New Balmoral Castle
About five miles
to the west of Balmoral Castle was Invercauld House, the home of the Farquharson
family. Their estate bordered the
Balmoral land and one of the major Farquharson holdings south of the river Dee
was the Ballochbuie forest, a place of great natural beauty which contained
many mature Scots pines. Queen Victoria,
a regular visitor to and admirer of the Ballochbuie, became concerned at the
plans of the Farquharsons to fell many of these trees. In 1878, in order to save the forest from
being hollowed out, Her Majesty bought the property and added it to the
Balmoral land holdings.
An annual
pattern of visits to Balmoral is established
Victoria and
Albert stayed at Balmoral for 20 days on their first visit in September 1848
and late summer/early autumn subsequently became the routine time for a royal vacation
at their Highland property. In the
following 13 years, up to the death of Prince Albert in December 1861, the
couple spent an average of 41 days (range 27 – 52 days) on their autumnal
Balmoral break. This was the hunting
season and Albert, right from the start, threw himself into the sport,
especially the stalking of red deer stags.
Initially, his enthusiasm outstripped his skill with a rifle, but that
changed with time and Queen Victoria recorded multiple occasions in her
Journals on which he made kills.
The annual
decampment to Balmoral was a complex affair involving the whole Court - horses,
carriages, servants, courtiers, ladies-in-waiting and even an attendant
Government minister – making the move.
Balmoral may have been popular with the royal couple but for many
courtiers and Government ministers it represented a considerable
inconvenience. Consulting the monarch
was difficult at a distance of 600 miles, especially when business had to be
conducted face to face. So, while the
Queen and her husband looked forward to travelling to the Highlands of
Aberdeenshire, many of those interacting with her were not similarly enthused.
Queen Victoria
was immediately attracted to the Highlanders working as servants for her. On 22 September 1848, she wrote in her
Journal,“My little gillie
told me that they all speak Gaelic amongst themselves, though not as good as in
the west, from where McDonald comes. I
like talking to the people here, they are so simple & straight forward
& I like their curious Highland English (it was actually the Doric).” A level of informality with the servants, which would have been
unthinkable elsewhere, was quickly established.
The Queen was also absorbed with the breath-taking scenery. On 26 September Victoria had planned to climb
(on a pony) Lochnagar, the highest mountain at 3,790 ft, on the Balmoral
estates, but the day turned out very dull and the idea was abandoned. Instead her entourage travelled through the
estate at lower level towards Glen Muick in the east. She wrote in her Journal,
“The road wound round the hills, & we had a beautiful view of Ben na Bhourd
(Beinn a’ Bhuird, another of the high Cairngorms at 3,924 ft) & the
surrounding high hills. Our little caravan passed along a very wild &
solitary country. I walked a little way, & Albert almost the whole way to Loch Muick
(a lake more than two miles long, covering an area of 540 acres) which
is very fine & striking as one approaches it, being entirely enclosed in hills.
We had to pass a ford, in going to the little bothie, surrounded by a little
fir wood, where the Keeper lives; we walked a little further, & then took
our cold luncheon in one of rooms in the bothie, after which we walked on a
mile in the direction of the lake, to have a look at it, & I made a
sketch.”
Loch Muick
One day later Victoria expressed her
feelings for her new Highland home clearly, “It is such a lovely wild &
haunting country, that I cannot bear the thought of leaving”.
Allt na Giubhsaich
Although she did not name it as such in the 26 September 1848
journal entry, the “little bothie” was Allt na Giubhsaich, which means “Burn of the fir wood”.
The cottage was built by the Gordons and originally it appears to have
been a shooting box, or a cottage for a gamekeeper. It would become a favourite location for the
Queen and her Consort and a place of great significance for the monarch,
reminding her always of a simple life and happy times spent there with her
beloved Albert, normally without their children, who were usually left behind
at the castle to sleep, though occasionally they joined their parents,
typically during the day. In August
1860, Princess Alice slept there – in the dining room. However, separately from the Queen and her
consort, other members of the Royal family did occasionally use the
property. In September 1852, the Queen
wrote, “The Boys who went yesterday to Allt na
Giubhsaich & slept there, returned this evening.”
Allt na Guibhsaich
On their return to Balmoral in late
summer,1849, the royal party arrived at Allt na Giubhsaich in the early afternoon of
30 August, with the intention of staying overnight. Since their first visit the previous year,
they had arranged for the property to be expanded and for the road from Balmoral
Castle to be improved. The Queen was
impressed by the changes. “We arrived at our little Hut at 2, & were amazed
at the transformation; 2 huts in wood, have been added to the one we live in.
We have got a charming little dining room, sitting room bedroom & dressing
room for Albert, all en suite, & there is
a little room where Caroline sleeps, one for her maid, & one little pantry.
In the other hut, only a few yards distant, is the kitchen, a small room for
the servant's meals, & a loft above in which the Men sleep. We have only a
very few servants with us. Our rooms are very nicely furnished & papered.”
After lunch on the same day, the party
took the 20-minute walk to the shore of Loch Muick. “Here we found the fine large new boat, into
which we got, Mc Donald, Duncan,
Grant & Cotes (Coutts), rowing, old John Gordon &
2 others going in another boat, with the net. We rowed up to the head of the lake,
about 3 miles, where the Muick runs down out of the Dhu Loch, which is on the
other side. The scenery is beautiful, so wild & grand, — real severe
Highland scenery with trees in the hollow. We had serious scrambles, in &
out of the boat & along the shore. Saw 3 hawks & caught 70 trout. I
wish an artist could have been there to sketch the scene, it was so picturesque:
the boat, the net, & all the men in their kilts, standing in the water
& on the shore. Going back, Albert rowed
& Mc Donald steered. The lights were beautiful.” Fishing for trout in Loch Muick and, more
importantly, eating the catch, would become a favourite pastime for royal
parties over the years.
The following day, Her Majesty’s delight
at the setting was confirmed. “It seemed
like a dream on waking up, to find ourselves here, — but a very pleasant one”. And, “This, is our dear little
dwelling in the hills. The surrounding little wood of fir trees has such a
pretty effect. There is such simplicity & real wildness in it all. The
washing & cooking, & everything going on in a line with one's own
dwelling, — the people sitting in the kitchen, all gives such an air of rustic
simplicity, which has a great charm.”
The remote location and basic
specification of Allt na Giubhsaich did not permit of much sophistication
by way of evening entertainment, but the Queen was unconcerned, even delighted
to be leading a simpler life. “Got back at ¼ p. 7, & at 8 we dined, & quite a
nice little dinner. Afterwards we played Whist, with Caroline, Whist, with a
dummy. Then we walked round the little garden, & the silence &
solitude, only interrupted by the moving of the fir trees. — was very solemn
& striking. We retired early to rest & felt so peaceable & happy in
this little cottage, far away from all human habitations. —.” By the following year, 1850, a “little piano”
had been acquired for Allt na Giubhsaich and singing and playing
together could then also be undertaken for evening entertainment.
In 1850, the monarch gave voice to her thoughts on the
servants attending at Allt na Giubhsaich.
“All the Highlanders are so free from
anything like bluster, so straightforward, — no flattery, so simple, &
honest. They are never vulgar, never take liberties, are so intelligent, modest
& well bred.” Two servants had particularly
caught her eye. “I also like the other
gillie, John Brown, very much, a good-looking,
tall lad of 23, with fair curly hair, so very good humoured & willing, —
always ready to do whatever is asked, & always with a smile on his face. —
Grant (the head stalker) is an excellent simple, plain spoken man &
I have a very high opinion of him. He is so much attached to those he serves.”
Between 1849 and 1861, inclusive, the
royal couple visited Allt na Giubhsaich on average between three
and four days per year and slept there overnight, typically on one or two
nights each holiday.
Original Glas-allt-Shiel
Allt na Guibhsaich, “the
little hut”, was not the only bothie, or shieling, in the wilds of the Balmoral
estates which the Queen and her husband found attractive. Close to the far, ie western, end of Loch
Muick was another pre-existing dwelling, possibly a shooting lodge, located on
land belonging to the Abergeldie estate.
It was called Glas-allt-Shiel (Cottage of the green burn). Between1851 and 1861, inclusive, the Queen
visited Glas-allt-Shiel on 25 separate occasions, rather more than twice each autumn,
on average, sometimes after visiting, or staying at, Allt na Giubhsaich, but sometimes
travelling there directly. Because of the
limited accommodation inside Glas-allt-Shiel the royal party would often take lunch
on the grass in front of the cottage, overlooking the Loch. On occasions the Highland midges, prevalent
in this location, drove them indoors. Anyone who has visited the
Scottish Highlands in summer will know that the midges are a perpetual
nuisance. For the newcomer it is
difficult to comprehend how something so small can be so irritating. And they literally exist in clouds. Queen Victoria soon became familiar with the
midge and on many occasions, especially near Loch Muick, her arrangements were
disrupted by this diminutive native.
Between 1850 and 1851 further changes were made to the
two cottages near Loch Muick. At Allt na
Giubhsaich her retainer, “Old John Gordon”, who had been acting as caretaker,
was removed as he “had become so useless”. He was replaced by McKenzie, his wife and
young family. Mrs McKenzie was described
by Queen Victoria as “a tidy little body” with “nice” children. At Glas-allt-Shiel “a charming little lodge”
had been built and Duncan, now employed as a Balmoral keeper, installed. He was married and would soon have a young
family. In 1856 Queen Victoria, who was
often fascinated by the children of her servants, sketched the older child of
the Duncans. Additionally, there was
accommodation set aside for the royal owners at Glas-allt-Shiel, “there is a little
room for us. It is nearly finished.” However,
the Queen and Prince Albert never used this iteration of the Glas-allt-Shiel
for overnight accommodation, though their eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, “Bertie”,
slept there in September 1859.
Prince Albert charmed his wife by
describing her as the “Lady of the Lake”, a reference taken from the poem of
that title by Sir Walter Scott and first published in 1810, and Glas-allt-Shiel
as a suitable place for the “lady” to dwell.
Loch Muick and Lochnagar
The Genechal cottage
The Queen and Prince Alfred first entered on the Balmoral estate in September 1848. The same year they secured a lease to the adjacent Abergeldie estate which was immediately made over to their eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. One place visited by the monarch in 1848 was the Genechal an area up Glen Girnoc to the east of Balmoral Castle, where she made a sketch of the view. At the time of the Queen’s accession to the property there were already two cottages at the site, one of which was occupied by John Morgan, a tailor and his large family. At some time, the royal couple decided to build a cottage here, roughly equidistant from both Balmoral and Abergeldie castles. This location has at least three alternative spellings (Genechal, Glenachill, Geannachoil) but is actually a corruption of Seanchoille – the old wood). The new, single-storey, royal cottage was of an unusual design, being in two mirror-image halves with a dividing wall down the middle and two separate, adjacent front doors. One half of the building was for the use of the Queen and the remainder was occupied by John Morgan and his wife, who undertook duties as housekeepers of the Queen’s quarters.
Little is known about when the cottage was built or of the Queen’s use of it. The area is only mentioned once by name in the monarch’s journals, on 3 September 1849, when Prince Albert went there to shoot roe deer. Some writers have perceived significance in the separate entrances for monarch and housekeeper, but that appears to be a bit fanciful. Housekeepers were generally employed to maintain similar properties out in the wilds of the Deeside estates and it seems entirely normal that the Queen would insist on maintaining her personal privacy when in residence.
Loch Muick weather
Queen Victoria frequently commented on
the autumn weather at Loch Muick, which was always changeable and could be
extreme. In 1851, September weather
included, “The evening was beautiful, quite a summer's evening, & not a
breath of air. Never do I remember such weather in the Highlands.” But also, “Such a morning of torrential rain
& very high wind, after storming all night.” And, “the mist hung very thickly over the
hills”. But the Queen did not care and
stormy weather, with her safely tucked up in her “little hut”, became part of
the area’s wild charm. In October 1852
she reported on dramatic conditions on the loch. “The wind was so violent that it blew the
water of the lake up like columns of smoke.”
Three years later, in September 1855, the weather was again oppressive,
“The day intensely & overpoweringly hot; though most beautiful”.
Road improvements reduce the isolation
at Loch Muick
By 1852, the road along the north west
shore of Loch Muick had been widened and improved so that it could now take a carriage. Other paths up nearby glens and along burns
had also been made safer, so that pony and foot expeditions into the hills
became the regular fare of the autumn visits to Glen Muick. But improved roads and paths also brought
better communication with Balmoral Castle and messengers were frequently on the
move, keeping the monarch in touch with national affairs. In September 1852 the Queen and her party had
travelled to the remote Dhu Loch, which feeds Loch Muick, but even here she was
not out of communication and off duty.
“McKenzie returned … bringing letters, amongst which was one from Ld Derby, which I tore open. Alas! it
contained the confirmation of the fatal news, that Britain's pride, her glory,
her hero, one of the greatest men she ever produced, was no more!
What a great & irreparable loss!” It
was the announcement of the death of the Duke of Wellington, the hero in the
defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. Wellington’s demise would require elaborate and
speedy arrangements for a state funeral.
“We hastened home on foot, to the head of the Loch, & then
rode back to Allt na Giubhsaich in a very
heavy shower. Our whole enjoyment spoilt. A gloom cast over everything!”
News of other major events which reached royal eyes while
staying at Allt na Giubhsaich included the storming of the
heights of Alma during the Crimean War in October 1854 and the “awful
details” of the massacre at Cawnpore during the
Indian Mutiny in 1857, when “88 officers, 70 ladies & children, 120
women & children, & 400 residents perished!”
Prince Albert and deer stalking
Prince Albert was often absent during the day, when the royal
couple were lodging at Allt na Giubhsaich, pursuing red deer across
the hills with John Grant, the head stalker, or traversing the woods for roe
deer. Sometimes the Royal Consort
returned empty-handed, wet, bedraggled and tired, but at other times,
triumphant. In October 1852, “Albert went out at 7 after a fine stag that had
been seen”. Despite appalling weather,
the Prince was successful, “Though the cold & wind had been dreadful, Albert had had such a run after the stag, which
he shot near Craig na Gael that he had never been so hot. There was thick ice on the tops of the hills, which had
borne his weight!” Victoria returned
separately to Balmoral “& met Albert's truly
beautiful stag being brought back. Its horns are magnificent, measuring 28
inches in length & width. It was so old that it had no teeth left.”
Dead Stags at Balmoral
Autumn is the rutting season for the red deer and Victoria
often remarked in her Journal on the noise generated. While staying at Allt na
Giubhsaich in October 1852 she wrote, “The wind
howled & the stags could be heard roaring, but our little
"housie" was very snug.” And,
in October two years later, “Our little dinner like yesterday, & after it,
whilst we were playing Whist, we heard the stags roar, which had such a wild
effect.” (In the Doric, the version
of English spoken in Aberdeenshire and adjacent counties, any noun can have
“ie” added to its end. Victoria had
clearly picked up this device from her local servants.) Queen Victoria usually had one or more ladies
as companions with her at “the hut”, which helped to pass the time in the
absence of Albert pursuing stags. Jane
Churchill (Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill 1826 – 1900, appointed Lady of
the Bedchamber in 1854) was a particular favourite, the Queen describing
her as “such an amiable companion, so sensible, & gentle & with much conversation”.
On 18 October 1861, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, he already
suffering from chronic stomach pains, made what would become their last joint
visit to their favourite locations close to Loch Muick. They set out for the Glassalt burn, pausing
briefly at Allt na Giubhsaich and climbed up a steep path, where
they stopped for lunch. The party later
descended to the Glass-allt-Shiel and were joined by Albert, who had earlier
gone off stalking and had been successful in securing a stag. At the Shiel they took tea together before
driving back to Balmoral by brilliant moonlight.
John Brown
John Brown was born in 1826, the second son of a tenant
farmer, also named John, at Crathienaird, part of the Invercauld estate. This clachan (hamlet) consisting of a few
“but and ben” houses, lay half a mile from Balmoral Castle north of the Dee. John Brown senior and his wife Margaret had a
family of eleven, all but two being boys.
Several of them would see royal service, the most prominent being John
junior. At an early age he moved with
his parents and family to another farm, the Bush, at Crathie, which was even
closer to the Castle. After leaving the
village school aged 14 in 1840, John Brown found a job at the Pannanich Wells
coaching inn south of the river and about three miles east of Ballater. His next position was in the stables of the
Balmoral estate and in 1849 he was engaged there as a ghillie. This Gaelic word can have either of two
distinct meanings, firstly as a male attendant on a Highland chief and secondly
as a fishing and hunting guide. John
Brown was initially a groom and progressively graduated to personal attendant
on the Queen, but he was never a hunting or fishing guide.
John Brown with his dogs
The Princess Beatrice edited version of Queen Victoria’s
Journal first noted John Brown’s presence on 26 September 1849, when he and
other servants accompanied Victoria and Albert on a jaunt to the Ballochbuie
forest west of Balmoral. The next
mention of John Brown, on 16 September 1850, described him as “J. Brown, a nice, active lad”. Further favourable comments followed. By 1851 Brown had
been promoted to leading the Queen’s pony but after that year he received no
further mention in the Journal until 1858, though references to him from this
time interval do exist in “Leaves”.
Princess Beatrice’s editorial pen had undoubtedly been at work.
As early as 1856, Queen Victoria chose
to visit the Brown family farm, the Bush, getting off her pony and entering the
kitchen where Mrs Margaret Brown, John’s mother was spinning wool. The Queen would later take up spinning
herself as a hobby. Her Majesty was
offered and accepted oatcakes and cheese, which she pronounced “very
good”. This was a marked honour for the
parents of a relatively junior servant, though he was clearly both liked and
trusted by the monarch and in 1858 John Brown was appointed Queen
Victoria’s regular attendant out of doors everywhere in the Highlands. Brown was now expected to walk beside the Queen on steep mountain tracks to keep
her safe. She wrote on 24 September
1858, while staying at Allt na Giubhsaich, “… Ross & Brown, who were with us, besides gillies, took our
arms firmly & helped us down, for I felt quite giddy on the very narrow
path, with the precipice on one side.”
On 18 October of the same year John Brown, with Duncan, was entrusted
with carrying Victoria on a plaid slung between the men’s shoulders, to avoid Her
Majesty getting her feet wet in some long grass. Also, in October, the monarch wrote to her
daughter, Princess Victoria, praising Brown.
“Brown has had everything to do for me, indeed had charge of me and all,
on all those expeditions, and therefore I settled that he should be specially
appointed to attend on me (without any title) and having a full dress suit.” John Brown continued to impress the monarch
in the autumn of 1859. “From here we rode, Brown (whose care in leading the pony
& watching every step I take, is admirable) led my pony along the Loch, at
a tremendous pace.” (27 September).
In the interval October 1859 – October1861, John Brown
accompanied the royal couple on a series of increasingly challenging journeys
away from Balmoral and culminating in four “Great Expeditions” through the
Highlands, travelling, incognito for significant distances from Balmoral and sometimes
staying in country inns. These journeys are detailed by Victoria in “Leaves”
and contain many references to Brown’s dutiful attention. During an expedition along Glen Derry to Ben
Macdui in October 1859, the Queen had an interesting conversation with John
Brown, which she reproduced, with her observations, in “Leaves”. “Albert talking so gaily with Grant. Upon which Brown observed to me in
simple Highland phrase, “It’s very pleasant to walk with a “person who is
always ‘content.’” Yesterday, in speaking of dearest Albert’s sport, when I
observed he never was cross after bad luck, Brown said, “Every one on the estate says there
never was so kind a master; I am sure our only wish is to give satisfaction.” I
said, "they certainly did." “(We were always in the habit of conversing
with the Highlanders—with whom one comes so much in contact in the Highlands.
The Prince highly appreciated the good-breeding, simplicity, and intelligence,
which make it so pleasant and even instructive to talk to them.)”
John Brown continued in his role as the
Queen’s protector in the hills in 1860.
At the end of August during a stay at Allt na Giubhsaich, Prince
Albert went off stalking for the day while the Queen with two of her daughters,
Princess Alice and Princess Beatrice, all riding ponies, set off for a jaunt
along the western shore of Loch Muick.
They paused at Glas-allt-Shiel to take lunch and to spend some time
sketching before moving on to the Dhu Loch.
The next leg of the journey was quite adventurous. They climbed up the side of the North Dhu
Loch Craig. Queen Victoria described the
scene. “There was no path, deep heather
& large stones. Brown pulled me up & helped me down, which was
much worse than going up. Alice & Beatrice B. had no one help them & had several
falls. The view from the top very fine, into Glen Mark. We had scarcely got on our ponies again, when there was a
violent hailstorm, but it did not last long, though it made us all very wet.” The following day Queen Victoria and her
party took another wild foray across Lochnagar, down to Loch Callater and Glen
Callater, then on to Braemar on the way home to Balmoral. In a paeon of praise for her supportive
servants, Victoria decorated John Brown with, “… Brown, who is
so thoughtful & full of initiative, making an admirable guide & servant
…”.
In
September 1861, a royal party attended by John Brown took a circular route
through Glen Mark to the village of Fettercairn, staying, incognito, overnight
at the Temperance Hotel, Fettercairn, where Grant and Brown waited at table. They returned along Glentaner to Deeside. The Queen also recorded that, “Brown acted as my
servant, brushing my skirt and boots, and taking any message, and Grant as
Albert’s valet.” After the final “Great Expedition” along Glen
Tilt to Blair Athole in October 1861, Queen Victoria wrote to King Leopold of
the Belgians. “We have had a most beautiful week
which we have thoroughly enjoyed – I going out every day about twelve or half
past taking luncheon with us carried on the back of a Highlander and served by
an invaluable Highland servant (John Brown, of course) I have who is my
factotum here and takes the most wonderful care of me combining the offices of
groom, footman, page and maid I might almost say as he is so handy about
cloakes and shawls etc. He always leads
my pony and always attends me out of doors and such a good handy faithful
attached servant I have nowhere; it is quite a sorrow for me to leave him
behind.”
Thus, over the decade before the death of Prince
Albert, Queen Victoria came increasingly to depend upon John Brown for many
servant roles. The two - rough
Highlander with only a basic education and monarch of the most powerful nation
on earth - had become increasingly familiar with each other. At this time Brown still “knew his place”,
but a great change was about to come in both their lives.
The death of Prince Albert
Prince Albert started to feel unwell with stomach cramps in
August 1859. Over the next two years, his
condition deteriorated and by late November 1861 he was sleeping badly, but
frequently needed to rest and he was suffering from neuralgic pain. The symptoms got progressively worse. He felt weak, was confined indoors and had a
poor appetite, accompanied by shivering.
Sir John Clark and Dr Jenner (Royal Physicians to Queen Victoria) saw
him frequently but could offer little help.
Victoria tried to comfort her husband, but his condition continued to decline. He started to become incoherent and at times
his mind wandered, and his hands shook.
By 13 December his medical attendants were sounding very gloomy. Prince Albert died the following day in the
Blue Room at Windsor Castle. His devoted
wife and five of his nine children were present at his end. The diagnosis given at the time was typhoid
fever but that is now generally discounted.
The cause of death remains unknown.
Queen Victoria was devastated. She was already in a fragile state due to the
demise of her mother, the Duchess of Kent in March 1861 and now she had lost
her husband and the father of her children, to whom she was devoted. But she had also lost a valued advisor on
matters of state and many aspects of their personal affairs. Following Albert’s death Victoria made no
further contribution to her Journal for 1861 and entered a deep state of
mourning, continuing to wear black for the rest of her days. Albert’s rooms were maintained as shrines, configured
exactly as they had been during his life and the monarch regularly visited
them, as she moved around the country, attempting to assuage her grief.
Visits to Balmoral resumed – mourning Albert
In 1862, six months after the demise of her beloved Albert,
Queen Victoria departed for Balmoral.
Her arrival was kept low key, only Dr Robertson greeting her at the door
of the Castle. She wrote in her dairy,
“Went upstairs & entered my rooms, looking out of the window, then went
into Albert's dear rooms where
everything brought all back before my eyes, all the years
of happiness, now gone for ever! The
Queen stayed at Balmoral for the whole of May, a departure from the pattern
which had previously been followed. She
returned to Aberdeenshire in July of the same year and spent another 32 days at
her Scottish home, where she could hide from the world and grieve for her lost
love. Queen Victoria was a creature of
habit and the pattern of two visits to Balmoral, one in late spring and one in
late summer into autumn, was immediately established and, indeed, maintained
religiously for the remaining 38 years of her reign and her life. On average the late spring break lasted for
just over 29 days (range 20 days – 42 days).
The late summer/ early autumn break had extended to an
average of 41 days during Albert’s life (excluding 1848, the atypical first
year). After Albert’s death that period
almost doubled to a mean of 79 days (range 62 days – 137 days). Moreover, unlike the length of the late
spring holiday, where no obvious evolution through time was observed, the late
summer – autumn break showed a clear trend over the years. Not only did the average holiday length
between the periods before 1861 and after that date approximately double, but
within the post-1861 data, the middle years (about 1862 to 1891) had breaks
which were consistently the longest. The
highest value was in 1873, being 105 days.
That year also had the greatest value for the total length of stay at
Balmoral, at 137 days. In 1873, Queen
Victoria spent 37.5% of her time at her Scottish home.
In summary, after Prince Albert’s death, Queen Victoria spent
two holidays each year at Balmoral, rather than one. A new,
late spring holiday of about 29 days, which did not noticeable increase or
decrease in the following years was added a second holiday in late summer - autumn. This second holiday continued the pattern
established during Prince Albert’s life but after his death more than doubled
in length, being particularly long in the 1870s and 1880s. There was another precipitate change in
Balmoral holiday arrangements during the Queen’s widowhood. She never again stayed overnight at Allt na
Giubhsaich. However, she did not avoid
the property during the daytime. Indeed,
the frequency of daytime visits actually increased from 3.5 days/holiday to
6.25/holiday, though this change could largely be accounted for by the
increased holiday length. Perhaps the
“hut” evoked too many memories of happy days – and nights – spent together.
In the period from 1862, the first year after Albert’s
death, to 1867, the year before the building of the new Glas-allt-Shiel (see
below), Queen Victoria was a lost soul, mourning the departure of her beloved
Albert, displaying her grief in a public way and seeking solace in the wilds of
the Scottish Highlands. The entries in
her Journals are poignant and revealing of the state of her mind. On 4 May 1862, three days after arriving on
Deeside the monarch took a drive towards Allt na Giubhsaich. At the end of the day she wrote, “… all felt the gloom cast over all by
our dreadful loss.” And, “Looked over my beloved one's things with Lachlein (Prince
Albert’s valet), — heart breaking. — Then read with Alice some prayers & the 14th chapter
of St. John & 15th chapter of the Corinthians which are so
comforting.” A final sentence expressed her sense of loss of purpose, “I seem
to have lost all interest in everything here.”
The Queen’s first actual visit to Allt na
Giubhsaich without Albert was on 18 August 1862 and she managed to gain some
peace of mind from her presence at the “hut” in its remote and beautiful
surroundings. “The wild solitude of the scenery & the extreme quiet of the dear
little house where everything is as we left it, speaking of happy days in the
past, soothed me much. We walked in the little garden & had some tea. Felt
so thankful to have been there, though all is like a pilgrimage.” Three days later Her Majesty made another
sacred visit, this time to the top of a hill, Craig Lorigan, on the Balmoral estate,
where she had commanded a giant, loose-laid granite cairn, 40 ft wide and 35ft
high, should be built as a memorial to Albert.
Its base contained individual stones bearing the initials of Victoria
and her nine, now orphaned, children. Part of the inscription read as
follows.
TO
THE BELOVED MEMORY OF
ALBERT,
THE GREAT AND GOOD PRINCE CONSORT
RAISED
BY HIS BROKEN-HEARTED WIDOW
VICTORIA
R
AUGUST 21, 1862
The
following year, 1863, five visits were paid by the Queen to Allt na
Giubhsaich. Since the death of her
husband she had suffered from fits of depression and found it difficult to
walk, giving a constant air of dependency to those around her. Memories of Albert still overwhelmed the monarch. Her writings after the trip to the “hut” on
17 October illustrated these tendencies.
“We had to ride over very rough, & in
parts, soft ground, but I cannot walk, so I must ride
everywhere, & over everything. Went up to within a few yards of where a
stone has been placed to mark the spot, where my beloved one shot his last stag
on the 18th of Oct! With
the help of Grant, I walked up to it & placed a small stone on it, Vicky & Fritz,
& the others having already placed theirs. Everything is now so
pathetically sad for me & such recollections of the past crowd in on me.
Everywhere there seems to be some kind of pilgrimage!” Three days later, after visiting Allt
na Giubhsaich again, she wrote, “I looked sadly
at our dear little rooms, where we had been so happy …”
Queen Victoria’s depression - John Brown
to the rescue
During visits to Balmoral in the
immediate aftermath of Prince Albert’s death, references to John Brown in the
Princess Beatrice version of the Queen’s Journals were brief, but they do give
some indication of the monarch’s attitude to her great supporter and the other
ghillies, while she was in her state of widowhood. 28 May 1862, “Out in
the pony chair, Alice riding on "Brechin". Grant & Brown go with me
with the little carriage. I like having the 2 good honest souls near me, who
were so constantly with Albert”, was a
typical contribution. In October 1863,
while returning to Balmoral from Allt na Giubhsaich in the dark, Smith, who
was in charge of the coach, managed to drive off the road, turning the vehicle
over, in spite of John Brown walking ahead to show him the way. The Queen damaged her thumb and received a
nasty abrasion to her head. Princesses
Alice and Helena were thrown to the ground, tearing their clothes but were not
otherwise hurt. Brown immediately took
command of the situation, cutting the traces to release the panicking horses
and subsequently leading the riding ponies of the monarch and Princess Alice on
the way back to Balmoral. This must have
confirmed Queen Victoria’s view that Brown’s character showed he could be
relied upon in all circumstances. In her
depressed and self-pitying state, Queen Victoria’s reliance upon John Brown
became dominant.
In 1864, Sir William Jenner, concerned at the monarch’s poor
mental condition, suggested that John Brown should be brought down south from
Balmoral to Osborne to take charge of her daily forays, in the hope that he
would raise her morale. Brown was
despatched south in December. The tactic
enjoyed some success and in February of the following year she made his
position permanent, giving him the title of “The Queen’s Highland
Servant”. Queen Victoria wrote in her Journals
in early February, “Have decided that Brown should remain permanently & make himself useful
in other ways, besides leading my pony, as he is so very dependable.” On the publication of “Leaves” in 1868, she
was even more fulsome in her assessment of John Brown. “His
attention, care, and faithfulness cannot be exceeded; and the state of my
health, which of late years has been sorely tried and weakened, renders such
qualifications most valuable, and indeed, most needful in a constant attendant
upon all occasions.” And, “He has all
the independence and elevated feelings peculiar to the Highland race, and is
singularly straightforward, simple-minded, kind-hearted, and disinterested;
always ready to oblige; and of a discretion rarely to be met with.”
But this developing closeness between monarch and servant now
led to rumour and tittle-tattle and in the Royal household the Queen attracted
the sobriquet of “Mrs Brown” behind her back.
Even her daughters joined in the gossip, referring to Brown as “Mama’s
lover”. Volumes have, of course, been
written speculating on the degree of personal intimacy that existed between the
two. It is not the purpose of the
present work to review all the evidence which bears upon this relationship, as
there is a plethora of publications on the subject. Rather, the task is to examine new evidence,
derived from the monarch’s use of her wild abodes on the Balmoral estates, as
the data impinge on this and other matters for debate concerning Victoria’s
life.
Glen Gelder Shiel
Queen Victoria took the decision to build a replacement shiel
in a new location, free from the constant reminders of happy days spent at Allt na Giubhsaich, which were never to return. The location
chosen was Glen Gelder, which holds the Gelder burn. It runs in a
northerly direction from the slopes of Lochnagar past the western side of
Balmoral Castle, before joining the Dee.
It was a glen where Prince Albert had frequently gone stalking, often in
the early days, with his wife in tow and this seems to have been the reason for choosing
this location. In September 1863, the
Queen recorded her thoughts regarding Glen Gelder in her journal. “ … rode up Glen Gelder, to the
top of Feithort, where a stone has been placed to mark the spot where dearest Albert slept in a hut one night in '56. Walked
down, then riding, Brown leading
my pony. The glorious wild hills, all seemed the same as in blessed old times,
& somehow it seemed to bring me nearer to my beloved one”. Later the same month, her nostalgia emerged
again. “Rode up Glen Gelder, along the lower path, the scene of so many of
my beloved one's stalks. It was rather windy, but so fine. I rode dear
"Brechin", his own pony, which is so precious to me,
he having always ridden him.” And again,
the following month. “Rode along the lower Glen Gelder path
& then crossed over to the upper, where we stopped to sketch. After that
found a pretty little sheltered hollow, looking over towards the Cails &
had our luncheon. I felt so sad without my beloved one, who always used to be
so full of fun on these occasions.”
About this
time, the monarch took the decision to build a new shiel in Glen Gelder. On 20 October she met with Mr Beaton, the
Balmoral Clerk of Works, in Glen Gelder to agree the site of the new shiel,
which was at the top of the glen, a location which was wonderful for the
distant views of the mountains but also with exposure to the wind and
precipitation. By September 1864 Glen
Gelder Shiel was complete and ready for use, though the described it as a “very
rough little shiel”. It only took Queen
Victoria a month and two visits to realise she had made a mistake with the
location of the shiel. The second occasion
was on 3 October. Victoria subsequently
wrote the following words in her journal. “It was a very cold ride. Took tea
there. Fear I shall have to remove it & plan it lower down, more in the
shelter.” It was spring of the following
year, 1865, before the decision was formalised and a new site identified. Dr Robertson, the Balmoral Commissioner, was
tasked with getting the job done and by the time of the monarch’s return north
at the end of the summer the new shiel was nearing completion In 1867 the monarch ordered further
improvements to access roads to be implemented by Dr Robertson. The original Gelder Shiel was demolished
sometime before 1868.
The first
use of the cottage by the monarch was on 14 September when the Queen took tea
there and described her new accommodation as “a very nice little house”. Towards the end of October 1865, she met at
Glen Gelder Shiel with Mr Beaton and took lunch, “chairs & a table having
been put into the little room & a fire lit”. Queen Victoria also gave a brief description
of the accommodation. “There is besides
the dining room, a little sitting room & sort of dressing room, & a
kitchen. Settled about the furnishing & that Balmoral plaid should be hung on the walls.” It appears that Glen Gelder Shiel was never
intended for overnight stays and no record has been found of the monarch ever
sleeping there. She decided to call the
new cottage “Ruidh na Bhan Righ”, Gaelic for “the Queen’s shiel”, though the
name was only occasionally used and she continued to refer to the property in
her journal mostly as the Glen Gelder Shiel.
Glen Gelder Shiel
The new Glas-allt-Shiel
By early 1866 Queen Victoria was faced
with a dilemma. She loved the area
around Loch Muick but she could no longer bear to stay overnight at Allt na
Giubhsaich. The Glen Gelder shiel was not designed to allow for sleeping accommodation and Glas-allt-Shiel,
though on the shores of Loch Muick, was too small and basic for Her Majesty to
stay overnight. Dr Robertson was
summoned in February 1866 for a discussion “… about
the Sheil at the Glassalt, which is to be enlarged
for me, so that I can go there sometimes …”.
A decision was taken to replace the existing shiel, next to the
Glasallt burn, with a new structure, which the Queen referred to as a
“cottage”, though it would be built of dressed granite blocks and have 15
rooms! When she next visited Balmoral in
June 1866, she drove to Allt na Giubhsaich with the Duchess of Atholl and Miss
McGregor, where the ladies took tea before continuing to the Glassalt. “They were in the Greatest admiration of the
wild spot where the little Shiel is to be built. Got off
for a moment & looked over the plans with Dr Robertson, who
met us there …”
Glas-allt-Shiel about 1870
Construction of the new Glas-allt-Shiel
was underweigh by mid-June 1867, the Queen noting on a visit to the site that,
“the poor old house has vanished, & the hew foundations are already dug”. On a further visit in early September of the
same year, she observed that substantial progress had been made. “The walls of the new house at the Glassalt are up & it promises to be very nice.” Work on the new Glas-allt-Shiel was probably
suspended over the following winter but when the monarch met with her
Commissioner, Dr Robertson and Mr Beaton on site at the end of May 1868 she
found that, “The house is all finished excepting the flooring & in some
places the fittings &c. It will be very nice & the view from the
windows quite beautiful.” Despite the
unfinished state of the building, she was able to make use of the new
accommodation to escape the fierce wind which was blowing that day. “… we took our tea in one of the rooms, with
shutters put on rests, for our table & seats.” By September 1868, the house was finished and
the road along the shore of Loch Muick had been upgraded. After taking tea in the new property, “We
went all over the house, which is really charming, so comfortable & nicely
& plainly furnished.” There was some
further tinkering on 28 September, “Went again over the house & gave some
further directions about small alterations …”. The Glas-allt-Shiel
was now complete and ready for use. This
new “cottage” was to change Victoria’s life dramatically.
Queen Victoria’s first overnight stay at
Glas-allt-Shiel
Plans were made for a first overnight
stay at the new Glas-allt-Shiel at the beginning of October 1868. The servants, including John Brown, had persuaded the Queen that she
should follow Highland tradition and hold a house-warming party, to which she
agreed and which they organised. Two
versions of the events of that day survive, one from Queen Victoria’s selection,
“More Leaves” and one from the Princess Beatrice edited copy of the Queen’s
Journal. They form an interesting
comparison. The two versions follow.
A comparison of the Beatrice and
Victoria accounts of the Glass-allt-Shiel housewarming
Princess Beatrice version
“The
anniversary of the day on which my beloved Albert’s life was somercifully
spared at Coburg. – Fine, but cold. & there was a sprinkling of snow on the
high hills. Busy preparing for our
departure for the new little Shiel. – Rode with Baby and Leopold. – Lenchen’s
dear little boy is always brought to our breakfast & luncheon, & is a
great darling, so forward & amusing. – Before 4 left with Louise & Jane
C. for the Glassalt Shiel. It was a beautiful
evening, clear & frosty. Drove by
Birk Hall, taking tea at the Linn of Muick.
We had just finished when Arthur arrived from Ballater, having travelled
straight from Geneva. He looked rather
tired, having besides had a rough crossing.
We walked a little way & then drove on, Arthur getting into the
carriage with us. Reached the Glassalt
Shiel at 1/2p. 6. It looked so cheerful &
comfortable, all lit up & the little rooms are so cozy & nice. The Dining room is on the one side of the
little entrance hall, my sitting room, on the other & my bedroom &c –
beyond. In it stands the old bed &
wardrobe in our former little bedroom at Alt no Guithasach. Upstairs the rooms are equally
comfortable. Felt sad & lonely,
thinking of the blessed happy past with dearest Albert, who always had wished
to build here, in this favourite spot. I
could not have lived again at Alt na Guithasach now, alone, & it is far
better to have built a totally new house, but the sad thought struck me, that
it was the 1rst widow’s house, - not blessed by him. – Dined in the small
Dining room, Brown & Ross serving & then went to my little sitting
room, where we waited till we heard the servants were ready for the House
Warming. At 1/4p. 10 went into the
Diningroom, where everything had been cleared & where all the servants were
assembled. Ross played, & some reels
were danced. Grant made a little speech,
concluding with a wish that I should live long, calling me “our Royal Mistress,
- our good Queen”. This was followed by
cheers given out by Ross with “Neesh neesh” At 1/4p. 11, all dispersed.”
Queen Victoria version
“At nearly four
o’clock left with Louise and Jane Churchill for the Glassalt Shiel. It was a beautiful evening, clear and frosty. We drove by Birkhall and the Linn of Muick,
where we stopped to take tea; we had just finished when Arthur arrived from
Ballater with Grant, who had gone to meet him there. He had travelled straight from Geneva, and
looked rather tired, having besides had a bad passage. After walking a little we drove on, Arhtur
getting into the carriage with us, and Grant going with Brown on the box. We arrived at half-past six at the Glassalt
Shiel, which looked so cheerful and comfortable, all lit up, and the rooms so
cozy and nice. There is a wonderful deal
of room in the compact little house. A
good staircase (the only one) leads to the upper floor, where are the rooms for
Louise, Jane Churchill, her maid, and Arthur, in one passage; out of this there
is another, where are three rooms for Brown, the cook, and another servant; in
one of these Grant and Ross slept, and C. Thomson in the other. Below are my sitting-room and bed. One of eight brothers (one died in 1865),
three of whom, besides himself, are in my service – Andrew (the eldest), a
livery porter; John, who has charge of the roads on my property at, and room,
and my maids’ room; and on the other side of our little hall the dining room:
then a nice kitchen, small steward’s room, store-closet, and another small room
where two menservants slept. The small
passage near my bedroom shuts off the rest and makes it quite private and
quiet. Good stables, and the keeper’s
cottage, where our gillies sleep, just outside at the back. We dined at about half-past eight in the
small dining room. This over, after
waiting for a little while in my sitting-room, Brown came to say all the
servants were ready for the house-warming, and at twenty minutes to ten we went
into the little dining-room, which had been cleared, and where all the servants
were assembled, viz., my second dresser C Wilmore, Brown, Grant, Ross (who
played), (Hollis (the cook), Lady Churchill’s maid, Maxted, C. and A. Thomson, Blake
(the footman), the two housemaids, Kennedy, J. Stewart (the stableman), and the
policeman (who only comes to do duty outside at night). We made nineteen altogether. Five animated reels were danced, in which all
(but myself) joined. After the first
reel “whisky-toddy” was brought round for everyone, and Brown begged I would
drink to the “fire-kinding”. Then Grant
made a little speech, with an allusion to the wold place we were in and
concluding with a wish “that our Royal Mistress, our good Queen”, should “live
long”. This was followed by cheers given
out by Ross in regular Highland style, and all drank my health. The merry pretty little ballended at a
quarter past eleven. The men, however,
went on singing in the steward’s room for some time, and all were very happy,
but I heard nothing, as the little passage near my bedroom shuts everything
off.”
Sad thoughts
filled my heart both before dinner and when I was alone and retired to rest. I
thought of the happy past and my darling husband, whom I fancied I must see,
and who always wished to build here, in this favourite wild spot, quite in
amidst the hills. At Allt na
Giubhsaich I could not
have lived again now—alone. It is far better to have built a totally new house;
but then the sad thought struck me that it was the first Widow’s
house, not built by him or hallowed by his memory. But I am sure his
blessing does rest on it, and on those who live in it.”
Analysis
It is immediately obvious that the word
count of the Beatrice version is much lower than the Victoria version, 376 vs
635 (about 40% less). However,
Beatrice’s editing was not confined to redaction of material, the changes are
much more complex than that. Words,
phrases and sentences in each version have been classified as “Beatrice only”, “Common”
or “Victoria only”. Fifty seven percent
of the Beatrice content is unique to that version and 61% of the Victoria
script only occurs there. The word count
of the Common content in both versions is similar but not identical (240 words Beatrice vs 247 words Victoria). The
disagreement is due to material being adjudged to be “common” if it is broadly
similar in the two versions, but not with exactly identical words or word
counts, in each case.
The Beatrice unique material seems to be
of three separate origins. Firstly, an
opening section dealing with events which occurred early on 1 October 1868,
before the party left Balmoral, which did not relate to the visit to
Glass-allt-Shiel. This content may have
been present in the original Journal entry but had been removed by Victoria as
being irrelevant to the main thrust in her story. Secondly, new but insignificant material
originating from Beatrice’s own knowledge, such as the Highlanders’ cheer of
Neesh! Neesh! and the layout of the new Shiel.
Thirdly, a possible attempt to bend the truth by advancing the start of
the celebration by half an hour, perhaps to shorten its apparent duration.
The unique material in the Victoria
version must have been eliminated by Beatrice in the editing process. There are several clear themes. In the Beatrice text, the names of only three
servants are recorded, with four mentions in total. Paradoxically, the reference to Brown and
Ross serving at table in Beatrice’s copy was not in the Victoria version. In that account, 12 servants were named, John
Grant and John Brown attracting five mentions each. In addition, there were extensive
descriptions of servant accommodation and the total number at the party given
as 19, which even including the policeman who was supposed to be on watch
outside the property. It seems that
Beatrice was trying to downplay the role of the servants and conceal the large
number of them both present and taking part in the celebration.
There seems little doubt that Beatrice
was trying to cover up the raucous nature of the party and the fact that her
mother was at least tolerant of its conduct, if not herself an active participant. Victoria’s youngest
daughter eliminated the fact that “Five animated” reels were danced and that
her mother was the only non-participant in the dancing, that whisky toddy was
being consumed by everyone, except perhaps the monarch though John Brown
pressed drink upon her, that the location of the Glas-allt-Shiel was “wild” (ie
remote) and the continued carousing by the men in the steward’s room after the
dancing had been concluded. This was
not, by any stretch of the imagination a Baccanalian orgy but, without doubt,
it was an alcohol-fuelled, Highland knees-up. Also eliminated from the Beatrice version was
the fact that her mother’s sleeping accommodation was private and could be shut
off from the rest of the house and the fact that John Brown had his own room on
the first floor, above the Queen’s bedroom.
Another significant difference exists
between the two versions. Beatrice had
reordered the entry, in effect taken Victoria’s second (and last) paragraph and
inserted it in the middle of her first paragraph. This dealt with Victoria’s feelings of
remorse for the loss of Albert. But it was
short, only 17.5% of the total word count (Victoria version) and, when placed
at the end in the monarch’s text, looked like an afterthought. On the other hand, when located in the middle
of the shortened Beatrice version, it gained in prominence and emphasised
Victoria’s saintly thoughts about her dead husband. Reciprocally, the housewarming description in
the Beatrice version was diminished by the severe pruning.
What was particularly curious about
Beatrice’s editing tactics was the fact that Victoria’s version had already
been published when the Queen’s youngest daughter picked up her pen to strike
out the offending material. Perhaps
Beatrice had forgotten about “More Leaves” when she came to this section, possibly
years after she had started on her monumental editorial task? One overriding conclusion about the house-warming
is that Queen Victoria seemed to be no more than a passive observer at a celebration
being run by her senior outdoor servants, John Grant and John Brown, with her
piper, Ross. The Highlanders were
totally in charge and the monarch seemed happy with her subservient role. A further cautionary observation to make is
that readers of the Beatrice version of the monarch’s Journals should keep
clearly in mind that much material has been selectively eliminated in the
editorial process.
John Grant
John Brown’s growing status
In the mid-1860s, John Brown’s status
and influence advanced inexorably. Several
Brown brothers were now also taking the Royal shilling and one, Archie, got
into a row with Lieutenant Stirling, Prince Leopold’s governor. Stirling had picked the wrong adversary. Archie complained to his brother, John, about
Stirling and John Brown interceded with the Queen. Stirling was dismissed. John Brown had lodged himself so firmly in
the Queen’s high estimation that she took his side consistently and
unthinkingly. She had apparently become
blind to his many faults, such as drinking to excess, being routinely brusque
and rude to guests and courtiers alike and even bullying the Royal children. In September 1868, Prince Leopold, a sickly 15-year-old
haemophiliac, wrote to Lieutenant Stirling, “I am
rather in the grumps just now about everything, the way in which I am treated
is sometimes too bad (not Mr Duckworth (Prince Leopold’s tutor), of
course not, he is only too kind to me) but other people. Besides that “JB” is fearfully insolent to me
so is his brother; hitting me on the face with spoons for fun, etc – you may
laugh at me for all this but you know I am so sensitive I know you will feel
for me - their impudence increases daily
towards everyone.” But John Brown even held sway over the
objections of Victoria’s children. Why
Victoria tolerated such behaviour in a servant was, and is, a conundrum.
Archie Brown
Activities at the Glas-allt-Shiel
During the period before the death of Prince Albert,
when the monarch enjoyed her sojourns at Allt-na-Giubhsaich, evenings were
typically spent playing whist, singing together and playing the piano, though
this musical instrument seemed to disappear after 1852. At Glasallt Shiel from 1868, singing and
piano-playing, especially by Princess Beatrice also featured strongly. For example, in September 1874 at Glasallt
Shiel, “A nice little dinner "à trois," after
which Beatrice played to us on the piano, while I
worked.” However, Whist did not reappear at all.
One of the Queen’s favourite pass-times
during the day at Glasallt Shiel was watching the menservants fishing for trout
with a net from a rowing boat. The hauls
were usually successful, fish in substantial numbers being recorded on several
occasions. During a day visit to the
Glasallt Shiel in June 1869, “As soon as we got to the Shiel, we walked near to
the head of the Loch, where Grant & the other Keepers & gillies were
prepared with the net & boat. We all sat down on the heather. The 2 first
hauls or "pulls," as they call them here, were unsuccessful, as the
rope broke, but the other 3 were much more successful, upwards of 100 trout
being taken. We walked back to the Shiel for tea, seated at quite a long table
as we were a party of 9. We had some of the delicious fresh trout, broiled, which
were very palatable.” As the years
passed by the monarch became more interested in eating the catch than in
counting it.
Frequency of visits to the new
Glas-allt-Shiel
It should not be surprising that, having
caused the new shiel to be built at considerable cost, the Queen not only
started to use the accommodation overnight but also visited more frequently
during the day. Between 1862, the year
after Albert died and 1867, the year before the new shiel was available for
occupation, daytime visits to Glas-allt-Shiel were made on 15 days (average
2.5/year). After construction had been
completed there was a substantial increase in the incidence of such calls. Daytime visits rose immediately to about
13/year until 1882, after which the frequency dropped, like a stone, to about
4.2/year, a decline of 68%. There was a
similar, startling, cliff-edge drop present in the data for the frequency of
overnight stays. This precipitate decline
also occurred between the same, adjacent years, 1882 and 1883. From 1868 to 1882 inclusive, the average
frequency of overnight stays was 6.4/year but, from 1883 to 1900 inclusive, the
average was only 0.11/year, a fall of >98%.
What key event happened between Queen Victoria’s 1882 and 1883 visits to
Balmoral, which might account for this dramatic decline? The most significant event was the early
demise of John Brown, who died at Windsor Castle on 27 March 1883. Indeed, after 1883 she only slept at the new
shiel on two separate nights, one in 1889, six years after her Highland
servant’s death and on one further occasion the following year. These visits are considered below.
Queen Victoria’s reaction to the death
of John Brown
Queen Victoria bestowed many marks of
recognition and favour upon John Brown during his life, one of the most
significant being the construction of a substantial house on the Balmoral
estate, called Bhaile na Choile, for his use on his anticipated survival of the
monarch’s death.
From the time of John Brown being
summoned to Osborne from Balmoral in 1874 and his subsequent elevation to the
position of “The Queen’s Highland Servant” early the following year, his
lifestyle changed and with it his state of health. He has always been a drinker, but his whisky
consumption increased after leaving Balmoral. While at the Royal Deeside estates, he spent
most of his days in physical exertion, leading ponies and driving carriages,
but that situation changed on his move south.
He became increasingly sedentary and his appearance deteriorated. In the words of the Dundee Advertiser, he was
leading a life of “ease and luxury”. Subsequently,
the Dundee Evening Telegraph noted that John Brown looked “older than his
years”. By 1877 he was suffering
repeatedly from facial erysipelas, a Staphylococcal skin infection, and cellulitis
in his legs, another bacterial epidermal disease which can penetrate to the
deeper tissues and even migrate around the body. In those pre-antibiotic days, both conditions
were difficult to treat. Brown died at
Windsor Castle on 27 March 1883. Victoria was devastated. Sir James Reid recorded, “The Queen
is in a great state of grief about him”.
Her feelings of loss were not shared by most of her family and Court.
John Brown had made many enemies in life and his slights, insults and boorish
behaviour would not be quickly forgotten or easily forgiven.
Two brief services were held in Windsor
Castle before Brown’s body was taken to the railway station for its journey
north. As the coffin, covered in floral
tributes from Queen Victoria, her family, Empress Eugenie (widow of Emperor
Napoleon III of France) and others, left the castle, three of his brothers
followed the hearse on foot. The funeral took place at Crathie on 5th
April 1883. John Brown’s coffin was
transported to Scotland and lay in state at Bhaile na Choile during the night
preceding his interment, which was to be next to his parents in Crathie
churchyard. This was the only occasion
he was ever inside the house, which had become his through the monarch’s
munificence.
The Queen did not attend the funeral, but she marked her
grief publicly in several overt ways over the days and months following John
Brown’s death. She sent a plaid of
Balmoral tartan to cover the coffin and her wreath bore the inscription, “A
tribute of loving grateful and everlasting friendship and affection from his
truest best and most faithful friend, Victoria”.
Victoria had cultivated a close relationship with John
Brown’s relatives and she clearly considered them to be “family”. Shortly before the funeral she had written to
the wives of brothers Hugh and William in remarkably familiar terms, “Dear
Lizzie and Jessie”. She also asked “Mrs
Hugh” to lay a wreath on her late brother-in-law’s bed on the day of the
funeral.
In the following weeks and months, Victoria decided to
memorialise her late Highland attendant.
She wrote a memoir of John Brown’s life which she planned to publish,
much to the horror of those advising her and some deft manoeuvring was required
avoid this outcome. The draft was
eventually destroyed surreptitiously. She also commissioned artist Carl Rudolf Sohn
to paint Brown’s portrait, life-size and JE Boehm was engaged to produce a
life-size bronze sculpture of John Brown in full Highland dress. It was subsequently installed next to the Garden
Cottage at Balmoral, where the Queen often worked on her papers.
John Brown statue by Boehm
A grey granite memorial was caused to be placed over the
grave of John Brown by Her Majesty. It
bore the inscription, “This stone is erected in affectionate and grateful
remembrance of John Brown the devoted and faithful personal attendant and
beloved friend of Queen Victoria in whose service he had been for 34 years. …
That friend on whose fidelity you count, that friendship given you by
circumstances over which you have control, was God’s own gift. Well done good and faithful servant; thou
hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”. As
the Aberdeen Evening Express pointed out, these words from the monarch were “such as a statesman, a
warrior or a courtier might covet”. Or
someone with a close personal relationship.
John Brown's grave at Crathie
In death, as in life, Queen Victoria made clear that John
Brown had held a very special position in her affections.
Abdul Karim was included in the retinue of servants which travelled to
Balmoral with the monarch in late spring and late summer each year. According to Sir James Reid, Physician to the
Queen, Victoria had said she would never again sleep at the Glas-Allt-Shiel,
one of her wild retreats on the shore of Loch Muick, after the death of John
Brown in 1883, but she broke that resolution twice, on 17 – 18 October 1889 and
again on 16 – 17 October 1890. Commenting
on the first occasion, Sir James also said, “However, she has changed her mind
and has taken Abdul with her.” This remark
led Shrabani Basu, author of the book “Victoria and Abdul”, to conclude, “ … the
Queen returned with satisfaction to her routine duties, enjoying the Highland
break at Balmoral with Abdul. The
household watched in shock and horror as she breezily left with Karim for
Glassalt Shiel a remote place three hours ride from Balmoral, accessed only by
a narrow road running along the lake.” This statement gives the impression, intended
or not, that the pair spent time alone together at the Glas-Allt-Shiel. But if that was the intention it was clearly
untrue. The Queen’s own journals (edited
by Princess Beatrice) lists her companions in 1889, “Left Balmoral for the Glassalt with Beatrice Liko, & Emily A.”
Similarly, on the 1890 occasion when the monarch overnighted on the
shore of Loch Muick, “then started for the Glassalt, with Beatrice, Emily A. & Minnie C.”
Further, the monarch never went anywhere, especially overnight, without
the support of a retinue of servants, though Princess Beatrice tended to
eliminate them from her revise journal narrative. By 1889 the Queen was 71 and it seems highly unlikely that she could have had an intimate relationship with "Abdul". However, it remains a possibility that the Queen wanted to show off her
wild retreat to her new Indian favourite and that this was the reason why she broke
her own undertaking.
Abdul
Karim, the Munshi
Abdul Karim was an Indian Muslim, born at Agra in 1863, who
came to Britain in June 1887 as part of the celebration of the Queen’s
Jubilee. The Queen had decided to employ
a group of Indian servants and Karim was one of the first two to arrive. After all, she was the Empress of India! Both were married but while Abdul was
handsome, the other Indian, Mahomet Buksh, was rather plump. While in the Queen’s service, all the Indians
wore exotic uniforms, a situation analogous to the Queen’s vision in 1848 of how
Highlanders should appear. The Indians proved to be adept at satisfying the Queen’s
needs for service, especially at table and Abdul Karim was quickly singled out
by Queen Victoria for special treatment.
He soon started to cook curries for Victoria, which delighted the
monarch. He also started to teach her
Hindustani, satisfying her curiosity with Indian culture. Very soon Karim’s status was elevated from
that of table servant. He now donned the
mantle of Munshi, or teacher to the Queen.
Abdul Karim’s status at Court rose progressively under Queen Victoria’s
promotion but his elevation caused alarm bells to ring for her senior advisers,
who saw Karim gaining the influence that John Brown had acquired. Their fears were to be realised. Queen Victoria became so besotted with Karim
that she could not, or would not, recognise his faults and any complaint about
his behaviour was instantly, and often angrily, dismissed.
The Dantzig Shiel
The death of John Brown and the immediate
alienation of the monarch from the Glasallt Shiel did not spell the end of
Queen Victoria’s love affair with cottages in wild places on the Balmoral
estates. Five years before the demise of
Brown, in 1878, Her Majesty had bought the Ballochbuie forest from the
Farquharsons of Invercauld, in order to conserve this extensive ancient wood of
Scots Pines. Running through the
Ballochbuie was the Garbh Allt (Rough burn) with its impressive falls. It was one of Victoria’s favourite locations.
At the foot of the Ballochbuie, not far from
the Dee was a spot called the Danzig or Dantzig. It is thought that the name
originated with some mill owners in the locality who also had a business in the
city of Dantzig on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
The latter spelling will be used here.
Queen Victoria first mentioned this location in her Journals in October
1854. “… on the way home, however, I
espied deer down in the Dantzig & Albert jumped
out of the carriage & shot a very good stag …”. This was the site chosen by
the Queen for her last wild cottage, to be called the Dantzig Shiel. There was no pre-existing building at this
location when it was acquired by the Queen, so this was to be a completely new
construction. (At the beginning of WW2, the name of the Shiel was changed to
the Garbh Allt Shiel, the name it sports today, because of sensitivity over it
bearing a German name.)
John Beaton was a stonemason to trade
and had worked on the erection of the new Balmoral Castle. He became Clerk of Works on the estate in
1855, retiring in 1882. Beaton designed
the new building. Construction work was
started in 1880. A description of the “cottage”
was reported in the Greenock Telegraph in August 1881, “The house is in the Swiss style with large
verandahs and contains a couple of sitting rooms for the Queen, one for the
suite and the necessary bedrooms, the kitchen and offices being in a separate
building. There are no carpets but only
Indian matting which indeed the Queen uses in most of her private apartments.” It was also reported in the press that the
Dantzig Shiel was in part occupied by the Head Keeper. These newspaper reports may have been an
accurate statement of Royal intentions at the time, ie that the Queen’s
accommodation would be quite extensive and include sleeping accommodation. But that is not how the Dantzig Shiel was
used, once completed.
The Dantzig Shiel
In 1879, John Grant, who had served the Queen in several
capacities since 1854 and who was at this time in the post of Head Forester,
was suffering from senile dementia and died.
John Michie, a professionally-trained forester, was appointed to fill
the post vacated by John Grant and took up the role from August 1880. The Dantzig Shiel was still under
construction on 10 October 1880, as the Queen reported in her Journals. “At 4, drove
with Jane C. & Mary P. to the
Garbhalt Bridge, where Dr Profeit (Queen’s Commissioner on
Deeside, after Dr Robertson) & Michie, met
me, to give directions, as to where trees are to be planted, (the storm of 28
December 1879, which caused the Tay Bridge disaster had also felled many trees
in the Ballochbuie) & I then went on to the new cottage, which has got
on wonderfully, & under roof. It will be charming & the position is
beautiful.”
Location of Garbh Allt Shiel (Dantzig Shiel)
The final completion date for the
Dantzig Shiel, which would have included decoration and furnishing, appears to
have been in the middle of June 1882, though the Queen was taking tea there
from the end of May of the same year. In
September1882, the monarch commented, “Drove with Beatrice, Louischen (Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess of
Prussia) & Horatia S. & went to the Dantzig Shiel, to which the Gentlemen & other ladies
had preceded us, as it was to be a sort of house-warming. Took our tea there,
& my health was drunk. The cottage is quite charming, the passage &
entrance, as well as my little room, is entirely panelled with fine wood from
the Balloch Buidh, the furniture also in pine wood, & the curtains &
chairs Balmoral plaid. There is a nice
little dressing room & a waiting room besides. Michie, the wood forester,
& his family live in another part of the house.” Helen Michie, John Michie’s
wife, was contracted to maintain the monarch’s accommodation.
A tea party at the Dantzig Shiel would
be enjoyed by the monarch so many times over the next 20 years that it became a
ritual.
It is important to note that the
decision to build the Dantzig Shiel was not related to the death of John Brown
but was stimulated by the acquisition of the Ballochbuie forest. This new Shiel was built and in use for about
10 months before Brown’s early demise. When
the Queen became alienated from Glasallt Shiel she effectively stopped sleeping
out in all wild places at Balmoral.
Taking tea at the Dantzig Shiel
Between 1882 and 1900. The Queen visited
Dantzig Shiel on 274 different days, averaging more than 14 visits/year, but
with little variation in number, in another demonstration that she was very
much a creature of habit. On most
occasions she took tea, occasionally lunch and rarely nothing at all. Although the monarch’s visits to Glasallt
Shiel halved in frequency after the death of John Brown, in the year of
overlap, 1882, of John Brown’s life and the availability of the Dantzig Shiel,
the Glasallt was visited on 12 days (typical of the Brown years) and the
Dantzig on 14 days (typical of the post-Brown years). It appears that, in building the Dantzig
Shiel, the Queen was not attempting to create a cottage in the wild with the
same purpose as Allt na Giubhsaich or the new Glasallt
Shiel.
John Michie kept a dairy,
possibly from 1880 and almost certainly from 1881 but the earliest known
surviving volume is for 1884. Queen
Victoria took her tea on some occasions with the Michies when she visited the
Dantzig Shiel, but on other occasions may have had tea prepared in her own
accommodation at this cottage. Perusal
of the Michie diaries in conjunction with Queen Victoria’s Journal allows a
comparison, on some occasions, of how the two diarists described the same
event. Of course, “diarist” in the case
of Queen Victoria’s Journals means the Journals as edited by Princess
Beatrice. Despite the frequency of
visits to the Michie household, Beatrice almost never mentions them by name and
never when the Queen is going for lunch or tea. “Took tea at the Dantzig” is a typical
representation of her work.
The relevant years for which
the Michie diaries are available are 1884 – 1886 and 1890 – 1897. In these years 163 visits are known to have
been made to the Dantzig Shiel of which 81(49.7%) were noted in John Michie’s
diaries as being to the Michie household.
It is likely that when Queen Victoria visited the Dantzig Shiel, about
half the time she was visiting the Michies, not just her own accommodation. The
purpose of the visit to the Michies was for tea on approximately 77% of
occasions and for lunch on approximately 12% of occasions. “Other” purposes included giving presents,
seeing the Michie children and saying “Goodbye” to the Michie family at the end
of a holiday.
These visits to the Dantzig
Shiel by the monarch were not, of course, by invitation. She simply announced that she was going and
expected Helen Michie to respond, even at short notice. On some occasions John Michie felt obliged to
return early from his work on the estate to be present for a visit by the Queen. Occasionally, he would arrive home to find
the Queen unexpectedly present. It is
not revealed if “tea” with the Michies meant literally tea alone, or if it included
cakes. On visits to some other senior
servants for “tea” the Queen commented favourably on the quality of the scones.
Gifts to the Michies included a copy
of “Leaves from the Journal
A Life in the Highlands" in 1884, a
marriage medal to John Michie and dresses to his wife and children in the
following year, a shawl each to Helen and Beatrice Michie in 1892 and in 1895 a
portrait of the late Francie Clark, the cousin of John Brown. The Queen did not come alone. She brought ladies in waiting, daughters and
their families and visiting dignitaries with her. Some of these people took to visiting Dantzig
Shiel at times when the monarch was not present and they received the same
hospitality as Her Majesty, for example Sir Algernon Borthwick (1st
Baron Glenesk, an MP and owner of the Morning Post) in October 1890. Several reported interactions illustrate the
warmth of feeling and informality between the Head Forester and his family and
the monarch and her entourage. In
November 1895 the Queen brought King Dom Carlos (the First of Portugal)
to visit and John Michie was introduced and shook his hand. Royal guests would
even tease John Michie. The Duke of
Connaught (Queen Victoria’s third son), visiting in 1892, found Helen
Michie sporting a black eye and he mischievously told her that he would chaff John
concerning its origin, telling John he did not know he was violent. "I disclaim any connection with
it": replied Michie. "Of course you do", was the Duke’s jocular
rejoinder, "I suppose in any case that would be the best course to
take".
John
Michie held high opinions of several of his guests. Princess Louise (Fourth daughter of Queen Victoria) was a particular favourite
“Princess Louise I think a great
deal of. She looks you in the face
steadily & pleasantly, converses freely & distinctly and her presence
& general bearing is exceedingly likeable.”
And, “The Princess is exceedingly agreeable in manner, does a great deal
and is most energetic in the doing of it.”
Further, “Her Majesty came to tea, accompanied by HRH the Princess
Louise, who warmly shook hands.” On 25
May 1891, the day after Queen Victoria’s birthday, John Michie recorded,
“Yesterday being the 24th was Her Majesty the Queen's 72nd birthday. In the evening she drove up to the Danzig
Shiel, my house, and had tea there bringing along with her the Prince &
Princess Henry of Battenberg, the Grand Duke of Hesse and his daughters, 2 of
them (Victoria & Alice) the former being married to Prince Louis of
Battenberg. All were in good spirits the
Queen looking very young for 72 years.”
The denouement
But
life was drawing to a close for Queen Victoria.
Although she visited the Dantzig Shiel frequently in the period 1898 –
1900, the absence of John Michie’s diaries for those years obscured the last
interactions between the monarch, her Head Forester and his family. Victoria’s final sojourn at Balmoral ended on
5 November 1900 and she died at Osborne House on 22 January 1901. The monarch had spent 53 late summer
holidays, without interruption, at Balmoral since 1848. From 1862, she had also spent a late spring
holiday, again without interruption, at her Scottish home in Aberdeenshire. The Queen had been deeply attached to the country
and the people and her enjoyment of Balmoral had been promoted by her
construction or modification and enhancement of five separate dwellings located in wild and
secluded surroundings.
Queen Victoria, her wild abodes at Balmoral and the pivotal
events in her life
An
investigation of Queen Victoria’s motivations for building, or enhancing, her four main wild abodes on the Balmoral estates and her subsequent alienation
from two of them, derived substantially from a quantitative analysis of her
behaviour patterns, has provided instructive.
It opened a new window into her life at her Scottish retreat. At Balmoral she was able to escape, at least
temporarily, from the pressures of monarchy, by a retreat to wild places in the
company of her loved ones, her supportive ladies and her devoted Highland
servants. She was able to pursue a
simpler life in these small properties, rather than enduring the cavernous and
sometimes cold spaces of castles, palaces and grand houses. She often described her huts and cottages as “cozy”. Informality also marked her interactions with
her Highland employees from the lower orders, especially through casual
conversations and physical contact, which would have been unthinkable in most
royal settings.
But
looking into life at these wild abodes also brings an insight into her most
personal and intimate relationships with members of the male gender. Allt na Ghuibhsaich, located on a hillside
near the outflow of the River Muick from the loch of the same name and not far
distant from the Linn of Muick, a cascade which could be spectacular in times
of high precipitation, provided an appealing natural setting in which to relax
by becoming immersed in the natural features of the Highlands. But Allt na
Ghuibhsaich, the first of her wild retreats, was unbreakably linked in her mind
with Prince Albert and the pleasures of their life together at Balmoral between
1849 and 1861. This is not just implied
by a statistical association but was written on several occasions by the
monarch herself. Indeed, her memories of
staying with Prince Albert at Allt na Ghuibhsaich were so poignant that she
could no longer remain there overnight after his death and she said so. Queen Victoria could not bear to be reminded
directly of happy nights spent in that place.
The fact that she would still visit during the day after Albert’s
passing shows that the crucial event was the recall of the sleepover.
In
order to continue enjoying the wild delights of the Balmoral lands, Queen
Victoria needed an alternative venue, a new setting which was not redolent with
memories of Albert. She thought she had found
that setting high in Glen Gelder, which lies some distance from Glen Muick, but her first attempt was at an exposed altitude and even when relocated to a lower level in the glen, it ended up only being used for daytime visits.
The Genechal cottage remains an enigma, curious in design, unsuitable for overnight use and possibly rarely used during the day.
The Genechal cottage remains an enigma, curious in design, unsuitable for overnight use and possibly rarely used during the day.
The
new Glas-allt-Shiel, in contrast, gave the Queen a new lease of life. It had a wonderful setting on the shore of
Loch Muick and, despite the monarch’s description of it as a cottage, it was a
substantial house and possessed excellent accommodation, certainly sufficient
for all that the Queen might desire of a retreat. Between 1868 and 1882 she spent far more days
and far more nights, proportionately, at Glasallt Shiel than she had even done
at Allt na Ghuibhsaich. She enjoyed
travelling around the area local to the Glasallt, including over the watershed
at the far end of Loch Muick and into the Angus glens. Life again seemed to have meaning for
her. But when John Brown died after a
life of over-indulgence, the Queen’s attitudes towards her then-favourite
country “cottage” changed abruptly and dramatically. She stopped making overnight visits to Glasallt
Shiel (though she did seven years later make two separate, overnight stays, with Abdul Karim, probably innocuously amongst the bevvy of accompanying servants)
and her daytime usage of the property fell immediately by 50%. There was a remarkable parallel with the monarch’s
pattern of behaviour concerning Allt na Ghuibhsaich when Prince Albert
died. Was the cause the same on this occasion,
the loss of a lover? These data
certainly add support to the suggestion made by others that the relationship
between Queen Victoria and John Brown involved close personal intimacy. Of particular note in this regard is the
information from Sir James Reid’s diaries.
He was the Royal Physician to Queen Victoria from 1881 until her death. Bearing in mind the sleeping arrangements at Glasallt
Shiel, discrete bedroom assignations were certainly possible there. If they occurred, did they create memories which might be reawakened by
visiting the place both during the day, but especially by staying there at
night, subsequent to John Brown’s death? Direct support for this hypothesis has not
been found, but the strong circumstantial evidence presented here surely makes
it an arguable proposition?
In contrast to Allt na Ghuibhsaich and the new Glas-allt-Shiel, the
Dantzig Shiel was not a replacement for a former favourite retreat but rather an
opportunity to create a new retreat in a different wild place, close to the
Ballochbuie forest and the Garbh Allt falls.
It was used for day trips only and, being a relatively easy five-mile
drive from the Castle could be utilised both for short visits and as a venue
for lunch or tea when out on a jaunt to the west of Balmoral, for example to
the Linn of Dee beyond Braemar. In her
declining years, the homely and pleasant family of Her Majesty’s Head Forester
was always there at the Dantzig Shiel, both to maintain the property and to
provide tea or lunch on demand. Glen Gelder Shiel was employed similarly to the Dantzig Shiel but with a lower frequency.
The apparently causal link
between John Brown and the Queen’s time-limited attachment to the new Glas-allt-Shiel raises other questions
about the interpretation of her relationship with the Highlander. For more than a decade, between 1849, when
John Brown was engaged to work in the Balmoral stables, and 1861, when Prince
Albert died, Brown was frequently the object of Queen Victoria’s compliments
and his personality was portrayed at that time as being consistently pleasant. He was a servant who tried to please, who was
ever alert to royal need and who was polite in a Highland way. That description is in marked contrast to the
boorish, rude, obstructive, vindictive servant from the mid-1860s onwards,
whose power base not even Victoria’s children could challenge effectively. What had brought about this change? After the death of Prince Albert, Queen
Victoria, who was already significantly dependent upon John Brown’s support,
suddenly became vulnerable and needy.
John Brown was on hand to service her needs and to bolster her
confidence. But if there had been a
close personal relationship between monarch and servant, it is surely possible
that it could have been initiated at this time, when the Queen was
psychologically at a low ebb? If so,
that could have put John Brown in a position of dominant influence with the monarch
which made him essentially untouchable by the Court and the Royal children
alike. This was also the time when the
decision was taken to rebuild the Glas-allt-Shiel, not as a "cottage" but as a grand house. Did a close relationship between monarch and
servant influence the Queen’s decision to rebuild? It’s an interesting thought.
Don Fox
20200331
20200510
20200510
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