John Michie (1853 – 1934), Head Forester, then Factor on the Balmoral Estate between 1880 and 1919. Part 1. 1880 - 1902

Introduction

John Michie (b1853) was the eldest legitimate child of David Kinloch Michie, sometime poacher, gamekeeper, hotel keeper, farmer and property developer.  John was born at Fetteresso, near Stonehaven on the North-East coast of Scotland, where his father was working as a gamekeeper at the time.  The Michie family then moved around the North-East as Michie senior took successive jobs serving the game preservation interests of major landowners.  These included the Duke of Richmond and Gordon at Gordon Castle, Fochabers.

John Michie met and married Helen Kitchin (b1855) in 1878.  She had been born in Mortlach, Banffshire, the eldest daughter of a farm servant who later became a tenant farmer.  The couple were wed at The Clune, a farm on the Seafield Estate near Cullen, which Helen’s father, Alexander, was then occupying.  Cullen lies about 11 miles north-east of Fochabers. 

It is not surprising that John Michie should himself seek a career serving on the estates of landed proprietors, since this was the milieu in which he had grown up.  John trained as a forester and, in 1880, he was appointed to the prestigious role of wood forester on the Balmoral estate of Queen Victoria, on Upper Deeside, Aberdeenshire.  He occupied this position until 1902, almost a year after the death of Her Majesty, when he succeeded to the factorship of the Scottish estates of the Royal family.  John continued as Balmoral factor until his retiral in 1919.  Thus, he served in this managerial role essentially for the whole reign of King Edward VII and the first nine years of King George V’s time on the throne.  John Michie’s period of Royal service spanned many major national events, including the aftermath of the death of Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert, the Queen’s jubilees in 1887 and 1897, the Second Boer War, and the end of Her Majesty’s reign in 1901.  John Michie was thus a Royal employee during the latter part of John Brown, the Queen’s Highland servant’s, relationship with the monarch and during the time that Abdul Karim, the Queen’s Indian Munshi (teacher), held sway.  Both were rather controversial figures.  Edward VII’s reign (1901 – 1910) and his actions in expunging the memorials to and memories of John Brown and Abdul Karim occurred just before and during John Michie’s watch as factor.  In the final period of his factorship from 1910 to 1919, WW1 dominated events and was marked by the complete absence of visits by the monarch, George V, to Balmoral.  This left John Michie somewhat isolated and essentially holding the fort on Upper Deeside for the Royal family.

These roles at Balmoral put John Michie in close touch with the lives of the monarch, other members of the Royal families, major statesmen, other landed proprietors, courtiers, politicians and industrialists, who were permanent or temporary residents, or visitors to Deeside.  In complete contrast, he also interacted daily with senior employees on other estates, Balmoral tenants and servants, Royal and other tradesmen, other suppliers of goods and services, the clergy and medical men.  The role of factor on the Royal Deeside estates bestowed much prestige on John Michie and gave him influence in the wider community of Upper Deeside and beyond, and he fulfilled several significant representative roles with a variety of public bodies and societies.

Writing an account of John Michie’s life has been made both easy and, at the same time, difficult by the survival of a mountain of documentation covering his activities.  Only a few time intervals are deficient in information about his thoughts and doings, and for long periods there exist daily accounts of even his most mundane concerns.  What to include and what to leave out of this story has been a constant tussle between readability and completeness.  The principal sources of information that have been consulted have been the relevant holdings at the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle; Michie family documentation, photographs and hearsay; contemporary newspaper reports, Queen Victoria’s own diaries (Princess Beatrice-edited version) and other writings, and the books and articles of other authors who have burrowed through public and private holdings for their own, adjacent purposes.  But, in addition to these routine sources, John Michie wrote a diary, often daily, perhaps from as early as 1880 and extending to 1920.  Diaries are known to have survived for 23 of potentially 41 years’ worth of contributions and all the surviving diaries have been examined.  Documenting this plethora of links has not only given an understanding of John Michie’s life, but also fragments and flashes of the lives of those around him, both high and low. 

John Michie’s life at Balmoral divides naturally into two components, his life up to 1902 when he was head wood forester and, secondly, the period of his factorship from 1902.  Conveniently, the reigns of the monarchs he served almost bisect his life at the same boundary, Queen Victoria before 1902 and Edward VII, followed by George V after from 1901.  However, in writing about John Michie’s life this division has not been slavishly observed.  For some topics, it made sense to deal with information straddling this arbitrary boundary.

This first part of his biography generally covers John Michie’s time as head wood forester.

John and Helen Michie

 

The family history of John and Helen Michie (nee Kitchin)    

“Michie” is essentially a Scottish surname and is a diminutive of the given name, Michael.  At the 1881 Census of Great Britain, this surname was predominantly located in the counties north of the Forth and Clyde (excluding Sutherland, Orkney and Shetland) but with a concentration also within the border counties of Peebles and Selkirk.  In the North-East of Scotland, the highest density of Michies was found in Aberdeenshire (especially the Deeside and Alford districts) and Banffshire.

“Kitchin” (or “Kitchen”, or other variants), in contrast to the surname Michie, was predominantly a North of England – East Midlands occupational surname, denoting someone who was a kitchen worker in a monastery or in a large residence.  In 1881, there were a few scattered presences of this surname in Scotland, but with low concentrations, for example along the Moray coast.  In this article the “Kitchin” spelling variant will be used for all members of the family.

 

David Kinloch Michie (1829 – 1903)

John Michie’s father was David Kinloch Michie, born in the village of Caputh which lies in the Tay valley, Perthshire, about 3 miles south of Dunkeld.  David Kinloch Michie was the 7^th of eight children.  David’s oldest brother, Charles, also received the second given name of “Kinloch”.  Their father John (1773 – 1860) was the manager of lime kilns on the Gourdie estate, Clunie, belonging to the Kinloch family and this is likely to have been the source of this second given name.  Limestone deposits are rare in Scotland and lime burning was an important activity for the manufacture of mortar and for application to agricultural land.

David Kinloch Michie pursued a wild career as a poacher while, about the same time, fathering three illegitimate children by two different women.  Much of what is known, or thought to be known, about David Kinloch Michie’s poaching career is derived from an article, entitled “Famous Scottish Poachers”, published in 1904, about a year after his death, in the “Weekly News”.  The author of the article deliberately obfuscated David Kinloch Michie’s identity by using the pseudonym “Donald Gow” and it is unclear how many other “facts” in the article have been similarly obscured.  However, the descendants of David Kinloch Michie are quite clear that the essentials of the article are correct, and that “Donald Gow” was David Kinloch Michie.   Many facts derived from other sources are also consistent with, or closely approximate to, the described events in “Donald Gow’s” life.

The article describes a young man who had great daring in taking game illegally, who was famous in Perthshire for his exploits and who several times used the threat of violence, or actually discharged a shotgun at his pursuers, including policemen, to avoid detention.  Eventually he was outlawed, changed his appearance and joined the police to hide from the authorities.  He then met and was befriended by a widowed lady of influence who asked him to become her gamekeeper.  He clearly could not do this without confessing his outlawed state.  The lady is said to have engineered his return to law-abiding society and to her service and he subsequently fulfilled the role of a respected member of the community in the town where he settled.  The events summarised here, if accurate, must have occurred before 1851 when David Kinloch Michie was recorded, under his own name, working as a gamekeeper at Inverdruie House on the Rothiemurchus estate, southern Invernessshire.  For the next 20 years he worked for various landed proprietors in the same role before becoming a farmer at Clunskea, near Pitlochry in Perthshire.  He and his wife retired to the small Perthshire town of Blairgowrie, where he died in 1903.  The full details of David Kinloch Michie’s life can be consulted in the article “David Kinloch Michie (1820 – 1903) Scottish poacher turned gamekeeper in the romantic age of poaching” on this blogsite.

 

Alexander Kitchin (1831 – 1902)

Alexander Kitchin was the second child and oldest son of James Kitchin, who was born in 1797 at Alves, Morayshire.  At the 1841 Census, James Kitchen was a blacksmith living at Ryeyards, Alves but ten years later he had become a farmer at the property called Calternach, Mortlach, Banffshire, remaining there until at least 1861.  Before May 1862, the Kitchen family had moved to a new property, The Clune, on the Seafield estate at Deskford, Banffshire and in 1871, James Kitchen, now aged 73, was still described as the farmer and head of household.  The Clune consisted of 103 acres of which most (93 acres) were arable.  Also, at the 1871 Census, his son, Alexander, was described as “farmer’s son”, implying that he was working on the farm.  Alexander’s wife Margaret (nee Shiach) was present too, together with seven of her children, the oldest of which was Helen Robertson, who was born in 1855 at Mortlach.

The Clune, Deskford, Banffshire

In 1867, Alexander and Margaret Kitchin suffered a terrible tragedy when a scarlet fever outbreak carried off three of their children, Elizabeth, James and Margaret Christina.  The couple eventually went on to have a family of 15, the youngest, Frederick Charles, being born in 1882.

 

John Michie’s early years

Only the bare outlines of John Michie’s early life are known.  He was born at Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, a village which lies about one mile inland from the county town, Stonehaven, on the North-East coast of Scotland on 8 June 1853.  At the time, his father David Kinloch Michie was working in the area as a gamekeeper, though his employer has not been identified.  By the start of 1857, the Michie family had moved to Port Elphinstone, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire and another gamekeeping job for DK Michie.  This posting was quickly followed by a relocation to Fochabers and the employment of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon at Gordon Castle, Moray, by June 1858.  It is likely that David Kinloch Michie’s job took him over all the shooting lands of the Gordon estates, which were extensive and included “all Glenrinnes, etc” located near Dufftown, some 25 miles south of Gordon Castle.  Little is known about the education of John Michie, but it is likely to have been confined initially to village schools. Later, after his father’s translocation to Clunskea, John attended Perth Academy.

John Michie’s first job was with Messrs Dickson & Co, a firm of nurserymen in Edinburgh, “where he gained his first practical knowledge of forestry” and “considerable knowledge of forestry”.  This firm is likely to have been that founded by brothers James and George Dickson in the early 1800s, which subsequently became Dickson Brothers and then James Dickson and Sons.  However, there were several, unrelated nurserymen named Dickson trading in 19^th century Edinburgh.  In 1885, after his appointment as head forester at Balmoral, John Michie received a visit from Mr Alex Milne, Chief of James Dickson & Sons, Hanover St. Edinburgh.  He “arrived at Danzig (John Michie’s home on the Balmoral estate) on a visit.  I walked him round the forest by the high drive coming down by Stron-na-brack.”  This event suggests there was an established link between John Michie and the firm of James Dickson and Sons.  Edinburgh was also home to the Royal Botanic Garden in Leith Walk and it is likely that John Michie, “an enthusiastic botanist”, became familiar with many aspects of the subject by visiting this mecca of the plant sciences.  His diary entries illustrate a particular fascination with mosses, in addition to forest trees.

After his training in Edinburgh, John Michie worked “for a number of years” as assistant to Mr Christopher Young Michie, Head Forester on the Seafield estate, Banffshire.  CY Michie was an expert on larch trees and authored a book, “The Larch.  Culture and Management” which was published in 1885.  He was also a member of the Council of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society. Christopher Michie was unrelated to John Michie, having been born in Roxburghshire in 1830.  Cullen House was the home of the Earls of Seafield, the 7^th Earl, John Charles Ogilvy-Grant, being the incumbent and Head of the Clan Grant in John Michie’s time on the Seafield estate.  John Michie was introduced to Helen Kitchen, daughter of Alexander Kitchin, then a Seafield tenant farmer, by mutual friends, leading to the two becoming affianced.  They married in December 1878, the occasion being celebrated at The Clune, Helen’s family home.  Helen was 23 and John was two years older.  But, curiously, at the time of the marriage, John Michie was not living near Cullen and working as a forester but was resident at Logierait, which lies about five miles south of Pitlochry, Perthshire and he was working as a gamekeeper. 

Cullen House

 

John Michie’s next appointment, allegedly “for a number of years”, was to a position in Cheshire, though the year of appointment and the nature of the job are unknown.  However, the move to England could not have been earlier than 1878 or later than 1879.  The exact location of his workplace is also obscure, but his eldest daughter, Annie, was born at Wervin, Cheshire on 18 November 1879.  Wervin was a very small village lying between Chester and Ellesmere Port and the only building of significance there was Wervin Old Hall, a listed farmhouse of some antiquity.  It seems unlikely that the position in Cheshire lasted for much more than a year since, in 1880, John Michie secured the appointment which was to set the pattern for the rest of his life, that of wood forester at Balmoral.

 

Queen Victoria and the Deeside estates

In order to understand the roles that John Michie played in Royal service, it is important also to bear in mind Queen Victoria’s ancestry, her family, the acquisition of the Royal estates on Upper Deeside and the geography of this scenically stunning area of Scotland.

George III, the third Hanoverian monarch of Great Britain, was born in 1738 and died in 1820.  In later life he was noted for his bizarre behaviour, brought on by the condition porphyria, which led to the epithet “Mad King George”.  His eldest son became George IV on the death of his father.  George IV had no legitimate sons and his next oldest brother, Frederick, Duke of York had no issue.  Thus, the crown passed, on the death of George IV in 1830, to the third oldest son of George III, William, who reigned as William IV between 1830 and 1837, when he died.  William IV married and had four children but his twin boys died at birth.  Thus, the succession jumped again, this time to Alexandrina Victoria, the daughter and only child of Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and fourth oldest son of George III.  Alexandrina Victoria had been born in 1819 and became monarch in 1837, aged 18, on the death of her uncle.  At the time of her birth, it was vanishingly improbable that Alexandrina Victoria would ever ascend to the throne of the greatest industrial power on earth, one with an enormous overseas empire and a navy to defend its interests in all its possessions.  She was crowned Queen Victoria a year later, in June 1838.

Queen Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840.  She had proposed to him.  Victoria soon became pregnant and their first child, Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise was born in November 1840.  Victoria produced nine children altogether, between 1840 and 1857.  The names and birth years of the other eight children were as follows.  Albert Edward (1841), Alice Maud Mary (1843), Alfred Ernest Albert (1844), Helena Augusta Victoria (1846), Louise Caroline Alberta (1848), Arthur William Patrick Albert (1850), Leopold George Duncan Albert (1853) and Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore (1857).  Queen Victoria was a carrier of the X-chromosome-linked recessive gene variant which causes haemophilia.  This meant that each of her sons had a 50% chance of developing the disease and each of her daughters had a 50% chance of carrying the defective gene.  In fact, of her sons, only Prince Leopold (1853) suffered from this debilitating condition but at least two of her daughters, Princess Alice (1843) and Princess Beatrice (1857) were carriers, as their subsequent child-bearing tragically showed.

In 1840 Edward Oxford tried to kill Queen Victoria with a pistol, as she travelled in her carriage on Constitution Hill.  Three further attempts on her life were made in 1842 and there was also a threat from Irish republicans.  The Queen and her consort, Prince Albert became concerned about security.  This caused them to seek new homes in remote locations where they could feel safe.  The Osborne Estate on the Isle of Wight, isolated by the Solent from the mainland, was leased for a year by Victoria and Albert in 1844.  At the end of the year, they bought the estate and Prince Albert, in conjunction with the builder Thomas Cubitt, designed a new house in the Italianate style, Osborne House, for the site.  The first occupation by the Royal family was in September 1846, though the building was not at that stage complete.  The Queen and the Prince Consort also sought a property in the wilds of Scotland.  They had been looking on the west coast in 1847 but found the weather there to be very wet.  By chance John Clark, the son of the Queen’s personal physician, Sir James Clark and a member of the Diplomatic Service, was recuperating on Deeside at the Balmoral home of Sir Robert Gordon at the time.   John Clark told his father of the glorious sunshine he was enjoying, and this information was passed on to the Royal couple, who then became interested in the eastern part of Scotland.  Deeside enjoys a much drier climate than the west coast of Scotland.

The land on Deeside, like the rest of Scotland, was owned by a small number of wealthy proprietors, each with a large holding.  The freehold of the Balmoral estate and its castle belonged to the Earl of Mar and had been let to Sir Robert Gordon, formerly British Ambassador to Vienna, on a 40-year lease.  At the end of 1847, Sir Robert died suddenly.  His brother, George Hamilton-Gordon, the 4^th Earl of Aberdeen (later Prime Minister 1852 – 1855), was aware of the Queen’s interest in Deeside and suggested to her that she might take the lease to Balmoral.  Based on a report about Deeside commissioned by Prince Albert and a series of sketches of the local scenery by Aberdeen artist, James Giles, the Queen decided to acquire Balmoral, though she had never visited the area.  In February 1848, the 20-year balance of the lease was assigned by the Mar Trustees to Prince Albert.  Not only had the Royal couple acquire the castle, including its furniture, and the estate, but they also took on many of Sir Robert’s servants and even his dog!  Prince Albert eventually bought the Balmoral estate of 17,400 acres in 1852 for £31,500.

Dr Andrew Robertson was the local general practitioner in Crathie, the village adjacent to Balmoral, where he had practised since 1818.  In 1848 he was asked by Lord Aberdeen to assist the Royal Family when they made their first visit to their newly acquired property.  Dr Robertson made a good impression on the Queen and the Prince Consort and, in July of that year, the latter asked him to take on the role of Commissioner to the Queen at Balmoral.  He held the post for close to 30 years.  In effect, the position of commissioner was that of manager of the Royal estates on Deeside.

In early September 1848, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert made their first visit to their newly leased property of Balmoral, travelling up the east coast of Britain in the Royal yacht, the “Victoria and Albert”, from Woolwich to Aberdeen.  In advance of the visit they had dispatched horses, carriages, luggage and servants from Windsor Castle on the “Earl of Aberdeen” steamer.  To guard the Royal party while at Balmoral, 100 soldiers of the 93^rd Highlanders (the Gordons) were also consigned to Deeside.  After their arrival, the Royal party travelled by coach along the Dee valley from Aberdeen and they received an enthusiastic greeting in each village along the way, but this was especially so at Ballater and at the entrance to the Balmoral estate itself, where the soldiers were drawn up in salute.  Interestingly, a Ballater resident was overheard making a pertinent comment.  “What need for sodgers here!  The Queen needna fear us; we’re no’ the Irish.”  Had the Royal couple overheard the remark, they would have been relieved. 

Also, in late 1848, Prince Albert approached the Gordon family with a proposal to buy Abergeldie, the adjacent estate to Balmoral, which, too, had a castle and was similarly located on the south bank of the river Dee.  The Gordons declined to dispose of the freehold of Abergeldie but did agree a 40-year lease to the property.  Further leases were granted subsequently.  In addition, the Royal couple got their eye on another local estate, Birkhall, of 6,500 acres and possessing a mansion, at the same time.  Queen Victoria recorded in her diary for 26 September 1848, “& drove home by Birkhall, which we have some idea of taking or buying, or which Bertie (her eldest son) perhaps will buy”.  Birkhall was offered for sale at the end of November 1848 and was bought by Dr Robertson, on behalf of Prince Albert, at the upset price of £14,000.  The Prince Consort then gave the property to his eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.  Thus, a reference to “Balmoral” might be a specific reference to the Balmoral estate, or a looser reference to all three, adjacent, Royal estates on Upper Deeside, Balmoral, Abergeldie and Birkhall.

In August 1852, Queen Victoria received an unexpected windfall.  A London barrister, John Camden Neild, who had throughout his life treated parsimony as the highest virtue, died and left almost his whole estate, estimated to be worth £500,000, to Her Majesty “for her sole use and benefit”.  Queen Victoria, after modestly adjusting the miserable or absent provisions made by Neild for his executors, wife and servants, used the remaining money to fund a programme of improvements on the Balmoral estate.  This included the design and construction of a replacement Balmoral Castle.  The new residence was the work of William Smith, City Architect of Aberdeen and it was constructed in grey granite, quarried at Invergelder on the Balmoral estate.  Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone at the start of construction and the Royal Family first partially occupied the incomplete building in September 1855, before it was finished the following year.  The original castle was then demolished.

Even before the decision was taken to build a new castle at Balmoral, a whole variety of improvements and additions, both to the existing castle and to the estate, were begun and this pattern of constant development was evident throughout Queen Victoria’s reign and beyond.  These included extensions to the existing castle, new approach roads, a new estate road along Loch Muick and the major extension of a shooting lodge near the far end of the loch, called Glasalltshiel, which was located on the Birkhall estate.  Another significant development was the diversion of the road between Braemar and Ballater to the north bank of the Dee to bring more privacy to the Balmoral estate.  This required the construction of the Dee Bridge at Invercauld and a new bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, to link the castle to the village of Crathie over the river Dee. 

Invercauld Bridge

Brunel Bridge with East Lodge

The Lochnagar Distillery is located on the Balmoral estate and predates the Royal accession to the property by about seven years.  The original building was destroyed by fire in about 1824 but it was rebuilt and then consumed by fire again in 1841, only to be rebuilt once more.  It was acquired by John Begg, an astute businessman, in late 1846.  In 1848 he seized the opportunity offered by the arrival of his new, Royal neighbours to invite Prince Albert to visit his facilities.  The Prince must have been enthusiastic to fulfil the invitation because the following day Queen Victoria, accompanied by her husband and three of their children, all visited the distillery which, in consequence, received the accolade of a Royal Warrant and the facility became known as “Lochnagar Royal Distillery” or “Royal Lochnagar”.  The story of John Begg’s life can be found on this blogsite – “John Begg (1804 – 1882), the Lochnagar Distillery and Queen Victoria”.

 

George IV and Highlandism

Following the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 there was a determined suppression of the Highlands, including disarmament and “the wearing of clothes commonly called Highland clothes”, but not specifically tartan.  The traditional role of clan chiefs then changed from being defenders and protectors of all clan members to being landed proprietors concerned to optimise the economic returns from their holdings, which included displacing small tenants from the land.  These proprietors spent much of their time outwith Scotland, hobnobbing with the great and the good in London.  Inhabitants of the Highlands were often looked upon by Lowlanders as primitive, feckless, dirty and dishonest and the rugged Highland mountains as desolate, ugly and undeveloped.  On the other hand, Scotland was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and Glasgow grew in importance on the back of this to become the “Second City of the Empire”.  Emigration from the rural areas of Scotland to the booming towns of the Forth and Clyde valleys was a significant cause of depopulation in the countryside, including the Highlands. 

But then something very curious happened.  Highland cultural symbols made a resurgence, not as icons of the Highlanders but as an expression of Scottishness as applied to the whole country.  In 1778 the Highland Society of London was formed to promote Highland culture and the following year the Prince of Wales, subsequently George IV and his brothers William and Frederick were given a complete set of Highland clothing.  Wearing the tartan rapidly became fashionable and, from 1782, it was no longer illegal to dress in Highland garb.  Tartan and the bagpipes had been retained in the Highland regiments of the British Army and these military units performed admirably during the Napoleonic Wars, helping in the reinstatement of Highland cultural symbols.  This re-establishment was completed during a visit to Edinburgh in 1822 by George IV, the uncle of Queen Victoria.  Sir Walter Scott organised a series of pageants for him, allegedly illustrating Highland life and culture.  Much of the display content was fake, but this did not hinder the fulfilment of the transformation.  Highland culture was back, representing not just the primitive north and west but the whole country, including its industrial heartlands and its cultured capital, Edinburgh.

When Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, she entered a world where tartan, the kilt and the bagpipes had become accepted as symbols of Scottishness and where the invention of new tartan designs was rampant.  She and Prince Albert enthusiastically fell in with the mood of the nation.  In her journals, the first true reference to tartan was made in November 1844.  “Mama (the Monarch’s mother) came to luncheon & gave Bertie (Prince Edward Albert, her eldest son), who was in his Highland dress, wearing the Rothsay Tartan, — many pretty things.”  Presumably, this pattern of tartan, created about 1842, was chosen as being appropriate for the Prince of Wales in Scotland, since the Duke of Rothsay was one of his subsidiary titles.  Rothsay, on the Isle of Bute, was a stronghold of the Stuarts.  In August 1847 Queen Victoria wrote, “When we were ready, I brought in Vicky & Bertie, the former in a Royal Stuart tartan, satin frock, carrying a nosegay, & the latter in his Highland dress”.  Tartan was thus established in the Royal wardrobes even before the Queen had gained a home in the Highlands or more widely in Scotland.

Royal Stuart tartan

The Balmoral estate was acquired in 1848 and later that year the Royal couple travelled to Scotland and entered upon their new property.  Balmoral and its village, Crathie, were truly part of the Highlands of Scotland.  The country people around still spoke the Gaelic, though the native language was generally in retreat and the locals could also use English, or at least the North-East Scotland version, the Doric.  Queen Victoria wrote in her diary during that first visit, “My little gillie told me that they all speak Gaelic amongst themselves, though not as good as in the west, from where Mc Donald comes.  I like talking to the people here, they are so simple & straight forward & I like their curious Highland English.”  If she had glanced at maps of the area, she would have sensed the former dominance of the Gaelic, as almost all local geographical features had Gaelic names.   Religious adherence in the village of Crathie was largely to the Presbyterian established church, the Church of Scotland.  However, in Braemar, further up the Dee valley, a significant part of the population still cleaved to Roman Catholicism, in line with Highland tradition.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert arrived at Aberdeen on 7 September 1848 aboard the Royal yacht, though its august passengers did not journey to Balmoral until the following day.  The Queen and her entourage had to travel by sea because the railway had not then reached Aberdeen from the south.  It arrived in 1850.  Later a branch line was built along the Dee valley, reaching Banchory in 1853, Aboyne in 1859 and finally, Ballater in 1866, where the passenger railway terminated.  It is alleged that Queen Victoria blocked the further extension of the Deeside railway, fearing it would ruin the tranquillity of the Royal Deeside estates lying to the west.  The Royal party travelled along the Dee valley by coach, passing through the villages of Banchory, Aboyne and Ballater before finally arriving at Balmoral at 2.45pm, where they were welcomed by a troop of the 63^rd Highlanders, under the command of Captain Leith-Hay a scion of a prominent Aberdeenshire family, in their tartan uniforms.  There followed a reception by Dr Robertson, their commissioner and other estate servants.

The Royal couple immediately began to explore their new property, walking to the top of a wooded hill (probably Craiggowan) after lunch.   The Royal Consort was keen to try his hand at shooting stags with his rifle but was unsuccessful, even though the animals were quite close to the house.  The following day, Saturday 9 September, Prince Albert again ventured forth with his rifle but with no greater success than on his first day.  The same afternoon there was a carriage drive through the estate in the company of Dr Andrew Robertson.  Prince Albert was eventually successful in bagging a roe deer on 11 September.  Tuesday 12 September saw the Prince Consort venture onto the Monaltrie grouse moor north of the river and later in the Royal sojourn, he would also be entertained to a shoot for ptarmigan.  Meanwhile the Queen amused herself by sketching the local scenery and with walking and driving about the estate.  She was clearly enjoying the solitude offered by the remote location of Balmoral.  On 10 September she wrote in her dairy, “It was wonderful not seeing a human being, nor hearing a sound, excepting that of the wind, or the call of blackcock or grouse. It filled me with peculiar feelings of admiration & solemnity.”  Ten days later she offered another comment in the same vein, “Oh! these rides, what a pleasure they are & how difficult it is to get them anywhere else!”

On the first Sunday of their Balmoral holiday, 10th September, the couple attended divine service at Crathie church for the first time, walking part of the way over the suspension bridge from Crathie village and mingling with the ordinary people of the village.  The Queen found the “quite attentive peasant congregation”, pleasing, but was disappointed that they were wearing the plain coarse woollens of the hills (hodden grey), rather than tartan Highland dress, “the absence of kilts was a great pity”.  She apparently entertained the fanciful notion that the Highlanders always wore the tartan for their Sunday best.  The following sabbath, church attendance was repeated.  At the conclusion of the service there was very little display of curiosity by the ordinary members of the congregation.  It was clearly a novelty for Her Majesty to be able to relax in the company of commoners, who did not gawp at her presence.  

Crathie suspension bridge

Thursday 14 September was the day of the Braemar Gathering, a re-enactment of the ancient gathering of the clans, part of the revival of Highland customs, to contest with each other in feats of strength of arm and fleetness of foot, bagpipe playing and Highland dancing.  Of course, the Royal Family were curious visitors, at least on this initial exposure.  If the Queen had been disappointed by the lack of tartan and the kilt in church, she would have enjoyed a visual feast at the meeting ground in front of the Invercauld mansion of the Farquharson family, north of the river Dee and half-way to Braemar.  The Farquharson Highlanders wore plaids and kilts in their dark green tartan; Lord Fife’s men sported the Duff tartan,  the Duke of Leeds’ men (he was an Englishman leasing Mar Lodge from Lord Fife but felt the need to join in), the Dunblane tartan (according to Queen Victoria it was actually a tartan pattern invented by the Duke), the Earl of Airlie from Glen Clova was represented too and the Duke of Athol led 98 men from his private army displaying the Athol tartan.  This latter contingent was carrying swords, dirks and Lochaber axes, a kind of halberd.  The Queen had dressed the Royal children in Royal Stuart tartan, which was subsequently adopted as the “official” tartan of the monarch north of the border and worn both by family members and servants.  Her Majesty had clearly become a full subscriber to Highlandism.  So too had the Prince Consort.  He was keen to encourage the servants on the estate to assume the kilt for work wear, rather than pantaloons, though for everyday use, the tartan would be the drab shepherd’s tartan, not the exuberant Royal Stuart.  This rather basic tartan was probably the oldest in existence, genuinely traditional and consisted of dark and light wools, usually undyed from black and white sheep, the contrasting threads running at right angles to each other.  Later, Prince Albert also took Gaelic lessons while at Balmoral and the Queen supported the establishment of a school near the Lochnagar Distillery teaching in the medium of the Gaelic.

Shepherd's tartan

Towards the end of her stay at Balmoral, on 2 October 1848, the Queen put on a ball for the servants of the estate.  It was held in the servants’ hall behind the castle, which doubled as a ballroom.  The Queen attended briefly in an observer capacity and did not join in the Highland dancing.  The servants all wore Highland dress, mostly of the Stuart tartan, and lighted the path of the Royal party to the ballroom with split pine torches.  As was usual with such balls, the activities went on far into the night.

Thus, the pattern for future visits was established during the few weeks of this first residence at Balmoral.  Drives around the extensive property, divine worship at Crathie church, meetings with the ordinary people of the estate and Crathie village, deerstalking by Prince Albert, sketching the scenery by the Queen, a “Ghillies’ Ball (with bagpipes, Highland dress and Highland dancing) for the servants, and attending the Braemar Highland Gathering, usually held ten miles further up the Dee valley, would all become part of the Balmoral ritual for the Queen.

 

Circumstances of the Balmoral estate after 1880

Dr Andrew Robertson served as the Queen’s Commissioner (effectively estate manager) at Balmoral between 1848 and 1875.  He was succeeded by Dr Alexander Profeit, another son of Aberdeenshire who, too, had trained as a doctor and who had also practised in the Crathie area.  Alexander Profeit died in office in 1897.  Thus, he was manager of the Balmoral estates, and John Michie’s day-to-day boss, for most of the period that Michie served as wood forester (1880 – 1902).  A detailed account of Alexander Profeit’s life, which is significant for understanding John Michie’s career, is given below.

In 1880, Prince Albert had been dead for 19 years and the Queen’s relationship with John Brown had reached a mature phase.  The Highland servant had built a dominant position within the royal household and was essentially untouchable, no matter how boorish his behaviour towards members of the Court and the Royal Family.  Of John Brown’s five brothers who were still alive, four were in royal service (Hugh, Archie, Donald and James) but of the four, only James was employed at Balmoral, where he was the estate shepherd.  The remaining brother, William, was farming at the Brown family farm, The Bush, near Crathie.  William and his wife Lizzie were on familiar terms with the Queen and their son, William, would later be appointed to serve as the monarch’s Highland servant.  A cousin of John Brown, Francie Clark, was a royal servant too between 1865 and 1895.

John Grant, who had served with distinction as Head Keeper until his retirement in 1875, had died in 1879 and been replaced by his understudy, Donald Stewart, who, in 1880, had served the Queen for 32 years and achieved a very high standing with the monarch.  His family was close to Queen Victoria and she often visited their house, The Croft, with her entourage to take tea.  Another long-serving Balmoral servant was William Paterson, the Head Gardener, who, in 1880, had also served for 32 years.  John Beaton was the Clerk of Works, who had designed many of the new buildings on the Balmoral estate and who, in 1880 had been in post for 25 years.  He retired in 1882 and was succeeded by James Anderson, another Aberdeenshire native with a similar background.  Anderson had been a master mason who subsequently practised as an architect in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, before his Balmoral appointment.

Following the death of Prince Albert, the Queen began a routine of making two extended visits per year to Balmoral, one in May – June of about four weeks and the other in August – November, which in 1880 was almost three months long.  From the earliest days at Balmoral, Queen Victoria had worshipped at Crathie church and the Minister occasionally conducted divine worship at the Castle.  He was also a guest at the royal dinner table from time to time.  In 1880, the Crathie Minister was Archibald Alexander Campbell, who had been in post since 1874.  At Balmoral Castle, Mrs Ann McHardy was the Housekeeper.  About 1885 she was joined by Mrs Victoria Mussen, the widowed daughter of John Grant, the late Head Stalker, as a house servant.  Before 1894 Victoria Mussen succeeded to the position of Balmoral Housekeeper. 

Sir Henry Ponsonby was Private Secretary to the Queen and Keeper of the Privy Purse, Captain Arthur Bigge was her Assistant Private Secretary, the Duchess of Roxburghe was Lady of the Bedchamber and Harriet Phipps was Her Majesty’s Maid of Honour.  All of them regularly accompanied Her Majesty to Balmoral.

This was the environment into which the Michies settled in summer 1880.  Initially, they were assigned accommodation at 7 Easter Balmoral cottages.  Their needs were modest, only having one child on their arrival on Deeside.  The family remained at Easter Balmoral until summer 1882 when they moved to the Dantzig Shiel on its completion.  This house lay close to the Garmaddie woods and the Ballochbuie forest, convenient for forest operations, but it was an inconvenient five miles from the castle and six miles from Crathie church.

Dantzig Shiel

 

John Michie’s diaries

John Michie kept a diary throughout his employment at Balmoral, between 1880 and 1919, though there are some years missing from the sequence and intermittent gaps exist within the diaries which have survived.  The extant years are 1884 – 1886, 1890 – 1897, 1901 – 1907, 1909, 1911, 1915, 1919, 1920.  The location of the missing diaries is unknown, although some may have been borrowed and not returned to the owner in the years after John Michie’s death in 1934.  Eighteen-eighty-four is the first edition which is known to have survived, though there are two detailed entries on the weather for specific dates in previous years which suggest that earlier volumes were produced.  For example, the entry for 12 February 1884 says, “At twilight the river was higher than I ever saw it bar the ice present on 10th March 1881”.   It is entirely possible that the diaries started with John Michie’s Balmoral employment in August 1880.  Despite the gaps, this collection gives a detailed insight into daily life at Balmoral, both during royal residence and the much longer periods of regal absence.  The contents range over subjects including interactions with the monarch, the royal family and visitors, members of the Court, servants at all levels, neighbouring landowners and their staff, tenants, local tradespeople, ministers and doctors.  Other, perhaps more trivial, observations were made frequently on the weather, road conditions, river levels and fishing prospects, forest operations, landscaping and church attendance. 

John Michie's diaries

Entries were typically made daily, though the practice of Sunday reporting varied between volumes.  In the years 1884 and 1903 to 1920 inclusive, events relating to the Sabbath were mostly written up on the Holy Day, whereas the remaining diaries (1885 to 1902 inclusive) had Sunday events recorded on the following Monday.  This pattern may have resulted from John Michie’s (or his wife’s) religiosity, Sunday being a day of rest, though the pressures of office following his elevation to the factorship at Balmoral in 1902 may have led to a relaxation of a moral stance.

John Michie often recorded his attendance at church and that of his wife, children and visitors in his diaries.  Between 1882 and late 1901, the Michie family lived at the Dantzig Shiel, located about six miles from Crathie Church. and frequently the prospect of that journey, usually by dogcart, was too daunting to persuade John Michie to leave the house.  He gave a variety of excuses for non-attendance, but sometimes no justification was attempted.  Most frequently, the weather, which in the late 19^th Century was much more severe in winter than is the case today, was cited.  For example, “Sunday 7 December 1884.  Remained at home all day reading &c.  The weather was exceedingly wet and cold from the south west and in consequence did not go to Church as previously intended.”  Other given reasons were tiredness to either or both of man and horse, illness, including in his children and his neighbours, visits by relatives or friends and blocked roads.  In October 1891 John Michie missed a church attendance due to his dogcart breaking down, which he regretted because Dr McGregor, then Moderator of the Church of Scotland, had preached that day.  After 1901, the Michies’ residence was firstly at Abergeldie Mains, followed by Baile-na-Coile (with a brief return to Abergeldie Mains while Baile-na-Coile was being modified), each but a short distance from the local place of worship.  This appeared to be the principal reason why the Michies’ church attendance improved significantly after leaving the house at the foot of the Ballochbuie.  Two other trends in church attendance can be discerned.  Until 1906, Helen Michie rarely attended church in the absence of her husband but, from that year, she was more willing to make the journey without her spouse.  After 1908, the incidence of joint attendance by John and Helen increased significantly.  By this date, their children were off their hands, which may have liberated them from childcare considerations.

The length of diary entries ranged from one word to several paragraphs.  Some entries also contained drawings, for example of salmon flies, or Braemar Gathering pavilions.  These drawings of artificial lures have been used by fisherman, Colin Innes, to reproduce John Michie’s creations (see the book “The Lost Salmon Flies of Balmoral”, 1^st edition 2016).  Michie’s diaries also contained lists of names and addresses of contacts inside the covers.  On some occasions when he was away from home, it appears that John Michie made notes in a pocket diary and later transcribed them into his main volume.  Occasionally, Helen Michie made entries on his behalf, probably at her husband’s request.  This happened in two periods of his absence in 1915.    John Michie also recorded his work expenses in these tomes.  

Diary diagram of 1890 Braemar Gathering pavilion at Balmoral

By classifying diary entries into three different categories (“brief”, “standard” and “full”) of arbitrary length, these variations in daily entry size can be examined quantitatively. They are not randomly scattered but show clear trends.  Thus, they would probably tell us something about John Michie’s then current circumstances, if their meaning could be uncovered.  At their simplest, they surely indicate the amount of time, or degree of inclination, he applied to filling in the diary.    Apart from the year 1884 (which contained mostly “standard” length daily contributions), the period 1885 to 1901 was characterised by having a majority of “full” entries.  However, between the years 1902 and 1911, inclusive, “full” entries declined substantially while the incidence of “standard” entries rose.  Two specific years, 1902 and 1907 had high frequencies of “brief” entries.

Using a similar argument, the presence of gaps where diary entries are completely lacking, is also probably informative.  These blanks, too, are highly non-random in their distribution.  Mostly, they are clumped or blocked and not scattered.  Through visual inspection of the spread sheet containing data on the occurrence of gaps in the diary, there does seem to be an overall trend towards blanks being more frequent in the half of the year encompassing summer, but this generalisation can only provide a partial explanation for the pattern of dispersion.  Some discrete gaps are clearly linked to John Michie’s planned absences from Balmoral, for example two periods in the summer of 1884, when he was away at the Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition.  Similarly, in August 1894, a discrete gap coincides with John Michie’s absence in Coburg, Germany.  However, one of the most dramatic gaps, indeed a complete cessation of entries for the rest of that year, occurred after 12 June 1905.  At the time, Beatrice, the Michies’ middle daughter, was about to undergo a major operation, by surgeon Alexander Ogston, on a large thyroid tumour.  She died two days later.  This tragedy had a devastating effect on the Michies, one obvious consequence of which was the complete cessation of dairy entries by John Michie.

Despite some gaps being due to obvious planned absences and the 1905 gap resulting from Michie’s depression following the death of Beatrice, most gaps lack an obvious and immediate explanation.  However, none of them exhibits the discrete boundaries of the 1905 event.  The smaller gaps tend to cluster together, and the larger ones are all interrupted by occasional entries.  The extent of these gaps, collectively, is best shown by summing the number of missed days, ie those lacking entries, across a whole year. By this measure, the annual diaries for 1891, 1896, 1901 and 1902 stand out for the number of missed days, all of which exceed 100 for the year, as does the Beatrice year of 1905.  Do the large number of gaps in these years indicate problematic issues occurred either in John Michie’s work or his personal life?  The year 1896 was notable for being the last complete year of Alexander Profeit’s reign as Commissioner at Balmoral.  It was marked by the progressive deterioration of his health, including his mental health, which made life very difficult for John Michie.  The death of Queen Victoria in early 1901 also had a significant effect on John Michie, who was a very loyal supporter of the departed monarch.  That year was notable, too, for the accession of King Edward VII and his different approach to monarchy, the resignation of Commissioner James Forbes and his replacement by the Head Wood Forester.  1902 also appears to have been a difficult year for John Michie, due to attempts by senior figures at Balmoral to undermine his position as the new man in charge, but this episode will be dealt with in the second part of John Michie’s biography.      

The years 1895, 1902 and 1905 were all marked by John Michie abandoning writing up his diary well before the year end but, in each case, he restarted on 1 January the following year, perhaps through a New Year’s resolution.  But there was one year, 1901 where diary-writing ended early but did not restart with the New Year.  Perhaps the disruption in his life continued through the holiday period in this instance?  Nineteen twenty, was the year immediately after John Michie’s retirement but the entries in this volume are sparse, brief and lack enthusiasm.  Life after Balmoral clearly did not have as much appeal for Michie, and he no longer felt the same urge to record its daily events.

 

Balmoral Wood Forester

John Grant was the so-called Head Forester at Balmoral from the time of Queen Victoria’s accession in 1848.  However, the term “Head Forester” actually denoted that he was “Head Gamekeeper”, a description occasionally applied to him, as was the alternative appellation, “Head Stalker”.  The person responsible for tree planting and felling was referred to as the “Wood Forester”.  Mr JG Webster was the first person known to have fulfilled this role from at least 1854 to 1860.  He may have been in post from 1848.  By 1860 John Webster seems to have left the Queen’s service to become landlord of the Inver Hotel, a few miles west of Crathie.  His replacement was John Thomson, son of the Crathie postmaster, Charles Thomson.  At the 1861 Census he was described as a 22-year-old wood forester living at Garmaddie Cottage, Balmoral and he may have got the job through his father’s familiarity to Queen Victoria, who was a regular visitor to the Crathie Post Office.  It seems unlikely that John had extensive experience of forest operations at that tender age.  Queen Victoria attended the christening of his daughter, Victoria, at Garmaddie Cottage in 1868.  At the 1871 Census, Thomson was still living at Garmaddie and still a wood forester.  However, a decade later his role had changed to ground officer and in 1891 and 1901 he was described as road overseer.  John Thomson specialised in carving walking sticks and many were commissioned by King Edward, who presented them as gifts to Balmoral visitors.  Thus, the role of wood forester at Balmoral may have become vacant between 1871 and 1881.

 

The Ballochbuie

Lieutenant-Colonel James Ross Farquharson was laird of the Invercauld estate adjoined Balmoral on its western side between 1862 and 1888.  Part of the Farquharson holding was the Ballochbuie forest, extending to about 2500 acres.  It was (and is) an area of great natural beauty and was a favourite attraction for Queen Victoria, who was a regular visitor, starting in 1848.  In the mid-1860s James Farquharson instructed substantial sales of standing timber in the Ballochbuie for a variety of purposes, including ship building and the manufacture of railway sleepers.  A steam-powered sawmill was installed in the middle of the forest to cut up these giant trees, but this extensive felling threatened to devastate the appearance of the Ballochbuie forest, causing the Queen much consternation.  Consequently, a 19-year lease was negotiated with Colonel Farquharson in late 1868 by which the Queen acquired rights to the timber and game in the forest.  Connon & Co of Aberdeen, already the owners of some of the standing timber agreed to pass it back to the Queen.  Many of the oldest trees in the Ballochbuie were thus saved from felling.  Because the Invercauld estate was entailed, James Farquharson had to gain the sanction of the Courts for this lease, but that approval was granted two years later.  The Ballochbuie rent was £1500 per year.  Subsequently, in 1878, Her Majesty bought the Ballochbuie outright from the Farquharsons.  She marked the occasion by causing a memorial cairn to be raised on Craig Doin, a nearby hill.  The Ballochbuie also contains the Garbh Allt (often spelled “Garravalt” in the Queen’s journals) waterfall.  On acquiring the freehold of the area, Her Majesty commanded the construction of a bridge above the falls in order to gain an even more spectacular view of the scene. 

Ballochbuie forest

Ballochbuie purchase cairn

Garbh Allt bridge

There occurred a violent storm of force 10 – 11 on the Beaufort scale (wind speeds up to 72 mph), with westerly winds surging across Scotland, on 28^th December 1879.  One casualty was the new rail bridge across the river Tay at Dundee, which collapsed while a train was crossing, at least partially due to wind stress, killing all the passengers and crew.  Another was the felling of about 380 mature Scots pines in the Ballochbuie forest.  A further 60 trees were brought down in the nearby Garmaddie woods, both locations by that year being part of the Balmoral estate.  While Queen Victoria wanted to preserve the Ballochbuie and allow its use for deer stalking, the trees were valuable, and arrangements were made for the installation of a portable steam sawmill in the Ballochbuie to salvage the fallen timber.  The new sawmill was in operation by mid-April 1880.  In addition to the sawmill, a new bridge was constructed over the river Dee at the foot of the Ballochbuie forest, about five miles west of the castle and joining the north Deeside road.  The bridge was in operation during the following August.  A report of these developments in the Aberdeen Journal described the new structure as follows.  “The bridge which is a most substantial wooden structure has massive abutments of solid masonry at each end, the dividing piers being laid in solid concrete foundations stoutly protected.”  The sawmill generated a lot of heavy traffic which would otherwise have compromised the tranquillity and privacy of the Royal family, when in residence, by its passage through the estate on the south side of the river.

Possibly as a result of the acquisition of the Ballochbuie, which greatly increased the commercial forestry potential of the Balmoral estate, a decision appears to have been taken to appoint a fully qualified wood forester at Balmoral with responsibility for forest operations, such as planting, felling, sawmilling and marketing but with the immediate remit of salvaging the fallen Ballochbuie timber. This position does not appear to have been publicly advertised in 1879 - 1880, so it may be that soundings were taken amongst other major estate proprietors in Scotland.  John Michie was appointed to the post and it may be that his previous service on the Seafield estate under Head Forester CY Michie (no relation) demonstrated the necessary qualifications.  The Earls of Seafield were amongst the earliest developers of commercial forests in Scotland.  Between 1811 and 1881 they planted over 44,000 acres of trees on their estates.  John Michie started his new position on 13 August 1880 and one of his first tasks was to supervise the Ballochbuie clearance.  From 30 October, an advertisement appeared in several local newspapers.  “Offers will be received for a large quantity of manufactured wood, in lots to suit purchasers, at the Ballochbuie sawmills, the property of HM the Queen.  The wood consists chiefly of boards, planking and scantling of useful sizes, also an extensive lot of paling, &c.  The whole is fine old Scots Pine of the well-known Ballochbuie Forest.  Intending purchasers can see the wood at the above mills on the following dates 8, 10, 12 November, when a conveyance will be provided at Ballater on the arrival there of the 7.35am train from Aberdeen.  All communications to be addressed to J Michie, Forester Balmoral up to 22^nd November 1880.”

The Birkhall estate had its own wood forester, one William Yeoman who was in post at least from 1851 to 1881, though he was out of the post by 1885, when John Michie first assumed responsibility for that estate.  Yeoman lived at Birkhall Cottage.   The Abergeldie estate was acquired on a 40-year lease from the Gordon family to the Prince Consort in 1848 and there were further subsequent leases.  This estate also had its own wood forester, John Reid, who was in post at least between 1861 and 1881.  In the latter year he was being assisted by his son, John Reid junior.   Before 1891 his father had retired, and John junior became Abergeldie Wood Forester.  It is not clear if he answered to John Michie before 1902 but afterwards, when Michie was Factor, he certainly did.  

John Michie had, at the age of 27, attained one of the most significant wood forester jobs in Scotland, not because of the size of the holding, but because of the identity of the proprietor.  The impact of having a professional wood forester on the ground was noted by Michie’s royal employers.  In 1885, the Duke of Connaught, Queen Victoria’s third son told John Michie that “all the woods were looking ever so much better since I got charge of them 5 years ago”, which was pleasing for him, “as it lets me know that my labours are appreciated at least by some”.  Does this suggest that not everyone in a senior position at Balmoral had bothered to notice the impact of his efforts?  It is interesting that in early 1885, John Michie confided to his diary that he was having thoughts about emigration.  “Last night it first struck me seriously to go to the Canadian & North-west as a settler with our family”.  Was he unsettled at that time?  Nothing came of this wild idea.

 

Wood Forester job scope

Historically, human populations have not grown trees as a crop but simply plundered natural forests, with regeneration left to unaided processes of reproduction.  However, this unmanaged exploitation of wild forests led to widespread deforestation in Britain, including in Scotland and the once extensive Caledonian Pine Forest was reduced to a limited number of remnants by the 19^th century.  The burgeoning industrial revolution led to demand for wood outstripping supply (home-produced and imported) and to a need to start planting trees as a crop. Cultivating and harvesting trees is, in many ways, similar to raising other plant crops, since it involves such operations as preparing the ground, obtaining seed, planting, growing, protecting from pests, harvesting and selling.  Foresters, like farmers, achieve best results if they have been trained to carry out the processes involved according to best practice.  But the big difference between the two professions is that while a farmer will see the crop plant’s whole life cycle through many times over in a working life, the forester, while familiar with every operational process, will rarely see one crop through all its stages.  This elongated, multi-season growth system results in many special hazards for the practice of economic forestry, due particularly to the risk of crop damage extending over many growth seasons, the difficulty of predicting market conditions decades ahead of crop maturity and the perils of compound interest where money is borrowed over several decades.  In 1897, John Michie consulted William Strath, the teacher at Girnock School on the calculation of compound interest.  “He makes me certain, or wishes to do so, that 12/- at 3% for 98 yrs accumulates to £10.7.6, at 100 yrs £11.10.8¾ and at 102 yrs £12.4.9½”.    John Michie showed his awareness of the need to plan for events that would take place after his own retiral in the following observation from 1884.  “At Balmoral woodmen in Craig- gowan clearing stems of young fir trees of the dead branches remaining on the bole to prevent black, loose or rotten knots in the timber when cut up it may be 50 or 100 years hence.  The trees should be in condition to cut about 50 years hence”.  John Michie trained as a wood forester under the tutelage of forester CY Michie on the Seafield estate in Banffshire.  In those days, learning was by watching and doing as an apprentice forester alongside a seasoned practitioner, though there was a movement afoot in the second half of the 19^th century to initiate formal training in forest husbandry.  One of the aims of the 1884 Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition (see below) was to raise funds to start a Forestry School at the University of Edinburgh, although it was 1919 before that objective was fully realised.

When John Michie fetched up at the Balmoral estate in 1880, tree cultivation had been pursued for some decades alongside the exploitation of naturally grown Scots pine in the remnant of the Caledonian Pine Forest present in the Ballochbuie.  Michie’s observations in his diaries suggest that previous record keeping relating to planting on the estate had been at best haphazard.  Sometimes he could only learn the history of a plantation by asking estate employees, or former employees, of long standing what they could remember of a plantation’s past.  John Michie professionalised the practice of forestry at Balmoral in keeping good records, in his standards of crop husbandry and in his attention to economic considerations.  Throughout his career as a forester, even when he had men under him to carry out all physical tasks, he still delighted in rolling up his sleeves and joining in the work.  July 1885, “Did some pruning in the Nursery”.  August 1886, “Thinning about Dairy and Nursery” and “Walked to Birkhall where I found men at planting getting on slowly.  Took spade along with the squad in order to finish which we did”.  May 1894.  “… pushed work forward fairly well having led by plying an axe …”.  John Michie was, in modern parlance, a good role model and many young foresters received their training under his tutelage, before moving elsewhere to take up senior positions.

At the 1881 Census, John Michie described himself as “Wood Forester”, perhaps indicating that he was the only permanent member of staff with this role on the estate at the time.  Ten years later at the next census John was “Head Forester” and in 1901, “Chief Forester”, these titles indicating that the role had expanded over the period of his incumbency.  As will be seen below, his job description (though no evidence has been found that he ever possessed a formal statement of the scope of his role) extended beyond timber production over time and with it, John Michie’s status with his employer.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert leased the Balmoral estate in 1848 and bought it outright four years later.  The estate was extended in 1868 with the lease of the Ballochbuie forest from the Farquharsons followed by its outright purchase in 1878.  Also, in 1848, the Royal couple bought the nearby Birkhall estate from the Gordon family, which was immediately transferred to the Prince of Wales, Prince Albert Edward.  Victoria and Albert also sought to buy the Abergeldie estate from the Gordons, but their offer was declined, though a 40-year lease was granted to the property.  Initially Abergeldie Castle was used to accommodate the Duchess of Kent, the Queen’s mother, but later the Empress Eugenie, Napoleon III’s widow, lived there.  A dispute over the boundary between the Abergeldie and Birkhall estates involving the Prince of Wales and the Gordon family in 1875 was settled in court in favour of the Prince and 2,500 acres of land were judged to belong to Birkhall not Abergeldie. The Birkhall estate was bought back from the Prince of Wales by his mother, Queen Victoria, in 1885 and he then went to live at Abergeldie Castle when he was on Deeside.  Collectively the three contiguous estates extended to about 36,000 acres and stretched over a distance of about 15 miles east to west and about 10 miles north to south.

Old Balmoral Castle

Abergeldie Castle 1869

Birkhall

When John Michie was appointed as wood forester in 1880, he appeared initially only to have responsibility for the Balmoral holdings, including, by that date, the Ballochbuie forest.  When Queen Victoria bought back the Birkhall estate in 1885 from her son, the Prince of Wales, it appears responsibility for that estate was added to John Michie’s portfolio.  The Abergeldie estate had its own forester (and gardener and grieve of the home farm) and it was never part of Michie’s task list as head forester, though he often supplied wood for building projects there.

Staying on top of the head forester role required great persistence and stamina from John Michie.  His diaries repeatedly demonstrate his style and pattern of working through being constantly on the move around the estates to give instructions to the men under him, to check on the tasks performed and to correct any work whose standard he found unsatisfactory.  A typical diary entry from 1886 read as follows.  “Saturday 24 April.  Whole of Wilson's wood squad planting larch in Craig Gowan.  William Lamond & John Coutts engaged erecting extra piece of fence at John Stewart's and painting all newly made fences.  David McEwan getting posts & rails for James Mitchell, Clachanturn.” 

Moving about the estate required the use of a horse, either ridden or pulling a dog cart but, because of the nature of the terrain, Michie frequently had to walk long distances between work sites.  In October 1886, “This morning started for Birkhall walking all the way over 12 miles”.  This was because his horse was sick.   Getting a soaking was all in a day’s work for John Michie.  It is perhaps not surprising that he often ducked out of church attendance on Sundays, frequently observing that both he and his horse were tired and needed a rest after a six-day working week.  Life, in one way, became a little easier for Michie once he was able to appoint foremen for his various work squads who were reliable and could be trusted to control their gangs and provide an acceptable standard of labour.  One of John Michie’s most trustworthy foremen was William Wilson who headed the wood squad and who overcame great personal tragedy to become John Michie’s successor as Balmoral forester in 1902.

 

William Wilson (1860 – 1931)     

The illegitimate son of a shoemaker and a servant girl, William was born at Rathen in north-east Aberdeenshire in 1860.  He was looked after by an uncle and aunt until his mother married another man, James Rettie.  William then lived with his mother’s new family of half-siblings.  By 1881, William Wilson and his half-brother, James, had moved to Upper Deeside where they were general labourers lodging in the home of Peter Coutts, the landlord of the Cairnaquheen public house and one of John Michie’s workmen.  In December 1883, William Wilson married local girl Annie Lamond and the couple was found living at Ballochbuie, Crathie, where William was a “fireman”.  He was probably tending the steam engine at the Ballochbuie sawmill, that is, he was likely to have been an employee of the Balmoral estate.  The first mention of William Wilson in John Michie’s diaries occurred a year later and confirmed his role with the sawmill steam engine, “Started Wilson to prepare the engine, instructed A. Robson (sawyer) to start sawing tomorrow.”  A further year on, in November 1885, William Wilson had been appointed foreman of the wood squad.  Wilson was also entrusted, on occasion, to collect wood accounts.  In December 1885, Michie was - “All day at home among accounts, making out wood charges for the year made out 44 separate documents.    By 1896, much of the work in the woods had been delegated to William Wilson’s control. He had clearly impressed John Michie.

Annie, William Wilson’s wife, gave birth to a daughter in December 1886 and, in 1891, the Wilsons moved to a cottage on Dorsincilly farm when William took a sub-let of the farm from the tenant, Dr Profeit, the Balmoral Commissioner.  Things had been looking up for the Wilson family but about this time Annie contracted pulmonary tuberculosis and by October 1892 she was seriously ill.  John Michie then showed great consideration for his woods foreman by transferring his responsibilities from the wood squad to the supervision of the men based at Dorsincilly “till she is better”.  “He will thus be at home every night.”  Hopes for the recovery of Annie Wilson were dashed a month later when John Michie took Dr Mitchell, the Ballater doctor, to see her.  His diagnosis and prognosis were grim.  “Saw W Wilson's wife along with Dr Mitchell. The poor woman is much emaciated, and the Doctor's opinion is she will not survive long.  Tuberculosis and general consumption he gives as her complicated disease.  Phthisis in both lungs.”  She deteriorated rapidly and by 3 December, when she was nearing the end, John Michie told his foreman not to come to work but to stay home with Annie.  She died a day later, 4 December 1892.  After the funeral, “Wm Wilson poor fellow! returned to his work having gone with his children to his brother's house and left them there”.  Five years later, William Wilson married again, this time to Elizabeth Glennie, the daughter of a master tailor from nearby Glenmuick and a son, Douglas, was born in March 1900.  But William’s trials were not over.  Only six months after the birth of her son, Elizabeth Wilson died.  She had suffered from chronic endocarditis and then sustained a brain embolism.  William Wilson did not marry for a third time.

In 1901, William, his two children and a housekeeper were found in residence at the Old Schoolhouse, Crathie.  At this time William’s job was described as either foreman forester or under forester but, after 1902, when John Michie became estate factor, Wilson was variously called woods foreman, woodman and forester.  Probably in consequence of his elevation to the role of John Michie’s stand-in, William Wilson was provided with a new estate house, Rebreck, which had previously been occupied by Arthur Grant, the head stalker.  It was a substantial two storey dwelling built of dressed granite blocks.

William Wilson remained in his forester role at Balmoral for the rest of John Michie’s Royal employment and Michie came to depend increasingly on the services of this reliable and hard-working servant.  William also became a keen curler in company with John Michie at the Braemar pond.  Wilson’s dependability was also employed off the estate when he acted in a supervisory capacity at the County and Parish Council elections in 1907.  An indication of William Wilson’s dedication to his job came in 1910.  He had got his leg badly bruised at work and was confined to home for some time, where he was seen by Dr Hendry.  William’s housekeeper described him to Hendry as being like a “caged lion” due to the confinement.  In 1912, the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society visited various Upper Deeside estates, including those in Royal ownership, the tour extending over two days and ending with a luncheon in a marquee on the Balmoral lawns.  John Michie, supported by William Wilson, presided at this meal.  By 1915 and the isolation at Balmoral brought about by the monarch’s absence from Deeside during WW1, William Wilson, his son Douglas and his housekeeper were paying social calls to the Michies’ home, Baile na Coile, for tea.  Also, in 1915, Wilson was being used by John Michie to carry out consultancy work on other estates, such as Castle Newe at Strathdon.  William’s hard-won status also brought him invitations to go shooting on other estates.  Despite life’s vicissitudes, William Wilson, with the support of John Michie, had raised himself to a position of security and respectability on Upper Deeside. 

William Wilson remained on Deeside after his retirement and died of heart disease at “Garrawalt Shiel, Braemar” in 1931.  No house of this name has been found in the village of Braemar.  However, “Garrawalt Shiel” (or “Garbh Allt Shiel” to give the correct Gaelic spelling) was the new name of the Dantzig Shiel (the renaming was intended to mitigate Royal embarrassment due to the German connection in the aftermath of WW1), which had been the Michie family home at the foot of the Ballochbuie between 1882 and 1901.  This cottage lies roughly half-way between Crathie and Braemar.  As a Royal servant of long standing, it is likely that William Wilson would have been provided with retirement accommodation on the Balmoral estate, so it seems both probable and appropriate that he should have seen out his days at the foot of the Ballochbuie, where he had spent so much of his working life.

Because of the difficulty of access to some parts of the Royal estate, it was not always practicable for John Michie’s work squads to return home each evening and he then resorted to accommodating them near the work site in bothies or Balaclava tents, so called because of the extensive use made of them during the Crimean War.  These bell-shaped canvass shelters had a single central pole and the men slept in them arranged like the spokes of a wheel with feet pointing centrally.  In July 1890, John Michie resorted to tented accommodation for a squad installing a fence near Glen Callater on the boundary between the Balmoral and Invercauld estates to check sheep movements.  He supervised the tent’s erection himself and the following day - “Went to the Balaclava tent which we erected yesterday and found that the workmen had spent a fairly comfortable night notwithstanding the heavy rain - the tent being quite dry a roof.”  The next day Michie had a stove fitted in the tent and provided cooking utensils specially designed for the stove.  John Michie, while expecting his gangs to work hard, did not neglect their comforts.

 

Forest nursery  

The Balmoral estate maintained a tree nursery which was located on the haugh land between Baile-na-Coile (Michie sometimes referred to it as the Baile-na-Coile nursery) and the river Dee at the foot of Craiggowan hill.  It was used mainly for germinating crop tree seeds and transplanting them until they were big enough to be planted out in the forests on the estate, typically at about two years of age.  Other trees and shrubs were raised at the nursery too, both native and exotic species for landscape purposes around the estate.  John Michie also carried out grafting, one example being recorded in 1886.  “…then by Nursery where I put 3 buds of a weeping elm of a common stock”.  From late 19^th century maps it appeared that the nursery was not very large, though it was extended in 1907.

Not all trees and shrubs planted on the estate emanated from Balmoral’s own nursery.  It is known from John Michie’s extant diaries that by 1885 he had developed a close business relationship with the Ben Reid & Co nursery on the western outskirts of Aberdeen, though it is possible, even likely, that Ben Reid had been used for supplying forest tree seedlings since before the arrival of John Michie on Deeside.  There had been a nursery run by members of the Reid family supplying plants to landed proprietors in Aberdeenshire since about 1754 and the firm was well established with a strong reputation by the time that the Royal Deeside estates had been acquired by Queen Victoria and her consort in 1848.  The full story of the Ben Reid Nursery can be found on this blogsite - 265 years and counting – the origin and history of the Ben Reid Nursery, Aberdeen.

John Michie would not have known the eponymous Ben Reid, who had died in 1872, or even possibly his successor, nephew George Reid, since his attention was largely focussed on the engineering side of the business.  But George Reid recruited some able seedsmen/nurserymen to manage the plant-based side of the business and these people, especially Alexander Hay and William Gibson were not only suppliers to the Balmoral estate but also friends of John Michie.  When Michie visited Aberdeen for business purposes, he would often stay overnight with one of these Ben Reid managers.  For example, in July 1885, “Spent the night with Mr Gibson of B. Reid & Co.  Walked out to Burniebuzle and went over most of B R & Co Nursery.”  John Michie was a regular customer of Ben Reid & Co, a typical order in preparation for the 1890 planting season being, “The following plants are to be sent from B Reid & Co on this day week - 27,000 larch, 200 beech, 200 ash, 200 spruce.  The larch being from Tyrolese seed I took more than will be required to plant the piece lately cut.  About 2/3 of the above lot will do this job the remaining 1/3 going to the Craig of the Knocks, to fill up the 32 acres planted in spring of 1887.”

Business with Ben Reid & Co was a two-way process, with John Michie supplying deals from the Ballochbuie for the manufacture of wooden parts of Ben Reid & Co’s agricultural implements, and also boarding – “Received order from B Reid & Co., Bonaccord Wks to send them some 2000 feet of boarding half " (inch).  Further, John Michie supplied cones from the Scots pines in the Ballochbuie for germination in the Ben Reid nursery.  March 1901, “Despatched 4 bags Scots pine cones for Ben Reid & Co Aberdeen”.  The Michies’ son, Victor worked at the Ben Reid nursery for some time but had to give up his job due to an eye problem.  John Michie also had a close relationship with John Forbes, who ran a nursery in Hawick and who supplied Balmoral with specialist plants such as alpines.  The Michies and the Forbeses occasionally visited each other socially and there was clearly mutual regard between the two plant professionals.

Members of the Royal family and their important guests often visited the Balmoral Nursery and would request plants for their own properties.  Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, Queen Victoria’s third son was given some young trees by John Michie in 1884.  The following year he returned for more, “the last he got having grown so well”.  John Michie learned to anticipate the whims of the Royal family, as he remarked in June 1895, when an arboreal monument was required at short notice.  “I always keep a few trees of variety sunk in tubs within the nursery ground in case of any memorial tree having to be planted at a season, as in the present case, when success would otherwise be uncertain.  I took from amongst these a Pinus cembra (Stone pine) & a Betula alba (Silver birch)”. 

 

Ground preparation and planting

Fencing

One of the first requirements in preparing ground for reafforestation was the installation of a fence to exclude animals from browsing and trampling young plants.   Different types of fencing were required depending on which browsing animals were to be deterred.  Squirrels, red- and roe-deer, sheep, rabbits and black grouse were all mentioned as young tree pests by John Michie.  Red deer were particularly destructive since they used saplings to strip the velvet from their newly grown antlers.  A fence installed at Birkhall in 1890 was described by John Michie.  “Have this evening made our order to B Reid & Co for materials to erect fence to be deer & rabbit proof. The fence to be wood & wire - 7 wires and wire netting 3 ft wide 1½ mesh.”  It enclosed 8 ½ acres of recently felled ground.  Most of the different styles of fencing used by John Michie were present in the Ballochbuie and when Donald Cameron, a farmer in Glenmuick, asked for advice on fencing in 1894, Michie took him around the Ballochbuie to illustrate his ideas.  Michie’s fencing cost estimates were £50 - £60 per acre against sheep and up to £100 per mile against deer.  Not all fencing had the purpose of excluding browsers.  Some fences, or even palisades, were used for screening purposes, such as a barrier erected at Karim Cottage in 1894.  Palisades were sometimes created using trees, for example at Baile na Coile, the late John Brown’s house, in 1885, when it was occupied by his brother, William.

Natural regeneration

John Michie often favoured natural regeneration as an appropriate strategy for wild-grown areas of woodland.  In 1891, he described such a plan for the Garmaddie woods.  “This tract of Scots pine wood, which is of natural growth, and from 80 to 100 years of age is now in such a condition in my opinion that it ought to be fenced in against deer and other browsing animals and about one half of the total number of trees cut.  By so doing the trees which are going back, and there are a good many dying every year, would be turned into cash instead of rotting on the ground or being used merely for firewood and in their places, the ground being pretty free of any herbage on account of shading, would spring up natural seedlings, the healthy growing left trees producing the necessary seed, while they themselves would be producing a considerable annual accretion till the young seedlings got advanced far enough to necessitate a further thinning of the old wood say 10 years hence when half of them could again go to swell the forest revenue.  Meanwhile a young crop of seedling trees has been pushing forward, without any expense in planting, and that of a quality far superior to any planted trees for the ultimate production of the finest class of Scots pine timber and from the fact that they had never been planted or transplanted capable of living longer in a more healthy state.”  If this plan was ever broached with the Commissioner, it is unlikely that it would have found favour because of the negative consequences for the powerful shooting fraternity at Balmoral.  Another tactic occasionally used by Michie to aid natural regeneration was to trench an area by inverting the surface sod to encourage seeds to germinate in bare ground.  He used this device in 1884 when attempting to get Douglas Fir (an alien but successful species) to regenerate in the Ballochbuie enclosure.

Drainage

In order to press some ground into use for tree planting it was necessary first to dig drainage ditches.  John Michie noted one such ditching operation in 1896.  “With Ballochbuie men who are spreading excavations of drains &c in Stron-na-brack plantations.”  There was also a periodic need to clean out existing drainage ditches, since they became blocked with tree debris.  In September 1892, “Marked a quantity of birch wood returned home afternoon then went to men who are cleaning out drains in sawmill plantation, Ballochbuie.”  A drainage problem in the Craiggowan enclosure was solved by John Michie by digging a balancing pond, with a 3 inch drainage pipe and plug “so that the water can be run off at pleasure”.  On occasion, John Michie also took responsibility for draining grass parks.  “Examined the bog park (a clue to the problem there!) at Dorsincilly with the view of improving its drainage which is a knotty subject.  Conceived a plan of dealing with the matter which is dispensing with the present ditch running along the south side, as the surface of its water, above the level of part of the park, and cutting a new ditch through the south side of it streight which would take off about ¼ acre of land at present almost useless.  While the new ditch would be the limit of the field it would be streight which the old one is not and level throughout would be at least a foot lower allowing the upper corner of the field to be drained into it.”  John Michie also used dynamite (nitroglycerine) on occasions when a rock too large to dig out had to be removed.  In 1885 he was engaged in a drainage project near Dr Profeit’s house, Craiggowan when the explosive had to be employed to break up two large stones which were impeding progress.  One consequence was that Michie spent the next day at home suffering from a severe headache (“bang-head”), a well-recognised side effect of breathing the chemical’s vapour.

Ground preparation

The land used for afforestation on the Royal estates was usually nutritionally deficient in one or more aspects, which needed to be addressed before planting could begin.  If the area had just been clear felled, the remaining brushwood would be heaped up and burned and the ash scattered to return vital elements for plant growth to the soil, as was performed at Ashintully wood, Birkhall in 1890.  “Gave instructions to burn up brushwood where sold wood in Ashintully is being removed and otherwise prepare to plant.”  Similarly, with rank vegetation, such as heather, grass and moss, though burning was not a risk-free operation as John Michie remarked in 1895 when preparing the Stron-na-brack enclosure.  “At sawmill, Ballochbuie and Stron-na-brack enclosure attempting to burn heather but succeeded in getting a piece of the most inflammable scorched only, but enough to make the ground more easily planted at same time leaving ample shelter for the young plants when inserted.  The herbage of old heather & withered grass is very rank, while the ground surface is unusually rough with large boulders overgrown by inches thick of decayed moss & other defunct vegetation which if very dry would burn like peat thus leaving the large stones bleached & unsightly.  There is another reason why I do not desire the herbage very dry:- from its rankness the flames might master the men & burn the whole forest altho I have taken the precaution of partially clearing a space of 12 feet wide round the fence.”

Compost

There was a constant need for compost at Balmoral and John Michie was always on the lookout for material to add to his mixtures.  Autumn leaves, road scrapings, peat mould from Glen Gelder, vegetable mould, bog mould, turf and native soil from Craiggowan, lime and crushed bones from the Aberdeen Lime Company, brushwood charcoal and ashes, and cow manure from the Dairy.  Compost heaps were prepared in various locations including the nursery and a place near the Police Barracks.  The heaps were turned regularly to encourage microbial decomposition.  In 1886, it is known that John Michie’s men prepared about 150 cart loads of compost, which would have been not less than 150 tons of material and this is likely to have been a typical year’s production. Compost was used to top-dress the Balmoral and Birkhall lawns, the trees forming an avenue to the East Lodge and other landscape planting and pasture-land in various locations, including the deer park at the Dantzig Shiel.

Sowing

Most seed planting was done in the tree nursery. A typical illustration from 1886 being, “Proceeded to Tree Nursery and sowed some seeds of Sycamore, Birch & Pinus montana”.  Occasionally, seeds were planted on open ground in the forest.  The following example, also from 1886, illustrated the hazards of this simpler and cheaper approach.  “Remained in Ballochbuie examined the ground on the Garrawalt hillock which was sown a year past spring with Scots fir seed from the old trees counted 86 seedlings of small size the majority of which had come up this summer, those which started last season having been mostly thrown out by the frost.  Plants throughout the planted piece doing fairly well but the Douglas fir of which I planted some in both wet & dry soil have not done well except in a few cases where they are situated on drained moss.  They are useless both on wet ground and on dry gravel in Ballochbuie.”

Planting

Planting was a laborious (and therefore expensive) operation, with thousands, or even tens of thousands, of seedlings being used in a single reafforestation project.  John Michie recorded the following, typical example from 1885.  “Abies Douglasii 5,000 2 to 3 ft and 13,000 18" to 24" arrived from B. Reid's people.  They are divided thus - for Balmoral 10,000 small, 3,000 large.  For Ballochbuie 3,000 small, 2,000 large.  Intend giving the 1,000 for Balmoral a year in the Nursery the others are to be planted forthwith in Craig gowan, (Aberdeen Haugh about 1,500 large), No 2 Enclosure Ballochbuie about 500 large & 3000 small.”   An even bigger project was undertaken at Craig of Knocks in 1890 when 50,000 Tyrolean larch, supplied by Ben Reid & Co, were planted.  As far as possible they were inserted in the soil using a planting spade or “iron” and only rarely were pits dug, when larger plants were being placed, though this was more typically employed in landscaping projects, for example panting larger trees, two to six feet high, on Craiggowan.  This hill, being near to the castle, was used frequently for walking by members of the Royal Family, which was the reason for using larger plants.  Seedlings previously planted in the nursery would typically be transplanted for two years before being used on the estate.  The winter months, into early spring was the time for planting operations.  Most planting was carried out by Balmoral servants but occasionally contractors, such as Ben Reid & Co, were used.  John Michie’s recommendation for planting density was 3,500 per acre but rising to 4,000 per acre when predation by game was prevalent.  The Black Grouse was a particular browser of buds from the youngest trees, as John Michie learned to his cost in 1896 when replanting in Stron-na-brack plantation.  “I find that black game have cleaned many of the plants in the "sheugh".  I took no thought of many Black game being in the vicinity otherwise the heeled in plants would have been protected by wire netting.  There can be no doubt as to the depredators as their droppings are amongst and atop of the mass of plants.”

In spite of the many impediments that John Michie encountered he was remarkably successful in increasing the area of the Balmoral estate under timber.  In 1897, the Aberdeen Journal reported as follows.  “In more recent years under the direction of Mr John Michie, who has had charge of the Balmoral forests for 16 years, a large additional area of ground has been planted and there are now about 5700 acres of well-stocked woodland on the property.

Maintenance of growing plantations

Throughout the years of growth, plantations required maintenance to ensure productive survival of the crop trees.  Very often the youngest trees needed to be relieved of surrounding rank vegetation and heather competing for light and nutrition.  Sometimes seedlings would need to be thinned where too many seeds had germinated when sown on open ground.  Such seedlings might themselves be sold or replanted elsewhere on the estate.  At a later stage, a plantation would need further thinning by selective felling to allow the best trees to achieve maximum growth in the coming years.  The felled trees could then be used, often nearby, to manufacture fence posts.  Pruning the side branches of plantation trees was also important to reduce the size of knots in the timber ultimately produced.  In other situations, pruning of dead branches was carried out for other purposes.  In 1891, John Michie’s Ballochbuie workmen were engaged “pruning dead wood off large growing trees within deer park on Danzig haugh, not that it will materially benefit the trees themselves but to give more light & air on the surface of the ground to encourage the growth of more herbage as feeding for the deer.”  In 1886 John Michie “… ordered 56 lbs of Tree Protective Composition from a Nathaniel Ahlbottn, 50 Shore, Leith …” though it is not clear at which stage of tree growth this chemical product was used.

Pointing and tidying

The imminent arrival of the Queen set off a flurry of activity to ensure that the estate was both pleasing to the eye of the monarch and also safe for her use on daily jaunts though the policies.  One such tidying activity was pruning (Michie called it “pointing”) of decorative shrubs near the castle.  Another house-keeping activity was clearing of any debris from the roads and paths used by the Royal visitors.  It was also necessary from time to time to scythe scrubby vegetation from the banks of the River Dee to allow the fishermen to gain easy access to their sport.

Failure of tree planting

No matter how careful the attention given to young plantations, partial or even total failure was sometimes visited upon them.  The cause could often be attributed to one dominant factor, such as the “hard gravelly soil and sub-soil” causing a larch planting on the Aberdeen Haugh to fail in 1885.  Scots fir in the same location were doing better but were suffering from predation by both roe and red deer, which were penetrating the protective fence, though all the hardwoods planted had completely disappeared, showing the food preference of these animals.  Michie concluded that an extra strand of wire should be added to this defensive barrier.

Marking, felling and dragging 

Marking trees for felling was a frequent activity mentioned by John Michie, using a marking bill.  It was a task which Michie never seemed to delegate, presumably because identifying trees for a particular purpose required the application of his years of knowledge as a wood forester.  John Michie’s diaries do not reveal whether saws or axes were generally used in felling, though the latter instrument was employed in forest operations.  An occasional glancing blow while using an axe resulted in its head becoming embedded in an operative’s leg or foot, though it is more likely that such accidents would have occurred during snedding (limbing or removing side branches) after felling.  Storms would occasionally blow over hundreds of trees and John Michie would then be confronted with the problem of disposing of the thrown timber, whatever the then current state of the market for wood.  In December 1894, a storm brought down 1,000 trees at Birkhall and in the following year 1,140 trees were uprooted in the Garmaddie woods. 

Horses were employed to drag felled trees from their origin to a roadway where they could be loaded onto a wood wagon.  John Michie often hired horses and men from John Milne, the Braemar contractor, for this purpose.  Dragging was often aided by using a janker, a machine with two wheels at one end of a beam by which the leading end of a log could be raised off the ground to ease dragging.  Softness of ground sometimes required the building of a log roadway to extract the timber from the forest.  The heaviest trees were usually removed in frosty and icy conditions using a sledge, since they could then be dragged over the ground without sinking in.  Ideally such large logs, especially if they had lain on the ground for some time, would be raised on wedges and left to dry, perhaps losing half their weight to a point where one horse could cope, before the logs were moved.  A loading platform would be built alongside the roadway to ease loading the wood wagons.  The heavy wagons would often cause considerable damage to the forest roads on the journey down to the sawmills, sinking into the surface if it was not fully frozen.  On reaching the sawmill, logs would often be stacked for some time before being utilised and one man was employed to clean and de-bark logs before they entered the sawmill.

 

Sawmills

A number of sawmills served the needs of the Balmoral, Abergeldie and Birkhall estates.  They were originally powered by water wheels.  Subsequently, this source of motive power was replaced by water turbines, steam engines or oil engines.  Because of the original requirement for flowing water, most sawmills were located close to water courses, adjacent to major forests and near to a confluence with the Dee and the roads running close by.  Early in the 19^th century, some use was made of the river Dee to float log rafts down to sawmills in Aberdeen.  The Ordnance Survey 6in map series from the mid-1860s and from the early 1900s allow the identification of the sites of watermills on the Royal estates of Upper Deeside.  From west to east, they were as follows.

Lower Glen Beg (Ballochbuie), adjacent to the Ballochbuie forest.  A small sawmill was shown on the 1860s map situated close to the Dee.  This appears to have had inadequate capacity to handle the volume of fallen timber produced by the storm of late 1879, because a portable, steam-driven sawmill was installed in the spring of 1880 to handle this major task.  The sawmill was manufactured by Blaikies of Aberdeen, Ironfounders, Engineers and Boilermakers, who operated from premises at Footdee and the machinery was installed by John Ewen, master carpenter of Braemar.  The new equipment was commissioned and in operation before the arrival of John Michie at Balmoral in August 1880 and the working manager of the portable sawmill was John Wright, also from Braemar.  One initiative of the Head Wood Forester appears to have been the replacement of the temporary sawmill before 1884, a site further up Glen Beg than that of the original structure being chosen for the new buildings.  Their location can be clearly seen on the early 1900s Ordnance Survey map.  During 1884, the facilities were expanded by adding a saw bench for cross-cutting (presumably the other bench was for sawing trees lengthwise for beams, planking, etc.) and a shed with a fireplace for seasoning wood. The access road was improved at the same time.  By 1884, John Michie and his family were living in the recently constructed Dantzig Shiel, not far from the new sawing facilities.  On Friday 13 February 1903 (!), the Ballochbuie sawmill burnt down, and its steam engine was destroyed.  Presumably, the sawmill was rebuilt, bearing in mind the importance of the Ballochbuie as a source of quality timber.

Invergelder, close to the confluence of the Gelder burn with the Dee and serving the needs of the Garmaddie woods.  This sawmill was present and in the same position in both the 1860 series and the 1900 series OS maps.  In 1892 John Michie engaged a millwright from Ben Reid & Co “to renew mill spouting and sluices”, showing that at the time the mill was water-powered.  In the severe winter of 1895, the Gelder froze, depriving the sawmill of power.  In consequence, the men cutting up firewood for the Queen had to perform the work by hand crosscutting.  In early 1896, a portable sawmill was erected in the Garmaddie woods, to deal with a large number of blown trees there.  During February 1896, John Michie was informed of a dispute between the carters and the sawyers at Invergelder, the latter accusing the former of not placing new logs close enough to the mill benches.  John went down to investigate but found harmony now in evidence.  He diplomatically did not mention the dispute.  In 1897, with James Forbes in post as the new Commissioner, Michie and Forbes discussed using the power of the Gelder burn to generate electricity for the castle.  John Michie’s suggestion was to kill two birds with one stone.  “I made the suggestion that the motor should be a turbine and as well as driving a dynamo be utilised to drive the sawmill at Invergelder.  We meet to go over the place tomorrow to further discuss the matter on the ground.”  John Michie recorded that meeting too.  “Drove to Invergelder & met Mr Forbes by appointment at the sawmill and walked over the ground as far as the iron footbridge discussing the question of a turbine to drive a dynamo to light part of the Castle.  Afterwards Mr F W Massie, Pennington, Anderson, & myself went over the thing, and came to the conclusion that a turbine at the sawmill site driven by water taken from the weir at the water supply head for the Castle.  Anderson & I took the levels and found that the fall from the top of the weir to the top of the mill race immediately below the sluice is 66 ft odd inches and the distance 825 yards.”  Two turbines had been installed by June 1901.

Dalraddie, was located east of Abergeldie Castle and near to the Dee.  Though not marked as such on the OS maps, this property was a croft and sawmill, part of the Abergeldie estate and was leased out.  From at least 1885 to 1915, the tenant was George Gordon.  In 1904, John Michie “Walked on to Dalraddie and paid George Gordon for the Prince of Wales’ Sawing.” 

Bridgend, was found near Mill of Cosh on the Girnock burn.  Nothing is known about this sawmill.  The Mill of Cosh itself was a corn mill and also had a farm attached, which was tenanted in 1901 by Alexander McPherson.

The Knocks, was near Dallifour farm and served Dallifour wood.  This facility had been present since the 1860s.  In 1890, John Michie met with Alexander Profeit, Commissioner and James Anderson, Clerk of Works, to discuss the design of a new farm steading at the Knocks.  John Michie gave the opinion that the threshing mill to be installed should be powered by a turbine rather than by a water wheel or a steam engine but made no mention of a sawmill.  A year later Michie did refer to “the mill” at Knocks, which could have been the sawmill.  However, it is certainly known that most of the wood for the new steading at Knocks was sawn at the Mill of Sterin. 

Mill of Sterin was located on the river Muick.  This croft and sawmill belonged to the Birkhall estate but was leased out.  In 1891 the tenant was Charles Farquharson.  On a number of occasions, he was commissioned to cut up wood for works on the Birkhall estate and it seems likely that this sawmill was mostly used for timber preparation for the east end of the Royal Deeside estates.  After the death of Charles Farquharson in 1906, the new tenant was Charles Forbes, a joiner from Ballater.

Mill of Sterin

 

Balmoral trees and timber

After the leasing of the Ballochbuie in 1868, Queen Victoria gained rights to the timber produced there and this location became the major source of timber on the Balmoral estate and its sawmill was the major facility for preparing timber.  John Michie attended at this sawmill frequently (he practised “management by walking about”) and referred to it on most occasions simply as “the sawmill”, but it is likely that not every reference to “the sawmill” was a reference to the facility closest to the Dantzig.  Michie was a competent joiner himself and would often prepare wood for his own purposes.  At the time of construction of the chalet for the 1884 Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition, he often manufactured components with his own hands, for example, “22 February 1884.  At the sawmill all day preparing for the Exhibition Chalet by sawing scantlings and panels.”  Michie also supervised the work at the Invergelder sawmill, which was on his route from home to the castle.  “19 March 1884.  Rode down to Balmoral in the morning and gave men at Invergelder sawmill instructions regarding the cutting of a large quantity of parallel deal for R Gordon of Aberdeen.”  Gordon was a packing case manufacturer.  It is not clear which of the sawmills east of Balmoral Castle were in use to provide timber needed on the Abergeldie and Birkhall estates.  In 1891, a new steading was being constructed on the farm of Knocks on the Birkhall estate but the timber for this new building was from trees originating in the Garmaddie woods which, was sawn at “the sawmill”, which must either have been the Ballochbuie or the Invergelder facility.  However, wood for a manure court at the Knocks steading and for a new shed at Dorsincilly farm, both on the Birkhall estate, was sourced locally.

Trees available from the woods on the Royal estates were of various species.  All the trees sold from the Royal estates by John Michie, whether windblown of felled, had been planted long before his arrival there in 1880.  Planted trees were a minimum of 50 years old when utilised and naturally-seeded Scots pine could be 200 – 250 years old.  Timber from such venerable trees, which had grown slowly and therefore had dense wood, was much valued.  Trees most frequently employed by Michie in sawmilling were the European larch and the Scots pine.  Michie had a particular preference for the “Tyrolese” larch, a variety of the European larch from the South Tyrol in Austria.  Scots pine seeds were regularly collected in the Ballochbuie by Michie’s men and either germinated in the Balmoral tree nursery or sent to Ben Reid & Co in Aberdeen to be raised to one- or two-year seedlings.  John Michie tried many tree species for their suitability to Balmoral conditions and he gave his opinions in a lecture in1910 to the Agricultural Discussion Society connected with the North of Scotland College of Agriculture, held at Marischal College, Aberdeen.  The title of the talk was “Practical Forestry” and he made clear that he was not dealing with ornamental species for landscape effects, but with trees generating useful timber.  His opinion was that the tree most suited to the high-lying Scottish glens and hillsides was the Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga Douglasii), a North American native (and not a true fir).  Norway Spruce (Picea abies) was grown successfully on the continent but planted haphazardly in Scotland and had, as a result, got a poor reputation. The native Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) did fairly well in most situations in Scotland.  Native hardwoods, such as oak, beech and ash, were grown in small numbers on the estates and were occasionally harvested for special purposes.

Trees, wind-thrown or standing, were frequently sold by contract to Aberdeenshire timber merchants, who were then responsible for cutting and carting, often by a date specified in the contract.  Equally, fallen or standing trees might be sawn up to create various timber products at the sawmills on the estates.  The purpose could be to supply a specific estate project, to fulfil contracts from local craftsmen and merchants, or for stock and speculative sale.

Some of the finest Scots Pine timber from the Ballochbuie was bought by Allan and Sons of Aberdeen to manufacture furniture, pieces of which ended up, for example, in the dining room at Mar Lodge, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Fife.  Locally at Balmoral, Ballochbuie timber was used for panelling in the chapel added to the castle in 1886 and for the same purpose in the Dantzig Shiel in 1882, where it still survives.  Much experience was required in choosing trees for this purpose.  “It is a most difficult matter of choice among standing Scots fir to select trees in which you can depend on a few thoroughly clean boards of heartwood.  Those, as a whole, which I am most inclined to favour are rugged trees on the outside of clumps of old wood with a good head of foliage on the outside.  It is below the large branches the panels are procured, the wood being formed there clean & in double & sometimes triple quantity”.   The spruce pillars for the magnificent rustic portico installed at Birkhall in 1892 also came from the estate.  They were felled by James Duguid junior, one of John Michie’s wood squad and the actual logs to be used were then selected by the Balmoral wood forester.  The Queen subsequently decided that she wanted the portico covered by creepers.  John Michie sent over four evergreens in large pots for this purpose.   More mundane uses of local timber were for the construction or repair of bridges, such as the old suspension bridge at Crathie, building construction, repair or extension (New Garden Cottage, venison larder, eagle aviary, Braemar Gathering pavilions), cold frames for the Balmoral garden and the manufacture of such items as stone boxes, seed boxes, bloater boxes, venison boxes, plant boxes, boxes for transporting salmon and grouse, snow ploughs, sleighs for drawing wood in winter, ladders, telegraph poles and split pine torches for ceremonial use.  Sawn timber for external customers included beams, planks, scantings (small beams), large beams, fence posts, palings and railway sleepers, 6,000 of which were supplied to the Great North of Scotland Railway in 1896.  The New Garden Cottage was constructed in 1894 - 1895 and was characterised by an extensive veranda, the rustic posts for which were selected by John Michie.  All the wood for the new building came from the Balmoral Estate.  John Michie specified that – “The wood for this job must be of good quality:- well hearted, fairly clean, entirely free from loose or decayed knots and, that for finishing of fine grain”.  The cost was £224.  

The New Garden cottage

Timber objects manufactured at Balmoral

Amongst the products   to have been manufactured at Balmoral were telegraph poles, plant boxes, boxes for transporting salmon and grouse, ladders, scantlings, large beams, planking, fence posts, palings and pillars for rustic porticoes such as the magnificent structure installed at Birkhall in 1891.  

Birkhall portico

Firewood

Quite separately from the manufacture of structural timber, there was a major task each year for John Michie’s men in supplying firewood for the castle and all the estate houses.  Occasionally coal was imported to the estate, but most winter fuel was derived from locally grown wood.  In January 1891, John Michie had a squad in the Garmaddie woods felling dead trees for firewood, which was destined for “the Castle, farms, gardens, gamekeepers and cottagers”.   Birch trees were the main source of wood for logs and kindling, especially for the Queen, her courtiers and any important visitors.  Michie almost always referred to birch trees being “grubbed out” rather than felled, perhaps to prevent regeneration from the stool.  Other hardwoods, such as rowan, aspen and willow were occasionally used, when available.  Coniferous timber could not generally be utilised for the VIPs’ firewood because it burns explosively, though it was used to supply firewood to lesser mortals about the estate.  In cold winters, firewood demand could outstrip supply.  Michie noted that Royal firewood consumption was twice the anticipated rate in 1885 and Royal grumbles about damp logs occasionally reached Head Wood Forester’s ears.

 

Pinecones

The Ballochbuie was famed for its Scots pines and the quality of the timber they produced and, since “like begets like”, their cones were often collected as a source of seeds for germinating in the Balmoral nursery.  Bags of such pinecones were also dispatched to Ben Reid & Co in Aberdeen for seed extraction and Michie would, from time to time, swap such seed samples with foresters and gardeners on other grand estates.

 

Roads, rides and walks

John Michie did not have a formal role in the construction of estate roads, which was John Thomson’s bailiewick, but Michie certainly took some responsibility for their maintenance.  The Queen frequently visited two properties in wild locations near Loch Muick, AlltnaGiubhsaich and Glasalltshiel.  The access roads to these dwellings suffered from stones coming down from the adjacent hillsides, usually under the influence of heavy rain, which could make passage difficult for coach traffic.  To avoid the monarch suffering discomfort on her journeys in the area, John Michie paid a servant to walk the roads daily and remove any newly deposited stones.  More substantial road maintenance was also carried out by Michie on occasions, for example in March 1897, “Went to Birkhall in melting snow.  Workmen were obliged to suspend putting metal on low road in consequence of the storm, but I now consider the snow sufficiently gone to recommence tomorrow.  Instructed foremen and Emslie accordingly”.  John Michie was also responsible for creating rides through some of the estate woods.  In 1894, “… drove on to Birkhall and gave Duguid instructions to repair little piece of bad road between Birkhall stables and public road also to complete cutting rides on Dalyfour lower plantation lined by myself last spring”.

In early 1890, John Michie was preoccupied with the construction of a new walk, which had been instructed by Queen Victoria, through the Craiggowan birchwood.  The most difficult part, that adjacent to and above the eastern entrance to the Balmoral estate, was the last to be completed.  Many granite boulders had to be excavated but, Balmoral granite being white in colour, where the boulders were not covered in moss and leaf litter, their newly exposed parts looked bleached and were intrusive on the scene, so they had to be reburied requiring much labour.  The path also needed gravelling before use. “The gravel for surface was to be got only at long intervals and had to be wheeled considerable distances”.  A cairn of stones was erected by the side of the walk and landscape planting, bought from Ben Reid & Co, was added.   “Doing the rustic with large stones laying them with a face to the walk and filling up the joints between with soil in which to plant shrubs and ferns &c”.  John Michie referred to this new path as “Michie’s Walk” and installed a garden seat there, though that name appears no longer to be in use.  The Queen walked around it for the first time in early June.  She told Michie she was pleased with its construction.  Years earlier, a similar walk had been constructed at Craig Lourighan which led to the memorial to Prince Albert, the Prince Consort.  It too was kept in a tidy condition, bearing in mind that annually, on the Prince’s birthday, the Balmoral servants trooped to the top of the hill with the commissioner and others to remember the Prince, through brief speeches and the silent consumption of whisky.  In mid-May 1890, prior to the Queen’s arrival for her spring visit, John Michie, “Drove to Balmoral, round head of Craig Lourighan where my men have finished pruning & squaring up.  They are now engaged going over all the wood walks pruning.”

 

Bridges and bulwarking

A rapid thaw after heavy snow at the end of winter, or a rainstorm at any time of the year could cause the rivers and burns to fill rapidly, even to the extent of overtopping their banks.  Stones and other debris would wash down onto the roads and had to be cleared when they accumulated to any extent.  In other places road metal would be washed away.  Swollen rivers and burns also endangered bridges by undermining piers and abutments.  Bulwarks, constructed to protect roads or property from scouring by burns in flood could also be damaged.  The repair of bridges, roads and bulwarks was part of John Michie’s bailiwick.  In late August 1891, Michie went to inspect the damage to the Altnaderig bridge caused by “the terrific downfall of rain” two days previously.  “The bridge altho. still in position is completely engulfed or ingulphed in a large mass of stones & gravel, while the surface of the road is covered to a depth of from 1 to 3 feet for many yards on either side of the burn many tons having been hurled, with great force, across the road, some of it reaching the loch.  The bridge on the Clashbrottan walk over the Altnagiubhsaich has also been carried away, and the walk above the bridge rendered impassible for at least half a mile.”  Three weeks later, one of John Michie’s gangs, under foreman William Wilson, was hard at work repairing the damage and replacing the missing bridge.  Local larch trees were felled to supply its five main beams, which Michie personally set in place.  Two days later the project had been completed.  John Michie’s environmental plans were often rejected or ignored by Commissioner Alexander Profeit towards the end of his tenure.  Such was the case with a bulwark on the Gelder burn erected by John Thomson, as instructed by Profeit, in the summer of 1896.  It lasted a year before being swept away.  In the meantime, Dr Profeit had died in office and the new Commissioner, James Forbes, who was prepared to take John Michie’s advice, was confirmed in post.  At the end of July 1897, John Michie reported his plans for the replacement bulwark.  “At bulwark on the Gelder which I am doing on a much more simple plan than it was carried out by J Thomson.  He used shod piles, wood boarding and on the upper end a breast work of heavy stones which however were not founded lower than the ordinary level of the gravel margin of the stream.  The result is that the whole affair has been broken down by the floods & washed away except some of the big stones.   My scheme is to make a gentle curve to conduct the flood round the gravelly bed raising a very flat bank of brushwood and stones with gravel from excavation in broadening the course.”

There were many bridges on the Royal estates on Deeside and new ones were added from time to time, as new roads and paths were created.  The stock of bridges also needed regular inspection and maintenance, being mostly constructed from local wood.  In 1890 John Michie described one such inspection.  “Mr John Thomson came to my house by appointment to go round the bridges over streams on the drives in the Ballochbuie forest.  Took 2 men along to dig down at the ends of wooden beams for the purpose of examination.  Found them all safe in the meantime but came to the conclusion that they must be renewed next winter.”  John Michie was responsible for the manufacture of bridge components, for example, in 1891, “At sawmills where covering is being cut up for new bridge over Garrawalt above the Danzig.”  These simple bridges were probably constructed to standard designs tested by experience.  Later the same year Michie described another new bridge.  “Drove to Altnagiubhsaich taking Wilson, foreman along with me.  Arranged that James Stewart from Bualtschach would go with his two carts, and 3 men with one cart from Birkhall, the object being to erect a new bridge over the Altnaderig.  I walked up there took measurements returned to Altnagiubhsaich marked suitable larch timber had it felled and carted to the spot set the 5 main beams and made tracks for the Castle.”  John Michie also had his own practical test for structural integrity.  “Tested bridge over Altnour burn & found it perfectly rigid with a ton of wood on cart.”

 

Maintenance of sheds and fences, landscaping and odd jobs

There was a diversity of other tasks, not so far mentioned, undertaken by John Michie and the men under his command.  Construction and maintenance of wooden structures, such as sheds and fences attached to domestic buildings of the estate and their painting was one area of responsibility.  A good example was encountered in 1892.  “At sawmills with James Norrie and men who are reroofing outhouses at Connachat Cottage (C McIntosh's) and trimming creepers on walls of house.”  Paint was usually bought from the Ben Reid engineering department.  In March 1890, “Wrote Bonaccord Works for 100 yds wire netting, 1 pot dark green paints, 10 gals boiled linseed oil …”.  Michie’s men also scythed lawns and parks at various estate locations and the cuttings were turned into hay.  In September 1892, “Afternoon went to Bridge of Dee and found men coling some meadow hay and painting McKenzie's new shed.” 

Selling and accounting

John Michie had responsibility not just for growing and harvesting trees, and managing the estate sawmills, he was also responsible selling timber, whether standing or fallen, and the sawn products of his sawyers.  Financial accountancy relating to sawmill operations and contractors, maintenance of the equipment inventory and the purchase of replacement tools were also significant managerial and administrative burdens which landed on his desk.  Several Deeside timber merchants were frequent visitors to the Royal estates, sometimes at Michie’s request, if he had an urgent need to dispose of trees, for example after a major storm.  The wood merchants whom John Michie dealt with most often were George Duthie of Banchory, Mr Middleton of Aberdeen and Richard Grove of AG Paterson.  The last of these was often sourcing wood for the manufacture of railway sleepers.

 

Alcohol abuse

Alcohol was the cause of much ill-health and death on Upper Deeside.  It could cause short-term problems, such as the inability to work, or long-term health issues such as heart disease and cancer.  Accidents due to excess alcohol intake were commonplace.  A man called Alex Stewart got so drunk in March 1885 that he collapsed out of doors and lay there for two nights before being discovered.  He died as a result of his exposure.

Dinners and balls were always accompanied by much alcohol consumption, usually whisky or whisky toddy, and the immediate toll was the failure of men to turn up for work the next day.  In early February 1884, John Michie recorded a typical example of work absence.  “Rode down to Balmoral and paid some men at Invergelder.  Found that there had been a Ball called The Foresters at Balmoral Cottages and in consequence a good portion of the men were not at work”.  It was not just the labourers who acted in a careless fashion.  Later the same year, John Michie was giving instructions to his more senior staff prior to leaving for the Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition but found drunkenness thwarting his plans.  “Made rather unsatisfactory arrangements at Ballochbuie as the foreman sawmiller was somewhat worse for drink”.  John Michie tried to remonstrate with staff with drink problems.  In 1895, he found one of his Birkhall workmen, Lewis Grant, “somewhat intoxicated”.  A month later there was a repeat performance by Grant.  “Lewis Grant was in bed as the result of drinking.  Lectured him into promising to start work tomorrow”.  Michie showed on other occasions that he had his limits with regard to tolerating staff drunkenness.  Another sawyer, John Calder, had to take an absence from his job to answer a summons in Aberdeen “for being drunk and disorderly in Braemar”.  Michie fired him as he had already received a complaint concerning his behaviour from the Queen.  In 1890, another repeat offender, David McEwen, got his marching orders, too.

Eradicating drunkenness was impossible, given its pervasive penetration into the culture of the Highlands, the long-term addiction to drink by senior figures such as Dr Alexander Profeit and the tolerance of alcohol abuse amongst some of her favourite servants by the Queen.  Several of the Brown family in Royal service died or had their lives shortened as a result of excessive drinking, John Brown being the most prominent.  Francie Clark, John Brown’s cousin, died of cancer of the tongue and throat and Hugh Brown, John’s brother succumbed to alcoholic poisoning in 1896.  Victoria commanded her personal physician, Sir James Reid, to keep the cause of Hugh Brown’s death secret from the ladies and gentlemen of the Court.  Even Alexander Profeit sometimes found himself in the position of having to admonish servants for drunkenness.  John Michie, who did not personally appear to abuse drink, was thus placed in a difficult disciplinary situation.  In 1896, Michie had to deal with a shambles at the Ballochbuie sawmill, where he suspected that disruption of work had been caused by some staff taking whisky on the job.  The other sawmill at Invergelder suffered a similar outage at the same time.  Michie’s comments in his dairy were revealing.  “Rode to Invergelder and found things somewhat disorganized on account of Fraser the second sawyer having left abruptly.  The carters are stopped because of mill door being blocked while before they barely kept the saws going.  To repair this defect, I send James Wright from Ballochbuie tomorrow, but two days have been lost & carting disorganised & all this caused by a little monkey (whisky) who probably glories in his little power for evil.  However, the wise will bear”.

 

Accidents and Incidents

Untoward events were not unusual in the Aberdeenshire countryside of the late 19^th century.  Indeed, they were a commonplace and thus often seemed incapable of producing shock in the bystanders.  Observations by John Michie in his diary sometimes appeared to be matter-of-fact. The River Dee, the workplace, over-indulgence in alcohol and horse transport were most often the settings or background for such misfortunate occurrences.  A suicide in March 1885 brought forth such a comment.  “… we heard that John Grant's, Carter, wife drowned herself this morning in the Dee at Ballater”.  Another blunt and dispassionate response was that to hearing of the accidental death of distiller Henry Begg’s Tillyfour farm grieve who “got killed by sticking somehow on an upright paling” in 1886.

In March 1885, while attending church during a visit to his in-laws in Cullen, an old lady became suddenly ill in the pew behind where John was sitting “which raised panic”.  John Michie went to her aid.  “After having fallen backwards, she looked very deathlike, I carried her to the Vestry where she vomited a large quantity of blood.   But we hear she improves.”

Within a year of each other, both James Duguids (not related) employed by John Michie had suffered work-related injuries.  The junior member of the pair fell while hedge cutting and broke two ribs, while the other had the misfortune to be hit by a falling tree and suffered a similar injury.  The most frequent injuries suffered by men in John Michie’s work squads seemed to be due to careless wielding of the axe.  William Philip in 1894 managed to slice his left foot in this way “immediately behind the great toe joint”.  He was fortunate to be covered by an insurance policy taken out by the Balmoral Estate, which awarded him half pay until his return to work.  The same year Alick Munro sliced his thigh with an axe while preparing kindling.  Dr James Noble was called to close up the wound.  Occasionally, disagreements between workmen led to fights, as in 1897.  “To the Castle in the morning and went round men afterwards heard of a row which took place last afternoon between James Mitchell and Charles McPherson two of Thomson's men.  It is said the latter broke the former's nose & he has been discharged the other occupies his bed at "Cairn-na-Cuimhue". 

John Michie was himself the victim of a horse-related incident in April 1886 when returning home in his dog cart.  A flaw in the axle casting led to a sudden failure and John and Helen being ejected from the machine.  The horse bolted and “and was not intercepted till he reached the Nursery when D McEwan caught him”. In this instance neither horse nor humans suffered serious injury.  One of the Balmoral carpenters, James Smith, who was employed at the Castle, slipped while exiting his dogcart on Christmas Day 1893 and fell on his head or neck.  He only survived for a day before breathing his last.  Even members of the Royal Family were not protected from the operation of chance, though their steeds were carefully selected for calmness and surefootedness.  Princess Beatrice had an accident while out riding with Miss Byng in 1894.  John Michie gave an account of the incident.  “The Princess & Miss Byng rode and, unfortunately after they left here, below McIntosh's The Princess's grey mare came down with her.  Both were a little skinned but neither seriously damaged”.   

The introduction of the bicycle in the 1890s merely seemed to introduce more ways for foolhardy individuals to induce injury or even to terminate life.  In 1891, Peter Smith a 17-year-old farm servant was riding his bicycle, possibly with too much speed, down a steep hill along the track leading to the chain bridge at Crathie, when he lost control and was catapulted over the embankment, landing on stones.  He died the next day.

The officers of the Queen’s Guard of Honour, who lodged at Ballater Barracks, were granted the concession of freedom to fish the Dee on the Royal reaches.  One unfortunate man fell into Pool Vere, Birkhall, while exercising his privilege and was drowned.  Accidental drowning was occasionally the successor to an evening in the pub, as in 1892 when Invercauld gamekeeper John McArthur set out for home after time in the Inver Inn, Crathie.  He simply disappeared and though it was suspected that he had drowned, search parties, including John Michie, failed to find a body.  His decomposing corpse was finally discovered by fishermen downstream, near Ballater.  McArthur’s watch had stopped at 11.10, about an hour after his exit from the drinking house. The river Dee, which divides Crathie village from the Balmoral Estate, can be transformed from a shallow but rocky stream to a raging torrent many feet deep in a matter of hours after heavy rainfall.  It was an ever-present threat to all those who would use it for leisure or have a need to cross it.  Until the bridge, designed by Brunel, was constructed in 1857, the only bridge crossing close by was the Crathie suspension bridge, an old and flimsy structure which required periodic repair to keep it safe.  In 1885, an estate workman, David Edmonstone the foreman of John Thomson’s road gang, continued to use the structure, although it was undergoing repairs to its deck, despite repeated warnings from his workmates.  He fell into the river on his way home from work and was drowned.  The tragedy was compounded by the fact that he left behind a widow and four small children. 

Many people owned guns on Upper Deeside, especially shotguns and it is perhaps surprising that few accidents involving firearms were reported but, when such incidents did occur, they could be tragic in their consequences, since they often involved relatively young men.  Peter Geddes, a Braemar merchant was out shooting songbirds and foolishly climbed through a fence with his gun both cocked and in an upright position.  It discharged during his passage and took away part of the right side of his head.  Though he suffered heavy blood loss he did not expire immediately but hung on for a few days.

John Michie rarely gives a glimpse into his relationship with his wife, Helen, though she gave stability to his family life, looking after the children and the family home and providing the solid base from which John could pursue his duties.  She also had a key role in looking after Royal and other visitors to the Dantzig Shiel.  The remote location of this house meant that the Michies had to be largely self -sufficient and it was perhaps significant that one of the early items of domestic equipment bought for Helen by her husband was a Singer sewing machine in 1885.  Singer had established their main manufacturing base to Clydebank in 1882 and supplied the world from Scotland.  Although she suffered from some unspecified and apparently undiagnosable “condition” for much of their married life, the atmosphere between John and Helen seemed to be largely harmonious.  However, one domestic incident, which occurred in September 1894, led John Michie, clearly in a state of great anger, to record his thoughts as he had done on just a few other occasions when emotionally aroused.  “At home all day in a wretched state of mind having been much annoyed by the conduct of my wife who is determined to vex me.  I tell her that I will not have a certain kind of impertinence which is just what she will do and if I say words telling her that she must not make me use of them, with scrupulous care she will persist in using them.  When I put words into her mouth, she just takes equal care to avoid them indeed invent words and speak abominable falsehoods for the express purpose of vexing me so as to make me outrageous and when she has procured a slap then she rushes outside screaming I am killing her for she has previously villified me to her servants”.  This domestic stooshie occurred two years after the Michies’ child-bearing had been completed and may have been promoted by Helen’s emotions being disturbed by the menopause, as she was almost 40 at the time.

 

The death of James Bowman

James Bowman was born on the Invercauld estate in 1814, the son of a gamekeeper, John Bowman, who had charge of the Ballochbuie forest at the time when this tract was still part of the land belonging to the Farquharson family.  John Bowman and his wife, Margaret, had a family of 12, all but three being girls.  When son James reached working age, he became apprenticed as a gardener, but he returned to Invercauld as assistant keeper in the Ballochbuie under his father, when the latter’s health started to fail about 1837.  In 1848, when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert first stayed at Balmoral, James Bowman, then in his mid-30s, fit and athletic, made the acquaintance of the monarch and her spouse and acted as a guide when the Royal party first climbed Lochnagar on a miserable day plagued by low cloud.  In her journal, the Queen remarked, “Mr Bowman, Farquharson's Keeper & Mc Donald, who preceded us, looked like phantoms”.  Subsequently, James Bowman often accompanied the Queen and, especially, Prince Albert when Royal parties visited the Ballochbuie to stalk deer.  She was so impressed by Bowman’s physique that she had him included in the Highlander paintings that she commissioned from the artist, Kenneth Macleay, as a representative of the Farquharson clan (see “Queen Victoria and her favourite Scottish Servants” on this blogsite). 

James Bowman (left) and William Brown

When the monarch leased the Ballochbuie in 1868, James Bowman became her employee, continued to live in the Ballochbuie Lodge and to look after the game in the Ballochbuie forest. James Bowman never married.  His father, John, also lived at the Ballochbuie Lodge, as too did his sister, Jane, for a while.  Bowman senior endured to the remarkable age of 99, dying in 1866.  After his father’s death, James Bowman was looked after by a housekeeper, though occasionally a sister was found at the lodge too.  The Bowmans were neighbours of the Michie family and Elizabeth Bowman attended the baptism of Beatrice Michie in March 1885 at the Dantzig Shiel.  James Bowman retired in 1884 at the age of 70 but, in the fashion of retired Royal servants, he continued to reside in his estate cottage and John Michie still supplied him with firewood.  Bowman’s mobility had by then been impaired and he had become “unable to walk freely”.  Alexander Profeit, the Balmoral Commissioner at the time, visited James Bowman in early 1885 to give him information on his Royal pension.  The former Ballochbuie keeper had been in the habit of going out in the open air all his life and he continued to wander about the woods he knew so well, after most of a lifetime living there.  But his retirement, which should have been a period of leisure and enjoyment, ended in tragic circumstances in September 1885. 

Old Bridge of Dee lodge

 

On the morning of Tuesday, 8 September, James left his home with the intention of picking cranberries, according to one report, or, as suggested by another source, to visit an iron spring in Glen Beg, part of the Ballochbuie forest.  It is possible that both alleged plans were simultaneously correct.  On his way home, at about 3.00pm, Bowman passed an area of replanting which was protected by a high wire fence from the predations of deer on the young trees.  This spot was half-way between the Bridge of Dee, where Bowman’s house was located and the Dantzig Shiel.  Inside the enclosure he saw some white heather growing.  This variant was thought to bring luck but was quite rare in the wild.  James Bowman attempted to climb the fence to collect some of the desirable plant, which was when the accident happened.  Deer fences have to be about six ft high to defeat the agility of these spring-heeled native herbivores.  Such fences are usually constructed by using six or more equally spaced, tensioned steel wires on posts.  John Michie described a similar rabbit- and deer-proof fence in 1890.  “The fence to be wood & wire - 7 wires and wire netting 3 ft wide 1½ mesh.”   Climbing such a barrier would be risky for a young, healthy person but, for a lame 71-year-old, it was foolhardy.  During his climb, James Bowman’s right foot slipped off the 3^rd wire from the top (about four feet above the ground) and passed behind the fourth wire from the top (about halfway up the six-foot fence).  His body fell backwards to the ground, twisting the third wire to the top of his right leg and the fourth wire to the bottom, thus trapping his limb in a vice-like grip, the unfortunate keeper’s head lying on the ground amongst the heather.  It is difficult to envisage any means by which Bowman could have escaped this entrapment through his own agency.  Rather than bring good fortune to James Bowman, the mutant heather plant was, indirectly, the agent of his miserable demise.

James Bowman remained an open-air prisoner until the following day, Wednesday 9 September, through what appears to have been a cold night.  He must have yelled out for help and appeared to have been heard by John Michie’s children, but they took the noise to be a dog barking.  It was not until 11.00am that he was found by his sister, Elizabeth, who was unable to release him.  Andrew Lamont, a post-boy working at the Fife Arms, Braemar was at that time driving a carriage with tourists up the Ballochbuie to view the spectacular Falls of Garravalt, over which Queen Victoria had caused an elegant iron bridge to be built.  He was alerted to the crisis and released James Bowman from his entanglement.  Bowman had been trapped for about 20 hours and was still alive when discovered but was suffering from exposure.  (Two days later John Michie recorded a night-time temperature of 27.5 degrees F (-2.5 degrees C) at the Dantzig Shiel.)  Lamont offered to transport James Bowman to his home, but the offer was declined.  Somehow his sister got him home and sent a message to Dr Profeit, who immediately attended the injured man.  James Bowman was able to explain that after getting caught in the fence he struggled to free himself but became exhausted and was forced to wait for rescue.  John Michie heard of the accident on Wednesday afternoon when he returned to the Dantzig Shiel about 2.30pm.  He went to see James Bowman about 6.00pm and found him barely conscious.  “He knew me and spoke several words legible but then failed to articulate”.  James Bowman died at about 6.55pm.  Elizabeth Bowman was present at the end and she registered James’ death with William Michie, the Crathie Registrar.  Alexander Profeit gave the cause of death as “Exposure 1 day”.

The following day, Thursday 10, John Michie drove to the Bowmans’ cottage to view James’ remains, taking William Brown, John Brown’s brother, with him. In the afternoon, Queen Victoria drove out to the old Bridge of Dee and took her tea there, al fresco.  She then drove towards the Dantzig Shiel and encountered John Michie whom she had arranged to meet at the site of the incident.   Michie explained to the monarch how he thought the accident had occurred, including the quest for white heather.  At Queen Victoria’s request, John Michie gathered “a sprig or two” of the allegedly lucky plant for her.  The Queen’s comment in her journal that night was, “Too shocking!  He must have lain there 19 hours!  And it is a wonder he was not dead.”  On the evening of Friday 11 September, the Michies received more Royal visitors at the Dantzig Shiel.  “In the evening the Princess Beatrice (Battenberg) Prince Henry of Battenberg & Christian Victor, & the Hereditary Gr Duke of Hesse called.  I had to go and show them where poor Bowman was found entangled in the wire fence, after which the Queen drove up to the spot with the Duchess of Albany.  They remained some time and the Queen proposed to build a small cairn at the spot.”

The funeral of the former Ballochbuie keeper was held on Monday 14 September, the service, which was held at the Bowmans’ cottage, was conducted by Rev Campbell.  John Michie had been busy at the castle but walked up the North Deeside Road to meet the cortege coming down to the Crathie churchyard.  John anticipated that the funeral procession would be rather late departing, as was the local custom, but on this occasion, he was caught out by its unexpected punctuality and he joined halfway along the road.  There were 11 carriages in the procession, including that of the Queen, who was accompanied by Princess Beatrice and Princess Frederica of Hanover.  The Royal vehicle had joined the rear of the procession for the latter part of its journey.  Alexander Haldane Farquharson and Gordon Foggo from Invercauld also attended, James Bowman having originally been an Invercauld servant.  The Queen and Princess Beatrice had each sent a wreath to the Bowmans’ cottage on the morning of the funeral and these were placed on the coffin.  There was a large attendance at the Crathie graveyard, including most of the gamekeepers and servants on the Royal estates.  However, the Queen did not leave her carriage, which remained at the churchyard gate, though the monarch waited until the obsequies were complete before returning to the castle.  On 25 September, “The Queen, Prince & Princess Henry of Battenberg, the Duchess of Albany and the Duke of Connaught came to Danzig for lunch.  Mr Anderson came up bringing with him the stone with inscription, which we placed at the spot where poor James Bowman was found entangled in the deer fence.”  It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the shocking nature of James Bowman’s passing made him, for a few days, more famous in death than he had ever been in life.  Queen Victoria had another commemorative plaque placed in the wall of the Crathie churchyard.  

James Bowman Ballochbuie memorial

James Bowman Crathie memorial   

    

 

The Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition

Industrial exhibitions received a major impetus from the Great Exhibition in 1851, which was the brain-child of Prince Albert, the Prince Consort.  Subsequently, exhibitions were mounted in many industrialised countries and covered multiple specialised aspects of arts and manufactures.  A meeting of the Scottish Arboricultural Society in 1882 conceived the idea of holding an exhibition in Scotland devoted to objects connected to forestry.  The idea was taken up enthusiastically, with the aim of generating funds which could then be devoted to establishing a School of Forestry in Scotland, the part of the British Isles which was most prominent in the production of wood.  At the time, there was no formal professional forestry training available in Britain.  Guarantors were sought to underwrite the costs of the project, CY Michie, John Michie’s mentor, being one of them.  A joint committee was established with the Highland and Agricultural Society to plan the event.  Her Majesty the Queen consented to become a patron and essays, reports and demonstrations on forest subjects were solicited both from Britain and abroad, but especially from India which was a major source of woods for the British economy.  A site at Donaldson’s Hospital, Edinburgh was chosen for the venue and a major new wooden building, 640ft long, was designed to house the event.  The Exhibition opened on 1 July 1884.

Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition 1884

Given the monarch’s involvement as chief patron of the exhibition, it was inevitable that her Head Forester and the Balmoral estates would be contributors.  The decision was taken to manufacture a Swiss-style chalet at Balmoral for transport to Edinburgh and reconstruction on site.  Wood samples were also sent from Deeside.  John Michie, with his personal interest in mosses, undertook to exhibit a collection of this phylum of plants growing in the Balmoral forests.  Michie was recruited as a juror to evaluate the various classes of exhibits and to award commemorative medals. This was a major opportunity for John Michie to demonstrate his wood forester capabilities to his employer.

The structural elements of the chalet were to be constructed from a single Scots Pine and early in January 1884, John Michie selected what he thought was a suitable specimen and employed his men in lopping branches prior to felling.  However, when the saw was part-way through the trunk it was found that there was a liquid-filled cavity in the centre.  Another specimen had to be chosen and this one proved to be sound, but it was very heavy, and it was necessary to raise it on wedges to allow it to dry off to some extent to reduce its weight.  Dr Profeit, the Balmoral Commissioner, started to take an interest in the project and proposed construction at the Iron Ballroom.  John Michie was responsible himself for some of the sawmilling work and he also designed some of the items of wooden furniture to go inside the chalet.

On 4 June 1884, the Queen took tea at the Dantzig Shiel, after which John Michie conducted her to the sawmill, “where there is a beautiful show of timber, & where Michie showed us splendid specimens of the trees which are to be sent to the Forestry Exhibition in Edinburgh.”  John Michie noted in his diary, “The Queen came up to tea and wished to see the logs.  I showed Her Majesty round and explained the different intentions.”  The Queen was sufficiently interested in the progress of the forestry exhibits to request a second visit to the sawmill after drinking tea with the Michies on 16 June.  She also asked to see the chalet before it was despatched to Edinburgh.

John Milne, the Braemar carrier, was engaged to take the chalet components and other exhibits from Balmoral to Ballater station, where John Michie supervised the loading into a railway wagon.  Michie, James Anderson and a workman called Murray, whom the head forester later found to be lazy, travelled to Edinburgh on 23 June to put together the Balmoral exhibition display.  The chalet, its walls decorated with a covering of moss, was ready in time.  The exhibition was opened by the Marquis of Lothian on 1 July.  One newspaper described the Queen’s exhibit as “by far the most elegant” and more than half a million people visited the exhibition during the three months that it was open. 

John Michie found his work as a juror exhausting because of the number and variety of exhibits to be considered.  On 31 July, John summed up progress in the judging, “Three Gold medals are awarded and at present 14 Silver, with a large quantity of Bronze and Diplomas, Highly Commended, &c”.  The Queen was awarded a gold medal, through John Michie, for her exhibits.  John had spent much of his time evaluating Class IX. Economic Forestry – Economic conditions of foresters and woodmen.  There were many high-profile visitors to the exhibition, including the Prince of Wales and Dr Profeit.  John Michie personally received a bronze medal for his work as a juror.

When the exhibition was over, the chalet would be returned to Balmoral and consideration needed to be given to finding it a semi-permanent home.  Dr Profeit chose a site northwest of the castle and half-way to the Dee.  It was the end of October before the task of re-erecting the chalet was complete.  Some of the exhibits - four large logs and two specimens of soils, as well as some fungi – were presented to the proposed Forestry Museum on behalf of the Queen.

 

John Michie as expert witness  

By the late 1890s, John Michie’s status as a forester had risen to the point where he was asked by other estates to act for them in the capacity of an expert witness.  In 1897 he was contacted by Donald Robinson, forester to the Duke of Sutherland of Dunrobin Castle, Golspie, who was in dispute with a wood merchant, James McKenzie.  Before taking on this role, John Michie had to gain the consent of his employer and this was sought on Michie’s behalf by James Forbes, then the Balmoral Commissioner.  Sir Fleetwood Edwards confirmed that there was no objection, though the matter had actually been taken to Queen Victoria.  The dispute concerned a bargain for the clearance of some timber thrown by the gale of 17 November 1893, which had not been completed according to contract, resulting in an increase in insect attacks on the trees left standing.  John Michie was due to travel to Dunrobin on 25 May 1897 but had to postpone his journey due to the sudden death of a young daughter of the Dunrobin forester.  When he finally made his inspection, he “found the damage to standing trees complained of far beyond anything ever seen in extent by the pine beetle propagated in the blown timber and this applies wherever blown timber has been left on the ground to any extent”.

The case was heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in July 1897.  “I was then called in the afternoon for three quarters of an hour and followed by Mr Scott, as expert witnesses.  Mr Mackay Law Agent of McPherson & Mackay shook hands with me expressing congratulation on my appearance as a witness as did several others.  This I consider hardly deserved as I had some difficulty with several of the questions put by Mr Constable, one of the cross questioners, the junior counsel, but wound up very well I think and to the satisfaction of Lord Kyllachy.  Mr Scott followed but was not detained so long.  He however gave evidence entirely corroborative of mine and the matter so far as we were concerned was on the whole satisfactory”. 

In 1901, John Michie was commissioned by Charles Ruxton of Messrs C.&P.H. Chalmers, Advocates, Aberdeen, to report on the state of some woodlands at Knock, which he found to be a routine task.  On another occasion, John Michie was asked by friends to mediate in a dispute between them.  Richard Grove, the wood merchant and John Milne, the Braemar contractor had got to the point of instructing lawyers in their dispute, when common sense prevailed and they asked for Michie’s evaluation, each clearly confident in Michie’s probity and judgement.  Michie reported, “Went up to Braemar in evening … a settlement was made”.  At the end of his period as head forester at Balmoral, John Michie had earned a substantial reputation as a forester.

 

 

Balmoral weather

A meteorological observatory was established at Braemar in or before 1855.  Prince Albert gifted a fine set of instruments to the new observatory, which was housed in a louvred building provided by Mr Farquharson of Invercauld.  This structure still exists and stands near the entrance to the village, opposite the Royal Bank of Scotland branch.  James Aitken, manager of the Union Bank, Braemar, who was also a local JP, sometime member of the School Board and a keen member of the Braemar Curling Club, was the person first appointed to record and maintain atmospheric readings for the village.  James was well known to John Michie and frequently contested the “roaring game” on the Braemar pond both with him and with Alexander Profeit.  Their interactions extended beyond a mutual obsession with curling.  In January 1895, John Michie recorded giving James Aitken “a read of the meteorological papers I have from Germany”, shortly after the former had returned from Coburg.  The Braemar bank manager was employed on another occasion to write the will of old Mr McKenzie, a long-standing Balmoral retainer, who lived at the western lodge near the Old Bridge of Dee. His fee for this service was half a guinea.  Mr and Mrs Aitken also called at the Dantzig Shiel to congratulate John Michie on his appointment to the factorship at Balmoral in August 1901.  However, Michie and Aitken mostly met through their contemporary membership of the School Board for Crathie and Braemar, which extended over many years. 

Braemar Meteorological station (on right)

James Aitken continued in his observer role for just over 50 years, retiring at the end of 1905.  No one could be found in Braemar at that time to continue the task of meteorologist, so James Aitken removed the rain gauge to his own garden nearby and kept up his observations on precipitation levels until his death in April 1908. The rest of the instruments were transferred to a replacement station at Balmoral.  On 17 January 1906, John Michie “Arranged with Mr John N Troup, Gardener to get the Braemar Meteorological Instruments from Braemar moved to the Balmoral Gardens as early as possible.”  Michie recorded this transfer on 29 January 1906.  “Mr James Aitken Agent of the Bank (Union) at Braemar for 50 years has given up the matter.  Came down with the instruments by arrangement.  These instruments were originally supplied by Prince Albert (Consort) and kept up by the late Queen Victoria.  It has been arranged that observations will now be made at the Balmoral Gardens as no one can be found at Braemar to carry them on.”  It is not clear who read the instruments on a daily basis, but it may well have been the head gardener.  After Aitken’s retirement, John kept in touch with the former bank official and his wife, though he noted on visiting in January 1907, “Called on Mr & Mrs Aitken who show age since the former retired from the Bank last spring.”  Before the end of 1914, King George V commanded monthly accounts on rainfall at Balmoral, Sandringham and Windsor.  The responsibility for the Balmoral reports fell to John Michie as Factor, which he presumably compiled using observations made from the instruments in the Balmoral gardens.  This monthly reporting continued until Michie left office in the summer of 1919. 

James Aitken memorial, Braemar

 

John Michie gave no indication in his diaries that he was responsible for reading the meteorological instruments at the gardens.  However, he did comment extensively on the weather at Balmoral, or the consequential road conditions.  On about half of the days when he made an entry in his diaries while he was Head Forester, he included such remarks.  This apparent obsession with meteorological matters declined slightly but significantly, both in frequency and length of comments, in his subsequent role as Factor, but it should be born in mind that virtually all outdoor activities on Upper Deeside could be disrupted by environmental phenomena.  This was especially so with regard to extreme rain, snow and drifting, ice-bound roads, frozen rivers and high winds.  Summer droughts and high temperatures also had negative consequences for running an agricultural and sporting estate.  Occasionally, the weather conditions moved Michie to use poetic language in his descriptions, for example, on 20 January 1893, “Snow on the ground this morning again and a terrific wind sending finely divided snowy particles into whirling madness.”

The Head Forester did have access to a barometer and a thermometer at the Dantzig Shiel, in addition to the instruments at the Balmoral gardens, though he seldom reported numerically on atmospheric pressure, and his quantitative references to temperature were always to degrees of frost (Fahrenheit) and not to temperature as such.  Thus, although John Michie’s comments did not amount to a formal record of the Balmoral weather, lacking both consistent quantitation and standardisation, they do give a good insight into living and working conditions out of doors on Upper Deeside in the twenty years either side of the junction of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. 

An analysis of word frequencies in the Michie weather observations gives a good indication of the weather phenomena which commanded his attention most often.  Words associated with precipitation, both wet and dry, such as snow, slush, blizzard, drift, frost, rain and flood, accounted for 1,892 individual citations.  On the other hand, words associated with warm, dry or settled weather exhibited a count of 1,487.  The score for wind-associated words was 658, for humidity the count was 63 and for unsettled conditions, 100.  Individual reports illustrate the range of John Michie’s views and the resulting impacts upon his work on the Balmoral estate. 

A perusal of John Michie’s weather observations quickly leaves the impression that the weather at Balmoral could be very variable at all seasons of the year.  Also, that extreme weather conditions might occur at any time.  A good example comes from January 1884.  From Sunday 13, the weather was fine and mild for six days, generating such comments as, “Weather really marvellous for the season. Quite mild and sun shiny.”, “Thursday 17 January.  Weather wonderfully mild.  No frost, no snow, no rain.”.  But this was quickly followed on 20 January by “Weather very stormy from South West”.  Michie’s remarks continued in the same vein for the next week.  “Wednesday 23 January.  The weather came on very stormy in the morning and soft snow fell freely up to 4 pm, 3 inches on ground.”  “Saturday 26 January.  Hard frost last night with a clear sky up to noon today when wind suddenly rose from sou east and snow came on blowing a hurricane of drift.”  “Sunday 27 January.  This day continued throughout as it dawned a raving with, I think, the thickest drift I have ever seen.”  Just as warm weather could occur in January, snow could fall in July.  On 8 July 1890, John Michie recorded, “A circumstance of meteorological interest occurred last night the result of which lay on the ground today in the form of 3 to 4 inches of snow.”

The direct and indirect impacts of the weather on the commercial forests at Balmoral were a major concern for John Michie during his time as Head Wood Forester.  Unseasonal frosts could damage the growing shoots, as happened in June 1881.  Snow wreaths (drifts) over enclosure fences allowed deer to gain access to young trees and the freezing over of the Dee gave rabbits a route into the Balmoral estate from the north bank.  In February 1895, John Michie had to contend with such a situation.  “The woods foreman W Wilson came up in response to my message sent him last night.  Gave him instructions to go round the plantation fences about the grounds with men and dig away banks of snow so as to prevent ingress of deer & other destroyers of young trees.”    Protracted frosts and lying snow deprived the “nibblers” of access to their usual food and, in desperation they turned to last resort food substitutes.  In February 1886, John Michie wrote, “Went round by Bridge of Dee and found several hardwood trees badly barked by rabbits of which numbers are hopping about the roadsides all day long in search of food.  They are evidently dying of starvation from the severe and protracted storm.”.  Deer too became desperate for nutrition and both to protect the trees and to rescue the deer, artificial feeding was instituted in the most severe winters.  In January 1892, John Michie noted, “The keepers began yesterday to feed the deer because of the heavy storm.”  Three years later, more severe winter storms caused a similar situation.  “The deer as well as all other wild creatures are very badly off.  The former are being fed but notwithstanding are dying.  I saw a stag about his last.”  Estate managers bought hay and even locust beans as supplemental feed for their deer.

Wind also posed a severe threat to the Balmoral forests, especially in the Garmaddie Woods and the Ballochbuie Forest.  In November 1893, “the greatest storm of wind since the 6th of March 1883 passed over this quarter uprooting and splintering many trees and doing other species of damage.  It came from the north with an inclination to the east and was accompanied first by soft snow and then dry causing blinding drift.  As the snow hardened it froze to the trees thus making them heavier and producing a greater surface to the wind.  I never saw so large a proportion of trees broken & splintered as the result of a gale.”  About two weeks later Michie was able to estimate the extent of the damage caused by the storm at 2,200 trees broken or toppled.  Just over a year later another storm swept over Upper Deeside causing a great deal of damage.  Michie noted, “I am persuaded the strength of wind is greater than that memorable gale of the night of 17th November 1893.”  About 1,000 trees had been lost on the Birkhall estate, whereas the previous year Birkhall was little affected.  Landowners responded to such tree-toppling events by trying to sell on the blown timber to wood merchants, but the sudden appearance of so much timber on the market caused a severe depression in prices, or even an inability to sell at all.  John Michie tried to offload his blown timber to Richard Grove of wood merchants A & G Paterson, one of his regular customers, the following year.  Grove was not in a position to help since “their hands are pretty full with blown timber, he (Grove) having brought no fewer than 50,000 trees since Whitsunday last.”

Not all the effects of hard, frosty weather were detrimental to forest operations.  On 15 January 1885, John Michie recorded, “Weather very frosty and a small addition to the snow which is about 9 in. deep.”  The following day he further wrote that, “This weather is suitable for removing large trees from great distances out the hill to the sawmill and we find the best mode of doing this is to leave the logs (to dry out) long enough to be as much as a horse can sleigh and once attached proceed streight to the mill.”

Upper Deeside did not contain much arable land, what there was being on the haughs in the river valley.  Cereal growing (mostly oats with some bear – a form of barley), even in a favourable season was only marginally successful.  It was rare for harvest operations to be completed before the end of September and it was often a month or more later.  Adverse weather could disrupt growth, harvesting and leading of the cereal crops.  In 1890, the weather was good for the harvest but even so, it was the middle of September before operations began and the middle of October before the crop was safely in the stackyards.  The situation was quite different two years later.  John Michie wrote on 31 August, “A continuous day of rain and wind from the east.  Cereal crops are scarcely begun to turn from summer green.  The harvest is bound to be a very late one.”  Indeed, the harvest was both late and poor that year.  John Michie attended Crathie Church on 20 November after the harvest had been completed.  The minister, Mr Campbell, took an apposite biblical text on which to base his sermon, which dealt with the deficiency and quality of the corn.  “Yesterday attended church when Mr Campbell preached from the Book of Haggai I chap. at the 9th verse "Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little".  The sermon was one which had special reference to the late harvest, which, on account of unusually bad autumn weather is perhaps the worst in my memory.  Indeed, the whole summer has been wet but there was promise of heavy crops, and, had the autumn been fine there would have been an abundant harvest but instead of that severe frost on the 21st & 22nd September there took place severe frosts which paralyzed the still green corn, then came almost continuous rain which rotted the sheaves.  Some of it is still on the fields while the bulk of the stacks are in a heating condition.”  It is unlikely that the tenant farmers on the Royal estates took much comfort from the minister’s preaching.

Similarly, the hay crop on Upper Deeside was easily affected by inclement weather.  The practice in the late 19^th century in Scotland was to scythe the hay crop, turn it several times and then pile it and re-pile into small stooks, or stacks, called coles and then into larger, compacted stacks, called tramp coles.  Stacking the crop before it was sufficiently free of moisture encouraged microbiological spoiling, heating and even self-combustion.  The accompanying photograph of The Croft, the Head Keeper’s house on the Balmoral estate shows coles of hay on the ground surrounding the building.  In late August 1890, John Michie noted that, “much of the hay crop remains unsecured.”  The weather had been mostly wet during the previous month and in August the following year, “Hay still in cole on account of showery weather.”  The following year the weather was also troublesome at the time of hay-making.  “Tuesday 8 September.  Sent men to turn some hay once more the day being fairly good.  This hay was cut about a month ago and on account of bad weather has not been got into tramp cole yet.”  Two days later John Michie succeeded in securing his hay crop “after so much trouble with it on account of the protracted wet weather.”  On the other hand, a very dry summer, such as that of 1915, was also bad for the hay crop.  “Saturday 26 June.  Rain came on gently and is doing great good to the parched crops.  But the hay crop is very poor, and past being much benefitted by moisture.”  Interestingly, a parched spell in June 1893 led the Rev Campbell to petition the Almighty on Sunday 18^th to send rain.  It came, but only briefly, the same evening.  It is to be wondered if Rev Campbell believed that his entreaty to the Lord had been answered.  

The Croft, Balmoral  

Although the Macintosh waterproof coat was invented, by Glaswegian, Charles Macintosh in 1824, waterproof clothing and boots suitable for hard physical work out of doors do not seem to have been available to John Michie and his labouring gangs.  On several occasions, he records outdoor work having to stop due to the weather.  In September 1890 he wrote, “With workmen at fencing on Danzig haugh but the weather broke down which put all indoors with soaked clothes.”  The inadequacy of his own footware was brought home to the Head Wood Forester in December 1886.  “… went the round of Glen Beg on foot in the semiliquid snow the leather of my boots at the journey's end having more the appearance of saturated brown paper than well-tanned leather”.  It was not only wet weather that interrupted outdoor work.  High winds, deep snow, inaccessible roads and spindrift could all halt open air labour.  In December 1890 John Michie described deep snow and wind-blown ice while out game beating.  “The weather was bad, there being on the moor ground over which we beat 6 to 9 inches of snow, and loose as it was a strongish breeze from the east kept part of it whizzing along the surface like dust in the blast of a fan which is known here in rustic as "zird drift" or "hog reek".  The unpredictable weather could easily disrupt John Michie’s planned work programme, for example, curtailing preparations for the arrival of Queen Victoria in May 1894.  The standard alternative to outdoor work when weather conditions were bad in winter was to bring men indoors at the sawmill sheds and deploy them at cutting up firewood for the castle, this fuel being required in large quantities.  In the extreme winter of 1894 - 1895, this strategy was in place but, “the stock of logs being almost exhausted work must soon come to a standstill if this greatest of all snowstorms does not dissolve early”.  Any break in work at the sawmills in winter could bring its own problems.  New Year 1895 was celebrated by the Balmoral labourers in the traditional Scottish fashion but when they returned to work, they found that, “the place is a good deal snowed up and will cost a considerable amount of labour to put matters right”.

Both commercial and private traffic was regularly disrupted by heavy snowfalls during winter on Upper Deeside.   John Michie was responsible for clearing, or making usable, the estate roads but he also got involved in the treatment of the main public roads between Braemar and Ballater on the north bank of the Dee, and the South Deeside road running east from Crathie.  Sunday 24 January 1886 was blighted by constant snowfall, reason enough for John Michie to give church a miss.  Commenting on the conditions, John wrote, “This morning there lies on the ground about 18 inches of fresh snow which has effectually blocked the roads, including the main one between Braemar & Ballater, except to the postman who runs a sledge with a pair tandem.”  Michie was not an idle man, nor did he lack resourcefulness.  In response to the circumstances he, “Made a snowplough & succeeded in clearing about mill house to bridge (Ballochbuie sawmill to Ballochbuie bridge).”  This horse-drawn snowplough saw service until January 1895 when, “… while attempting to clear the middle drive of snow the plough which I made 12 or 13 years since went to pieces, so set about making another today which completed by noon and afterwards cleared the middle drive for wood traffic.”  Wheeled transport quickly became bogged down in deep, fresh snow and it was not just the postman who resorted to using a sleigh.  The Head Wood Forester used vehicles with runners frequently, both on the estate and when using the public roads.  On 1 January 1895, John Michie was travelling back to the Dantzig Shiel from Cullen, where he had been visiting his in-laws, when he, “got stormsted (Michie neologism!) at Ballater remained at the hotel, and with some difficulty reached Balmoral Castle by sleigh on hire where met my own sleigh & man”.  Fresh snow tamped down by sledges made a passable running surface and even where deep drifts were encountered, they could often be by-passed by taking to the fields.  The road from Ballater to Braemar was regularly rendered impassable at two locations, the Darroch brae just to the west of Ballater and the exposed stretch of road adjacent to Braemar Castle. Five days after his difficult journey back from Cullen, John Michie took his wife to Braemar by sleigh, after first sending his snow plough along the road.  When Michie reached Braemar Castle he found that, “Opposite the castle park the snow was so deep as to be impassable to anything, as no casting has been attempted traffic has been commenced through the park by the plough having cleared a track from gate to gate.”  Three months later this diversion was still in use.  In addition to employing sleighs and driving horses in tandem to allow one to pass over the tracks of the other, another stratagem was to have a horse’s hooves “sharped” or “roughshod”, each of which gave the animals more grip on icy surfaces.  Soft snow (the kind which is good for making snowmen) would often ball under the horses’ hooves making the use of dogcarts and carriages difficult.  When a thaw came and deep snow turned to slush it became rutted and the depressions would often freeze overnight, the resulting surface becoming very uneven and creating a risk of breaking the runners of sledges.  It was mid-March in the severe winter of 1895 before John Michie could pronounce the storm over.  “Thawing still goes on and the snow is now fast reducing, and sledges are being put aside for the first time since the year came in”.  By 1919 motorbuses were travelling between Ballater and Braemar and when deep snow fell, chains were attached to their tyres to improve grip.  Estate roads were not constructed to very high standards and often lacked road metal.  In thawing conditions they often became soft and both hooves and wheels would sink into the surface.  On 24 January 1893, John Michie, “Went up Glenbeg this morning finding roads very sinky with men carting on them.”  Log roads were sometimes created to allow passage over boggy ground.  When, in the late 19^th century traction engines started to be used for hauling trees, the estate roads became badly cut up, especially when the structure of the track was saturated with water.  Road repairs and upgrades were usually accomplished by breaking extra road metal using locally sourced granite, but heavy frosts could disrupt the preparation of road stone.  In December 1886, John Michie described such an interruption.  “They (Michie’s road squad) had abandoned the collecting of stones in Glen Muick the previous day on account of the stormy state of the weather and hardness of frost preventing the stones splitting, indeed every stone was encased in a covering of ice and when this is the case the hammer glances off the concrete covering of moisture while the stone itself remains unharmed by the stroke.”

After the railway reached Ballater in 1866, most long-distance travel from Balmoral was achieved using the Deeside railway line.  In bad winter weather it was a more reliable means of reaching the outside world than using horse-drawn transport either to Aberdeen or through Braemar and southwards through Glenshee.  In late December 1894, John Michie visited his wife’s family, who farmed near Cullen, Banffshire, travelling mainly by rail.  He returned on New Year’s Eve, expecting to reach the Dantzig that same day.  John was to be disappointed.  “Set out for Aberdeen this morning never dreaming that the railways would be blocked by snow which they turned to be everywhere but in the Cullen district.  Instead of getting to Aberdeen before 10 am, 5 minutes to 5 saw the first train by which I travelled pull up at the joint station.  Knock & Glenbarrie localities were the worst in snowing up.  Continued my travel to Ballater where arrived at 8.20, over an hour late, but could get no further this night anxious altho. I was to be home to see the New Year in.”  Occasionally, heavy drifting on the Deeside line caused substantial disruption.  On 27 December 1906 two trains got stuck between the villages of Lumphanan and Torphins, where the line loops to the north to avoid Kincardine O’Neil.  It was four days before they were released from their confinement.

Opportunity was taken during the winter months to fill the ice cellars at both Balmoral and Abergeldie for use during the rest of the year.  Usually, this task was easily accomplished but, occasionally, Balmoral would experience a cold and frosty winter which lacked large snowfalls.  Nineteen eleven was such a year.  Towards the end of February of that year, John Michie remarked, “Weather cold but free of snow.  There have been got only 32 loads of ice for the well at Balmoral and none for the ice well at Abergeldie.  It looks as if no more may be got this winter.  I believe once before no ice was got at all.”  Fortunately, Royal grumbling about a lack of chilled drinks was avoided when March brought substantial snowstorms and the wells were filled with snow, which “turned out fair ice the following autumn”.  Heavy snowfalls on occasion brought down the telegraph wires which linked Balmoral with the outside world.  Another utility which could be affected by severe frost was the gravity-fed fresh water which was piped to the castle.  A 3in pipe was laid in a 2 ft deep trench prior to 1880 but in that and the following year hard frosts caused the pipes to burst where they passed under gravel drives, though not under grass sods.  In 1892 the 3in pipes were replaced by 6in pipes laid an extra foot deeper to try to ensure a continuity of supply.

Salmon fishing on the Dee, the season for which began in February, was one of the Balmoral Estate’s main sporting attractions.  However, the start of the fishing season was often disrupted by the inclement weather, as John Michie recorded in February 1886.  “As the opening, all hopes of favourable weather with fish in the river are blasted by the long continuance of severe frost.”  Even when a thaw came it took some time for the river to be ready for the anglers.  On 26 March of the same year, John Michie expressed his disappointment.  “Ice passing down the river all day in a very broken state, but the volume of water is not nearly so great as I expected.  Fishing of no use on account of floating ice.”  The ice could be from 6 in to 12 in thick as was reported in January 1893.  But even with the ice gone and fish in the river, the weather could still interfere with John Michie’s enjoyment of fly fishing.  In mid-April 1901 he lamented, “frost set in recently towards dusk, causing my line to freeze in the rodrings”.

The Red Grouse is native to the British Isles and lives all the year round on heather moorland, mainly in the north and the west.  Shooting this game bird was a significant activity at Balmoral, though the best grouse moors in the area were not on the Balmoral estate.  The Micras grouse moor, a Royal favourite, was leased from the Invercauld Estate.  The Red Grouse breeds in April and May.  John Michie noted after a late snowfall in mid-May 1906, “This morning there were several inches of snow on the ground.  Some places it was much drifted, more especially on the hills where grouse must have suffered on account of their being in the middle of nesting.  Sheep have been smothered in several places …”  The shooting season for red grouse opens on 12 August, “The Glorious 12^th”, but weather conditions had a big impact on the success of shooting parties.  John Michie was out shooting grouse on 8 October 1907 on Micras moor.  “…we had only 18 birds, day being wild and so were the birds.”

It is perhaps not surprising that John Michie should have been so alert to weather conditions.  It was not an obsession but a necessary preoccupation of both his roles, as Wood Forester and as Factor.

 

John Michie sports, passtimes and home life

The Balmoral Head Wood Forester had extensive sporting interests, which could mostly be covered by the portmanteau term “country sports”, reflecting his origins as the son of a gamekeeper and sometime poacher.  Balmoral was an ideal workplace for John, since he had ample opportunity, especially when the Royal owners were not in residence, to enjoy the superior sporting facilities of Upper Deeside.

Fishing

In addition to the Dee, which flowed almost past the Michie house, the Dantzig Shiel, there were numerous hill lochs and small rivers populated with trout to be fished on the Royal estates, for example, in July 1891, “Fished Loch Pharig but caught 2 trout only.”  The fishing season for salmon opened on 11th February on the Dee, but in many years fresh-run salmon had not then reached Balmoral, due to the icy state of the river, with solid cover or floating blocks and grue.  Eighteen ninety-two was such a year, “River much frozen.  Fishing impossible.”  Early in the season there was much anxious chatter amongst afficionados about where salmon had so far been caught below the Balmoral fishings, accompanied by tentative casting in one pool after another in search of early prizes.  On 26 February 1892, Michie “Fished in the evening but got no rises.  No clean fish landed above Abergeldie Castle this year yet, in fact no proof that fresh run salmon are actually in the river above Abergeldie.”  It was a tradition too, that the first few fish caught at Balmoral were dispatched to the Queen.  But, after a sparse start to the season, fish were generally plentiful and often given away to friends and acquaintances.  September 1885.  “Killed a salmon in the evening which sent to Mr Butler, tenant of Clunskea shooting”.  Although fishing can be enjoyed as a solitary sport, Alexander Profeit, the commissioner at Balmoral for most of John Michie’s time as Wood Forester, was often a fishing partner, as were other senior servants and visitors.  A typical entry in the Michie diaries, for Saturday 6^th June 1885 reads as follows.  “… returned to a late dinner after which Dr Profeit arrived and I went with him to fish for salmon, he caught two and I got one on my way home at McLaren's pool.”

John Michie often described the dressing salmon flies, sometimes accompanied by illustrations, which may have been to traditional patterns for the upper Dee, or perhaps even his own designs.  Some of these flies have been beautifully recreated by Colin Innes and are illustrated in his book, “The Lost Salmon Flies of Balmoral”.  A good example of Michie’s craft is taken from March 1890.  “Thursday 20 March.  Went to Garlin with the fishing rod at 5 o'ck and at 6 killed a fish of 8 lbs below the big stone - hook - gold pheasant tip, yellow and green body, silver tinsel (broad), eagle & teal hackle, turkey wing of light soiled red with black bar & white tips put on thus (sketch of fly here) - size of hook 2½ inches long.”

Fishing in those days was not cloaked in the confining sporting etiquette of today.  In Queen Victoria’s early occupancy of Balmoral, post-1848, salmon leistering (spearing fish with multi-pronged lances) was practised and even in the 1890s, hooks could be baited, not with artificial flies but with edible lures.  John Michie reported visiting Dr Profeit in May 1890 “… who gave me some prawns & asked me to try for a fish as he had to go to Strath Don.  Killed a fish in evening not with prawn which I detest to fish with but with very small fly …”  John Michie, however, was not a purist.  He was happy to employ foul-hooking (also called snagging), as the following incident from 1897 demonstrates.  “A big fish rose on his own account just as my line had alighted on the water indeed, he jumped on the line about 6 feet nearer than the hook when I at once pulled & hooked him in the body but first through one of the underfins situated a few inches in front of the tail & after a difficult & rather dull run downstream landed what turned out to be a 19 pounder.”   Landing a salmon from the Dee of 10lbs – 20lbs was not uncommon in those days.  In May 1890 John Michie caught a 15 lbs salmon, “… largest fish I have got this season …”.  Later, in 1894, the head stalker at Balmoral, Arthur Grant, caught two fish of 21 lbs and 19 lbs respectively.  The largest Dee salmon recorded throughout John Michie’s diaries was a monster of 34lbs secured in 1920 but not on Balmoral waters or by a Royal servant.

Trout fishing on Upper Deeside could be excellent but was not pursued with the same enthusiasm as for its larger salmonid relative.  John Michie did not shun this lesser sport but reaching some favoured locations required a high level of fitness and perseverance.  In 1891 he recorded a solo expedition to the Loch of Lochnagar.  “I started for it alone and arrived on its banks at 1.30.  Caught 21 trout 3 of which I rejected on account of being badly shaped.  The remaining 18 weighed 8½ lbs.  There were two distinct species one being of a yellowish-brown colour, generally of a fairly good shape, while the other was of a silvery hue outside, pink flesh and beautiful mould.  They seemed to take in about equal numbers.”  Netting trout had been pursued on the deep and extensive waters of Loch Muick since the earliest days of Queen Victoria and the catch could be enormous.  Her Majesty, a noted gourmand, several times recorded her pleasure at eating fresh-caught trout at Glas Allt Shiel, her remote, 15-room “cottage” on the shores of this large expanse of water.  Dr Profeit also enjoyed this alternative to casting his rod over the Dee and held an annual boating trip on Loch Muick, to which he invited friends, for this purpose.  John Michie was a guest in August 1892.  “Attended by invitation Dr Profeit’s net fishing at Loch Muick which is annual matter.  Sir A McKenzie (local big wig) & Lady were about till lunch when they went home.  Dr Ogston (Aberdeen surgeon) and Mr Garden of Chalmers (firm of Aberdeen solicitors), 13 Union Terrace were there …”.  The gamekeepers were also roped in to do the heavy work of rowing the coble and hauling the net.

Shooting 

Hunting wild animals, with both rifle and shotgun, was pursued with a mixture of pleasure and duty, and to stock the larder at home.  The Royal estates, however, were not noted for the quality of their grouse moors and the Royal family generally shot over the moors belonging to other local landowners.  Sometimes, the senior outdoor servants pursued these avian targets on home territory.  John Michie recorded one such expedition in December 1890 under challenging conditions.  “Matters did not look so bad from below in the morning as there had been a thaw during the night which dispensed with the powdering of snow which lay yesterday in the valley by the Dee.  It was different when we reached the open hill above the forest …”.  In the windy conditions there were many missed shots, for example, “I had a right & left at a driven cock from Chas. (Charles Mackintosh) which missed, then another double go at 3 birds none of which fell.”  Between the five men present, the day’s total bag was only 10 brace, the head keeper Arthur Grant scoring zero!  In better conditions the same year, with a group of keepers, Michie got 10 brace out of a total bag of 44 brace.  Pursuit of the grouse was not John Michie’s favourite shooting activity.

Hunting deer was a different matter, though John Michie did not often indulge in stalking red deer on the open hillside, a favoured pastime of the male members of the Royal Family.  Michie did relate one difficult pursuit involving himself and keeper Charles Mackintosh in 1892.  “Found our way up the east side of Maol Lucan and down the ridge of the Altinour came upon a small herd of a sudden they saw us however first and bolted.  We ran round a hill but got a long shot only at full bound.  C. was high and I was low.  After a considerable tramp by the Eagles Nest walk we saw a few at the upper edge of the birks in the Altinour and, in order to get within shot had to retrace our steps in a great measure and having got back to the ridge unobserved to them had to crawl downhill toward where they lay.  We were now within 100 yards but some were out of sight and those in view were not in good condition - so we crawled on with the rifles ready and there was not long to wait then for one heard us on a patch of hard snow & bolted, all followed but in the stampede we killed one each.”  It was often left to the keepers and John Michie to finish off animals which had only been wounded by the VIP riflemen.  In September 1886, John Michie related such an incident when accompanying the Prince of Wales and his party.  “I killed a wounded stag with the Prince of Wales' rifle which Lundie's dog brought to bay two miles distant from where he was struck.  The bullet which wounded him struck across the brisket with an inch of a hold from the bottom.  I held at and hit him in the neck at 30 yds distant.”  The Prince of Wales, too, was not an outstanding shot.  John Michie was helping in a drive for red deer stags in 1892.  “Glen Beg was driven first but no shots were got beyond a wild one or two by the Prince.”  The story then continued.  “Then came Craig Darign.  Here 7 stags were killed in all.  The Prince wounded one which I discovered had a broken hind leg, McIntosh's dog was put on its track and I followed with the Admiral's rifle putting a bullet through the deer's head some hundred yards or so west of the Loch-na-coil walk this done another stag was discovered by a ghillie east of this path.  I stalked up and also shot him through the head.” 

John Michie and his Royal employers were keen hunters of roe deer in the forests of the Balmoral Estate and frequently participated in drives.  Any outdoor servant could be called upon to act as a beater on grouse drives, but it was the experienced outdoor servants, such as the keepers and John Michie, who were roped in for roe hunting.  In 1885, one such hunt was described by John Michie.  “Put up at Balmoral stables saw Dr Profeit and proceeded to the School House of Loch-na-gar to join the deer drive which was held in the woods of Abergeldie today.  The guns were Their R Highnesses Prince Henry Maurice, The Duke of Connaught, Baron von Pawel Rammingen, Sir Robt Collins, and Major Waller.  The first drive 2 stags were killed; but before this was accomplished something like half a score of bullets were set a-drift …”.  Clearly, some of the Royal party were not as skilled with a rifle as those driving deer to the guns, as illustrated by a separate drive the same year in which John Michie was a shooting participant.  “This morning went for a drive at the hinds.  There were 16 or 18 killed.  I had the fortune to shoot 5 good ones with 8 shots, 2 being absolute misses.”    Visitors to Balmoral whose shooting ability was unknown, or suspected to be indifferent, were sometimes subject to a test with the “iron hind”, a metal profile of a roe female, used for target practice before going on the hill.  A miss with this inanimate target could not be fudged!

Winter was a regular time for hare hunts, particularly on the open slopes of Morven, a mountain north east of the Balmoral Estate.  John Michie was often invited to such hunts for the mountain hare, then in its winter white against a generally white background.  The bag was usually substantial, 1892 – 79, 1894 – 40, 1897 – 55, 1901 – 35.  The shooting party usually dined together after a good day on the hill.  Although rabbits were often eaten, shooting the “nibblers” was more a matter of duty than of sport, due to the damage they caused to young trees.  The obligation to kill down rabbits for economic reasons was emphasised by the fact that they were also killed using futrets (ferrets) and rabbit traps.

Target shooting

John Michie was an excellent shot and one of his enduring pass-times was target shooting with rifles, plain guns and air guns.  In October 1884, while attending Forestry Exhibition events in Edinburgh, John took the opportunity to call on Alexander Henry, the famous gun maker who had designed the rifling and barrel used in the Martini-Henry rifle, in service with the British Army from 1871 to 1919.  (This rifle was progressively replaced by the Lee-Metford rifle from 1888 and, in turn, the Lee-Metford was replaced by the Lee-Enfield from 1895.)  Alexander Henry had been appointed gun and rifle manufacturer to the Prince of Wales in 1872 and Queen Victoria had a special double-barrelled rifle made in 1873 as a present for John Brown.  John Michie tried out the Henry patent and the 550 bore rifles in Alexander Henry’s rifle range.  Both shot “exceedingly well” but he plumped for the Henry.  He would certainly have been comfortable in Royal company sporting such a weapon.  The day after Michie got home to the Dantzig, he was out practising with his new firearm.  A year later he was able to try out the standard Army-issue Martini-Henry rifle which had that year been issued to the Deeside Volunteers.  

 Alexander Henry shotgun given to John Brown by Queen Victoria

There were, of course, other rifle enthusiasts on the Royal estates and not just the gamekeepers.  Shooting competitions were often held, some regular annual events, others spontaneous challenges.  John McKenzie, the gatekeeper at the Western Lodge, adjacent to the Old Bridge of Dee about a mile from John Michie’s house at the Dantzig Shiel, was a frequent companion in informal shooting competitions.  McKenzie had previously been a gamekeeper based at Alltnagiubhsaich, Glenmuick on the Birkhall estate.  A typical instance from the Michie dairies, “Fired a few shots at a target with John Mackenzie, Bridge of Dee”, was from January 1885.  A month later a more challenging competition was held.  “Had an hour or two at Glassball shooting with Dr Profeit (Commissioner), D Stewart (Head Keeper), Arthur Grant (Second Keeper) &c.  There were three competitions - James Symon of Ardoch (tenant farmer) gained the first.  I the second, & D Stewart the third.”  Early in the New Year, a rifle shooting competition was usually held on the Balmoral estate for all those enthusiasts residing there.  John Michie described the 1886 competition.  “Drove to Balmoral with my father-in-law and attended a rifle shooting held by those residing on the Balmoral Estate with a few friends.  A medal is annually shot for (the shooting has not been held for two years in consequence of deaths) was gained by Arthur Grant one of the game keepers, Chas McIntosh (another gamekeeper) being 2nd and myself 3rd.  The 2nd & 3rd prizes being a knife and pipe respectively.  At the other shooting 3 prizes were gained by two C. McIntosh & myself.  These were the highest.  My father-in-law got one and this was considered fortunate, he never having practised rifle shooting.  We had an enjoyable dinner party in the evening when it fell to me to propose the health of the Parish Minister Mr. Campbell.”  John Michie was usually amongst the prize-winners and was generally disgusted with his own performance if he failed to make the list.  In July 1891, “The gamekeepers &c had a rifle & glassball shooting at Coopers Well, being an annual thing.  I met them there kept the accounts and participated in the shooting getting 2 third prizes at the rifle & 2 third prizes at the glassballs but never shot so badly at balls.”

Gun enthusiasm enveloped even those who did not professionally handle firearms at Balmoral.  James Anderson, the Balmoral Clerk of Works, was one such afficionado.  He had bought a small rifle in London for shooting rooks which he tried out at Birkhall in the company of John Michie in 1890.  Michie was unimpressed, finding that this specialist firearm shot 4 ins left at 50 yards.  Airguns were also popular as competition weapons.  In 1886, John Michie had some practice with Charles Profeit, the Commissioner’s second son, then aged 16.  Arthur Grant, the second keeper had a specialist long range rifle for deer stalking and in 1892, he and John Michie used it for target shooting.  Today the word “rifle” refers to any long-barrelled personal weapon but in John Michie’s time “rifle” referred specifically to a weapon with a rifled barrel.  John Michie also possessed one or more plain guns which lacked rifling.  These guns were also used for competition shooting.  By 1891, John Michie had also acquired a hammerless rifle.

Curling

The game of curling has been prosecuted in Scotland since at least the early 16^th century, mostly utilising frozen ponds and lochs.  In the second half of the 19^th century up and down Deeside, the “roaring game” (so-called because of the noise the stones made on the ice) was pursued with vigour and enthusiasm in every settlement.  The popularity of the sport led to dedicated ponds being created, along with associated curling clubs.  However, in recent years the increasing sophistication of the game and the press of global warming have essentially moved the sport indoors to ice rinks.

John Michie and Alexander Profeit were the two most prominent curlers at Balmoral in the 1880s and 1890s, where a reservoir associated with the Royal Lochnagar distillery was sometimes pressed into service.  However, Crathie’s western neighbour, Braemar, was where the two men were usually to be found casting their stones along the ice.  In February 1885, John Michie reported, “Had dinner with McDonald” (John McDonald, the Braemar contractor).  “and spent the afternoon at curling on the Auchindryne Pond - there were three rinks, and the play was very keen.”  Another visit to the Auchindryne pond the following November further demonstrated the enthusiasm for the game in Braemar.  Michie had driven his wife to the village to see to her messages and then he sloped off to the pond while she was busy, “where I found most of the male inhabitants had been curling all day.”  John Michie was admitted as a member of the Braemar club the following February and became a regular practitioner in the roaring game.  Thereafter almost any winter visit to Braemar by John Michie was extended to accommodate an hour or two at the curling pond.  Despite the enthusiasm of the participants at Braemar, environmental conditions could quickly scupper a promising session.  At the end of February 1893, “… went to curl but had to give up on account of water coming on the ice.”  John Michie was a competent curler and won a number of prizes.  In February 1895, “Today drove to Braemar and played a game at curling, and with a score of 17 points won only for 1 year a silver butter cooler which has to be won twice to become property.”  Occasionally John’s sporting performance was below par, to his personal chagrin.  December 1892, “Had a game by points at curling, played badly having made a score of 4.”  Curling, too, had its social side, as the following quotation shows from February 1895.  “Afternoon had another game 4 v 4 my side winning.  Just when I was going home at 7 pm found Dr Profeit & his son George had come up to the Fife Arms Hotel to remain overnight.  Called there with Dr Noble when I first knew Dr P had come.  Remained the evening & played billiards & latterly cards.”

Fife Arms Hotel

Golf

The geographical origin of the sport of golf is unknown but it is generally accepted that the modern game began its evolution in Scotland from the mid-15^th century onwards.  John Michie was a latecomer to the tee and the fairway, perhaps due to lack of opportunity.  Golf neatly complemented curling in being played at the opposite season of the year but a golf course did not exist at Ballater until about 1891, with its club being founded a year later.  Further up Deeside, the Braemar Golf Club came into existence in 1893.  John Michie first mentioned playing golf at Ballater with Mr Morgan, the manager of the North of Scotland Bank in January 1891 “and was delighted with it altho somewhat stony”, which suggested a newly laid-out course.  This experience may have stimulated Michie to create his own small golf course adjacent to the Dantzig Shiel because two months later he reported, “Snow pretty well gone but golf holes hardly clear. William Glass the plumber has promised to make me 6 zinc hole linings which will improve our present state.”  In the following two months, many visitors to the Dantzig were entertained to a game of golf.  They included the new Balmoral commissioner.  “In the afternoon Mr & Mrs Forbes with their friends Mr & Mrs Yule and Mrs Forbes' brother Mr McIntosh Jackson recently home from South Africa where he has been as a member of the Imperial Yeomanry, came up on Mrs Michie's invitation when we had several foursomes at golf and a hand of whist in the evening.”  James Forbes became a member of the “Balgownie” Golf Club (actually Aberdeen Golf Club and, from 1903, Royal Aberdeen) and he took his-brother in-law, Mr Jackson, John Michie and Benjamin Ottewell, the landscape artist, to play on this links course just north of the Granite City.  Forbes also seems to have created his own small golf course near Craiggowan House, also in 1891, and he was reported as playing golf there with the Prince of Wales.  Golf became a favourite Michie pastime, though he never achieved prominence as a practitioner.

Gardening      

The Dantzig Shiel, where the Michies lived between 1882 and 1901 was built on relatively flat but virgin ground.  Breaking the ground for both pasture and growing plants must have been hard work.  A picture of the Dantzig painted by Benjamin Ottewell in 1896 shows what appears to be a cleared area of pasture, with piles of large granite stones at its margins on the north side of the shiel.  The stones, which were scattered across the land during the last glaciation, were presumably assembled in piles by John Michie.  The Dantzig Shiel was located at almost the extreme western end of the Balmoral estate, six miles from Crathie village and about five miles from Braemar.  Fresh milk, vegetables and fruit were significantly produced by home-based agriculture.  In addition to the area of pasture, John Michie also broke ground for a vegetable and fruit garden.  When extending his garden in 1890 he noted the stone problem.  “Finished clearing the piece of new ground added to my garden it measures 28 yds x 10½ yds and was in short a cairn of large stones.”  

Danzig Shiel painted by BJ Ottewell 1896

It appears that the Michies kept at least one cow from soon after moving to the Dantzig.  In order to keep the cow producing milk, she had to be mated periodically and the first calving recorded was in February 1884.  Bulls kept at various locations on the estate were used for service, for example in September 1885, “Cow served at Abergeldie Mains yesterday & this morning.”  When his cow was off her milk, John Michie would borrow a cow from elsewhere on the estate.  In 1890, work on improving the pasture consisted of “Preparing cowpark for the summer’s grass means of having it harrowed with short-toothed harrows to tear up the moss (by which it is overgrown in parts) prior to topdressing with a compost of earth and horse & cow manure.  Had rabbit holes stopped and twigs raked off.”  Winter feed for the cow(s) appeared to consist of hay and turnips.

Substantial gardening activity was recorded at the Dantzig Shiel from 1884, the first surviving Michie diary.  Plant crops recorded over the years of residence were as follows.  Fruit: rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants.   Vegetables:  carrots, Swedish turnips, potatoes, German greens, onions, peas, cauliflower, cabbage.  Flowers:  Nasturtiums, Mignonettes, roses, crocus, hyacinth, tulips, snowdrops, Ariculas.  John Michie also had a fern garden.  The only herb he mentioned was parsley.  In spite of a challenging climate on Deeside, John Michie’s garden seems to have been reasonably successful.  August 1885, “Pulled 2½ lbs strawberries today from my garden”, though it was necessary to protect his soft fruit crop from the birds by the use of an old herring net.  His potato crop occasionally suffered loss.  October 1894.  “Potatoes all up but 1/3rd diseased.“

On a few occasions, John Michie mentioned keeping a pig, which was slaughtered for him by James Smith, who sometimes also dressed the carcass, though Michie himself was capable of jointing the dead porker.  Ducks were also occasional domestic animals at the Dantzig Shiel.

John Michie was not solely responsible for providing garden labour.  In 1884 he recorded getting help from another Balmoral servant from one of his gangs.  “Have had Charles Leys 4 days digging altogether.  Charlie is exceedingly slow at that job”.  When his own sons were older, he set them to work trenching the ground and he also mentioned his own “man” (groom) being pressed into service on several occasions.  June 1897.  “Then did some work in the garden with the man Thos Falconer who is no gardener.”  He also had a critical view of his newly appointed groom in 1890.  “Gordon Rose is a small, too lazy youth for a smart groom”.  Another incident with his groom occurred in 1896.  “This, Monday morning, gave my man (or groom) a lecture on his conduct in not returning from Ballater till Sunday morning instead of Friday night where he went that day as piper to the local volunteers to a military funeral in honour of Burnett, a Crimean veteran, who has lived long in that village.”  Both in his garden and elsewhere on the estate, John Michie expected those under him to work at his pace and to his standards.

Servants

In addition to the groom, the Michie family generally employed one female servant for duties around the house.  These were usually young girls who did not stay in the family’s employment for long before moving on.  Just before Christmas 1885, the new servant, Margaret Milne, told Helen Michie that she was “in the family way”, having got pregnant before being engaged for work at the Dantzig.  A week later she had gone, travelling by the postman’s sledge from a snowbound Dantzig Shiel but a new servant, Helen Clark from Ordie near Dinnet, was soon in post.  Elsewhere on the estate, sexual misconduct was punished with dismissal.  In 1896, “Alex McDonald, grieve at Invergelder, left yesterday on a day's notice, on account of undue intercourse with the Balmoral dairymaid (Brown), who is also away the other day.”  By 1890, the Michies had two indoor female servants and for a time a resident female governess, engaged to home-school the young Michies.  However, the Dantzig Shiel was not always an attractive location for servants.  In March 1895, John Michie “Went to Ballater and up to Sluievannachie to engage Annie Ewan as domestic who we had for some two years before.  She was disinclined to come on account of the lonely situation of the house so did not press her.”

Horses

There was a stable at the Dantzig Shiel, where John Michie kept his horses, and he also employed a groom to look after them.  Horses were essential both in doing his job and in transporting his wife and family about the estate, and up and down Deeside.  Reading John Michie’s frequent remarks on his horses brings home the realisation that these animals required a lot of maintenance.  Being herbivores, their food consumption was voluminous, they needed their shoes attending to regularly, sometimes they were too tired to be worked and they also got sick frequently and at inconvenient moments.  Equine matters were a frequent topic for Michie’s comments and one hundred and fifty-six of John’s daily diary entries were principally, or partially, concerned with his horse issues.  James Mitchell, the blacksmith at Clachanturn, made and fitted horseshoes and also acted as the local vet, though he appeared to have no veterinary qualifications, other than long experience.  John Michie was a regular customer at this smithy, especially for new shoes and, in winter, “sharping” an existing set.  Clachanturn was located on the Abergeldie Estate in the direction of Ballater on the South Deeside Road. 

In March 1884, John Michie wrote, “My old mare (Pitforthie) took a slight swelling under her brisket and a short distance back underneath the belly.  I sent her down to James Mitchell he ordered her mash twice a day.”  Some treatments administered were quite bizarre.  December 1885.  “Went to Balmoral riding grey pony to Invergelder.  He has taken a heat in his legs and ulcerates behind the pastern joints at the fetlocks.  Walked pony up to Braemar in evening and procured a ball of alloes for him.”  The alloes were used as a laxative!  Despite the folk nature of the remedies, they sometimes appeared to be effective.  In October 1886, “Mr James Mitchell the Veterinary Surgeon respecting my mare's bad cold.  Her jaws are very much swollen, while "puss" is being discharged at her nostrils in large quantities.”  After first recommending “poulticing with linseed”, a day later James Mitchell, “blistered with a plaster of mustard and vinegar, the throat from ear to ear, leaving it on for 45 minutes.  This was done to prevent the swelling from going up from between the jaws into the throat, and it appeared to have the effect as the swollen part extended no further up although before it was rapidly advancing.”  When John Michie’s mare developed mud rash (a bacterial infection) on her hind legs in 1897, Mitchell’s recommended treatment, washing with carbolic soap, was entirely scientific.

Just as with changing cars today, John Michie often needed to change horses or to purchase an extra animal.  He would travel quite long distances (Banffshire, Perthshire, Forfarshire, for example) to see animals which were for sale.  One of his regular haunts when in search of a new animal was the Alton horse market held in Old Aberdeen. John appeared to be very knowledgeable about horses and was rarely fully satisfied with the appearance of an animal.  Even with a passable beast, a deal would often fall through due to a difference in valuation between seller and buyer.  Young adult horses were regularly offered at a price above Michie’s valuation, with the owner being unprepared to haggle.  This was the impasse which prevailed at Old Aberdeen in October 1890, “Offered £30 for a young mare of rising four years.  Her owner wanted £40.”  The following month Michie finally bought a horse at Insch but the ever-sceptical Michie still worried about his purchase, even after he had arrived home.  “The bay mare which I purchased at Insch on Saturday arrived all right last evening and on seeing her a second time am fairly pleased with my bargain but have doubts, as I ever had, as to her age.  She was said to be rising 5 years but my impression from a careful scrutiny of her teeth and comparison with Galvamies' Dentition is that she is rising 4 years only.  Drove her down the north side as far as Inver and found her quiet in harness altho. it is evident she has not been much between shafts.”

Horse deals did not always work out, sometimes for unexpected reasons.  In May 1895 John Michie made a bargain with one John Grant who lived beyond the Linn of Dee, involving an exchange of ponies.  In sealing the deal John gave Mrs Grant a luckpenny (actually a sovereign) but that did not bring happiness to the Grants.  Two days later they appeared at John Michie’s door demanding that the deal be reversed because their daughter could not control the pony bought from the Balmoral Head Forester.  Michie refused but did make a fair offer of keeping the Grants’ former charge and buying back his own pony for the same price that the Grants had paid.  John Michie considered this to be “the most dignified position to take up”.  Mrs Grant then pushed her luck a bit too far by demanding an extra £5.  Not surprisingly, Michie declined.

Michie’s horses usually had to be adaptable and able to be both driven in harness and saddled to be ridden, the latter generally when he was moving about the estate.  When his family was young and still growing, the vehicle type which was mostly owned and used by him was the dog cart.  This machine came in various layouts but was generally a two-wheeled vehicle with two transverse seats, back-to-back, and pulled by one horse.  In late 1890 John Michie ordered a sleigh from the Braemar blacksmith in order to be prepared for the coming winter.

Accidents with horses were not uncommon.  In September 1892, James Wright (then John Michie’s groom at the Dantzig) “allowed my young mare to bolt from the stable door with her harness on but fortunately before yoking into the machine.  She galloped by the Bridge over the Garrawalt below, round and over the upper bridge turned back when above the house and right on to the Bridge of Dee where in front of McKenzie's door the man caught her with scarcely any harness left on her.”  A month later John Michie was driving to Braemar when, “my mare made a start at the school children, fell and injured her knee”.  As a result, John had to rest the horse and hire a replacement for several days.  In August 1895, John Michie found, to his “disgust” that another groom, Charles Clark, “had let out the young mare to the park in front & that while tricking with McIntosh's pony through the deer park fence had stuck her hind legs & had got a good deal cut & bruised about the houghs”.  It was a month before she was recovered sufficiently to be driven again.  In April 1897, Michie again suspected his groom had been careless.  “Returned afternoon and found I had lost the cup over one of the axle ends of my dogcart having no doubt that my man had omitted to screw it on tight when oiling last.”

Horse-drawn vehicles also required frequent repairs, through being poorly sprung, having steel tyres and traversing rough estate roads regularly.  In October 1896, John Michie “Drove my dogcart to Ballater and left it at the coach works there (Clark's) to get new shafts in, one especially of the old ones being nearly all chaffed through.”  His friend Mr McGregor loaned him a trap for the period during which the dog cart was undergoing repair.  By 1901, John Michie had acquired a phaeton, a light-wight, four-wheeled, open carriage with two bench seats facing forward.  However, that year Michie commissioned a governess cart (like a dog cart but with two seats facing inwards and the driver controlling the horse while facing sideways) from Mr Clark, the Ballater coachbuilder.  He received a Battlesden Car (a relative of the dog cart) on loan until the new vehicle was ready.  However, when he went to collect the governess cart from Clarks, he was disappointed with the product.  “… on being yoked was found to be defective in so far as that with our boy Jack and the stable boy the body grated on the tyres of the wheels.”  This problem was crudely remedied by the foreman by bending the axle upwards in the centre.  Other defects were then discovered.  “The door fits badly, & when open it rubs on wheel.  Lamps are placed in a position where they cannot be lit without taking them out of the sockets.  Painting is poorly executed and incomplete there being no polish over putty on heads of screws.  In short the machine is crude.”  The deal with Clark allowed him to return the machine within a month if he was dissatisfied.  Michie did not record if he took this option.  It would not have been good business by Clark to leave a prominent senior employee of the monarch dissatisfied.

Bicycles 

The modern “Safety” bicycle, with same diameter wheels, pedals and a chain drive, but still with solid tyres, dates from about 1885 and the ladies’ version, with step-through frame, from about 1890.  John Michie’s first mention of the bicycle was in May 1894, when he bought a bicycle for his son David, then aged 13.  By the beginning of July, David was sufficiently confident with his new machine that he rode it to Crathie church and home again.  In September of the same year, using a hired bike, David cycled over the Cairnwell to Blairgowrie and Clunskea in Perthshire to visit his grandparents and his Uncle Tom.  The Michie girls, Beatrice (14) and Annie (18) acquired their first cycle (apparently shared) in1897.  By this means they gained some independence from their parents, for example travelling to church, where Annie was a member of the choir.  John Michie did not buy a bicycle for his own use until about 1901 but, in that year, he used the machine repeatedly to get around the estate, as an alternative to riding a horse.

Education of the Michie children 

The Michie children, with their birth years, were as follows.  Annie (1879), David (1881), Victor (1882), Beatrice (1883), Henry (Harry) (1885), John (Jack) (1887) and Alexandrina (Alix) (1892).  Making arrangements for their education was problematical, given the remote location of the Dantzig Shiel and the severity of winter weather on Upper Deeside.  Annie, the oldest, first started school in February 1885 by being boarded out to Helen Michie’s mother in Cullen, Banffshire.  The little girl had only been at The Clune for three months when she became dangerously ill.  John and Helen set out for Cullen immediately, but their journey was impeded by snow.  They were relieved to find their daughter conscious again on their arrival, but it took several weeks for her to make a full recovery from an unidentified illness.  The Michies then decided to seek a solution to their education problem nearer to home.  Annie would in future attend the Lochnagar school, which had been instigated by Queen Victoria, and board during the week with Miss Robertson the teacher.

This arrangement continued for at least a year and was then replaced by the engagement of a governess, Miss Walker, who lodged at the Dantzig.  In 1890, when Miss Walker was known to have been in residence, Annie, David, Victor, Beatrice and Henry were probably all being taught by her, so it was a reasonably economical arrangement.  Although his children no longer attended Lochnagar school, John Michie sent them along to that venue to be assessed when Mr Whyte, the Scottish Education Department examiner, made a visit in 1890.  In November 1891, the Michies’ older children invited the Braemar female teacher, Miss Beveridge, home for tea, suggesting that at least some of them were by then attending school there.  However, wild weather closed in on the Dantzig and the visitor had to stay over with the Michies. 

By January 1892 a new governess, Annabella Duthie, who hailed from Bieldside in the lower Dee Valley, was in post at the Dantzig Shiel and Annie paid a visit to her home.  This occurrence is confusing, since Annie, being the oldest, would have been expected to be attending at the Braemar school.  In April 1892, there was a school inspection at Braemar.  John Michie wrote, “Went to School Inspection at Braemar where had five of my children examined - Annie, David, Victor, Beatrice and Henry all of whom made a fair appearance under their present governess Annabella Duthie.”  Further, “Both these inspectors advised me to make application to the Board with the view of obtaining the Government Grant for children being taught privately over four miles from school.”  This seems to confirm that all five of the oldest Michie children were indeed still being educated at the Dantzig.  However, in early 1893, with Bella Duthie still in post, John Michie reported “Drove children up to school myself” and “brought children down from school”.  The Michies were clearly making daily journeys to and from Braemar school.  It is unclear what role Miss Duthie was playing.

On 21 February 1893, Annabella Duthie left the Michie household after falling out with Helen.  “Today Miss Duthie our Governess left on account of disagreement with Mrs Michie last night.  She is of a pettish nature.  She telegraphed for her sister to come for her secretly which she did in my absence and they between them had given Mrs M a good deal of bother.”  The Michies then immediately advertised for a replacement governess.  A few days later John also visited the Duthie home in Bieldside.  “Called at Bieldside, Cults with the view of getting the Duthies to admit fault for their conduct in their relation leaving abruptly on the 22nd inst.  She would not move however either to admit fault or come back and serve out her time.”  The situation was clearly irretrievable, “So I went on to Kenmay and saw a Miss Henderson who my wife has communicated with to fill her place.”  The Duthies apparently still harboured a grievance against Helen and apparently instructed their solicitor to write to the Michies.  John Michie replied to this communication, “Wrote a reply to a letter from Davidson & Garden, 245 Union St. Abdn. defending Mrs M in connection with An. Duthie's leaving abruptly on the 22nd Feby last.”  There the matter seemed to rest as John made no further reference to the incident.  The confusion over who was being taught and where was clarified on 19 April.  “Examination of Braemar schools.  Attended the Board School in the capacity of member of Board.  My 3 older children have been attending regularly but the next 3 also went and were examined.”  So, the Michies’ younger children were being instructed by the governess at home and the older ones were attending Braemar Public School.  Problems with governesses continued to dog the Michies’ lives.  The new employee, Miss Henderson suddenly became ill with a high temperature at the beginning of June 1893.  She was examined by both Dr Noble and Dr Profeit but the “Drs will not or cannot say what her ailment is.”  When she had sufficiently recovered, Miss Henderson went home to recuperate but did not return.  Miss Walker was then persuaded to come back and again act as governess.

In November 1894, when Annie Michie was 15, she was boarded out to John Michie’s sister, Augusta Katherine in Blairgowrie to attend the public school there “during the coming winter”.  She continued this arrangement during the following winter too.  By 1895, the next oldest of the Michie siblings, David Kinloch had received a £5 school bursary from the Queen.  It is not certain where he was continuing with his education, but it appears to have been at Crathie, where there was a program of technical education which John Michie admired.  Of the remaining children, Henry (10) and Victor (13) were attending at Braemar, while Beatrice (12) and John (8) were being taught at home by Miss Walker.  Henry and John transferred to Crathie from Braemar in 1896.  John Michie bought a phaeton which the older boys then drove to and from school, though sometimes the snow wreaths prevented this happening.  On at least one occasion, David and Victor walked instead.  On other occasions they had to drive the sleigh rather than the phaeton.  Sometimes they would also arrive at school drenched from heavy rain.  Living six miles from school, especially during a Highland winter, was clearly a character-forming experience for the Michie children.

In April 1896, Crathie school was subject to a Government inspection.  John Michie attended, as a member of the School Board.  The resulting report was a mixture of praise and criticism, with which John Michie did not wholly agree.  “The school generally made a good appearance, much better than Braemar but Dr Stewart remarked unfavourably on grammar & reading and reiterated what he had said on previous occasions that standard work suffered by the great attention paid to higher subjects:- a recommendation, I should think, rather than otherwise in these isolated districts.”  Clearly, John Michie’s motive for moving his children to Crathie school was to gain access to the higher-level courses.  In 1897 his two oldest boys, David and Victor, were additionally taking an evening class in geometry.

Crathie School and Schoolhouse about 1895

By 1901, David had left school and started work on the Durris Estate, Kincardineshire.  Henry was attending Aberdeen Grammar School but the gap in the Michie diaries from 1897 to 1900, inclusive, has obscured the higher schooling of the rest of the Michie offspring.

Durris House

 

Special calendar days

John Michie’s diaries give an insight into how such days were treated locally in Upper Deeside at the end of the 19^th century.  Christmas Day was a low-key affair.  If it fell on a weekday, it appears to have been a normal workday for the estate servants and, on many occasions, for John Michie too.  In 1884, Christmas fell on a Thursday and Michie “Spent this (Christmas) day very quietly.  In the Ballochbuie all day.”  At Christmas 1885 (Friday), John Michies’ in-laws came to stay, and the extent of the celebration was wishing each other Happy Christmas, having some rifle practice with his father-in-law and taking the family for a walk along the Garrawalt.  In 1886 (Saturday) John worked at the sawmill in the morning but he and his wife attended a party in the evening in Braemar at the home of John Milne, the contractor.  “There were tea, supper, piano, violin, and some dancing in a homely way.”  That was about as exciting as Christmas celebrations ever became.

New Year was approached in an entirely different spirit, especially by the estate’s labourers for whom this was an opportunity to let their hair down and, frankly, get drunk for longer than a single night.  They even applied to receive their pay early (which was granted) in order to fund the celebrations adequately.  Work stopped on the 30^th December and if New Year’s Day did not fall at a weekend, the earliest men returned was 2^nd January with some stragglers still absent on that date.  In 1892 when John Michie went to the sawmills on Tuesday 5^th January “most” of the men were back.  It was then the tradition in Scotland that acqaintances shook hands and wished each other “Happy New Year on first meeting.  The extent of observation in the Michie household on 1^st January 1893 (a Sunday) was, “We at home quietly sat the New Year in, shook hands and went to bed.”  Occasionally, the Michies were invited to join friends living in Braemar.  On 31^st December 1891, “Saw the New Year in at Mr A McGregor's house (landlord of the Invercauld Arms) where Mrs & I were invited to a party given by Mr & Mrs McG. got home at 2 o'ck in the morning.”  But for John Michie, the most important aspect of the new year was to be at home with his family as was illustrated in 1894 – 1895.  He had been visiting his in-laws at Cullen but his rail journey home on 31 December was disrupted by heavy snow and he could not advance beyond Ballater, “anxious altho. I was to be home to see the New Year in”.  As a result, he had to spend the transition with Ballater friends who were present in the hotel.  “Messrs John McGregor (the host), Troup, Butcher and Dr Mitchell.”  When he finally reached the Dantzig Shiel on the morning of New Year’s Day, he was “Much gratified to be home in time to have the New Year's dinner with Mrs M and the children all well and healthy”. 

When the transition was made from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1582 the day of the year on which Christmas fell changed and, as a result, there was disagreement in many parts of Europe over when Christ’s birth should be celebrated.  Old Christmas Day from the Julian calendar now fell on 5 January of the following year.  The retention of Old Christmas as a special day on which events, such as ploughing matches, were held continued to be observed sporadically in rural Scotland, including Upper Deeside through the second half of the 19^th century.  John Michie recorded on 5 January 1885, “Went to Balmoral and started 3 men (all the others keeping this, old Christmas day, as a holiday) to collect brushwood for a bonfire to be burnt on the 8th inst. on which day Prince Albert Victor of Wales comes of age.”

Queen Victoria’s writings are a rich source of information on the celebration of Hallowe’en (Scottish contraction of evening before All Hallow’s Day) on the Balmoral Estate in the second half of the 19^th Century.  On the Gregorian calendar, All Saints Day falls on 1^st November, though the monarch noted that “The Protestants generally keep Halloween on the old day, November 12, and the Catholics on this day (31^st October); but hearing I had wished to see it two years ago, they all decided to keep it to-day.”  In 1866, she wrote, “While we were at Mrs. Grant’s (wife of John Grant, then Head Keeper) we saw the commencement of the keeping of Halloween. All the children came out with burning torches, shouting and jumping.  The following year the ceremonial was even more extensive.  “… we had an opportunity of again seeing the celebration of Halloween, and even of taking part in it. We had been out driving, but we hurried back to be in time for the celebration. Close to Donald Stewart’s house we were met by two gillies bearing torches. Louise got out and took one, walking by the side of the carriage, and looking like one of the witches in “Macbeth.” As we approached Balmoral, the keepers and their wives and children; the gillies and other people met us, all with torches; Brown also carrying one. We got out at the house, where Leopold joined us, and a torch was given to him. We walked round the whole house, preceded by Ross playing the pipes, going down the steps of the terrace. Louise and Leopold went first, then came Janie Ely and I, followed by every one carrying torches, which had a very pretty effect. After this a bonfire was made of all the torches, close to the house, and they danced reels whilst Ross played the pipes.”  However, this extensive procession may have been elaborated for the monarch’s benefit, when her stay at Balmoral encompassed 31 October.  In the period 1866 – 1877, she described Hallowe’en celebrations in most years.  Another local Hallowe’en tradition was the preparation and consumption of “whisked cream”, which had oatmeal sprinkled on top.  Mrs Grant introduced her to this seasonal delicacy, which was “much relished”.  John Michie commented on Hallowe’en only once, in 1885, and that was to note that Dr Profeit had decreed “there would be no Hallowe’en this year”, perhaps referring to the granting of a holiday to the workmen, who were always up for a celebration.

 

James Noble MD (1852 – 1947)

James Noble was born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, the elder son of a master draper.  He graduated with an MA degree from the University of Aberdeen in 1873 and subsequently went on to study medicine at the same institution.  James graduated MB CM in 1877 and MD four years later.  Subsequently, and not later than 1879, he became a general practitioner in Braemar, where he worked for most of his professional life.  There were frequent entries in the Aberdeen Journal detailing the sterling work performed by the Braemar GP, mostly dealing with accidents and sudden illness, dressing wounds, setting broken limbs and restoring dislocated shoulders.  A more unusual occurrence was the theft of a bag of medical instruments from Noble’s carriage while on his rounds at Invereye in 1880.

It did not take long for James Noble to start playing a prominent part in the social life of Braemar.  Politically, he was a Liberal and in the run-up to the 1880 general election, he accompanied Dr Farquharson of Finzean when he addressed the electors in the public school at Braemar.  In 1883 John Brebner retired from the post of local constable and a presentation was made to him in the Invercauld Arms by the neighbourhood GP.  He was a keen participant in the “roaring game” and was an active supporter of the local mutual improvement association and a presenter of penny readings in the village.  James was also an occasional invitee to grand events at Mar Lodge, the home of the Duke of Fife, such as the dinner and torchlight ball at Mar Lodge in 1890, in honour of the Prince of Wales’ visit.

James Noble and John Michie became close friends, the earliest mention of the general practitioner in the Balmoral wood forester’s diary being in January 1890.  “Dr Noble called in the evening on his way down to Dr Stewart's, also on his way up.  He heard that Dr Profeit was not quite well.” … “The subject of conversation with Noble was the County Council election.  His view of the matter, as well as my own, is that the majority on either side will be small but I think Profeit will win”.  From 1890, they often played mutually-supportive roles at public meetings, such as the Burns supper at Braemar in February of that year.  James Noble acted as chairman and John Michie called for a vote of thanks for his medical friend accompanied by some generous remarks.   The two were of the same age, both having been born in 1853 and both having a significant status in Upper Deeside society.  However, it is likely that Noble and Michie had first met in an earlier year than 1890.  In April 1885, a sawmiller, John Smith whose home was at Balnacroft on the Balmoral Estate, “allowed his hand to get entangled in the machinery” of a circular saw at the Ballochbuie sawmill.  Smith lost parts of two fingers on his left hand and was seen by Dr Noble who dressed his wounds.

James Noble lived at Auchendryne Lodge, Braemar, for many years and until 1891 when he married, he sister and mother often stayed there with him.  Noble remained a bachelor until the age of 39 and it is perhaps not surprising, given the frequency of his visits to the Invercauld Arms, Braemar, that he should eventually marry the daughter of the landlord, Annabella McGregor, a lady who was also approaching middle age.  In December 1890, James Noble called on John Michie one evening and “spent an hour or two”, an increasingly frequent occurrence.  He confided in Michie that he was to marry the eldest daughter of the Invercauld Arms landlord, this hostelry being a favourite of both men.  The Michies attended the wedding and John Michie was instrumental in organising an address to Dr Noble.  An illuminated address was a frequent device used in those times to mark important occasions.  The Nobles did not subsequently have children.

John Michie also acted as an assistant to James Noble when he had to perform emergency tooth extractions.  In 1892, “Spent some time with Dr Noble holding the light while extracted two teeth from a gentleman and young girl respectively.  The latter certainly the better game or rather, less of timidity”.  Three years later, Michie’s daughter Beatrice suffered from a troublesome tooth and Dr Noble “extracted her tooth nicely”.

In February 1892, John Michie did James Noble an unusual favour.  “I saw Dr Noble, promising him to write Moses Buchanan, Shipping Agent, Glasgow for information regarding the procuring of an appointment as Doctor of Medicine aboard one of the P & O Steamers to the East”.  But it is likely that the information was not intended for James Noble himself, but for his younger brother, Fred Noble, who had also graduated in medicine from Aberdeen University.  Sadly, in May of that year, Fred Noble died on the City Line’s ss “City of Calcutta” on which vessel he was acting as surgeon. 

During the period 1890 – 1896, medical services to the employees of the Balmoral Estate were provided by the Queen’s Commissioner, Dr Alexander Profeit.  However, during this interval, Profeit became increasingly ill and unable to perform his duties in a satisfactory manner.  Although James Noble had no formal position on the Balmoral Estate, references in John Michie’s diaries suggest that he often attended Royal servants and retired servants and it may be that this service was possible due to the friendship between Michie and Noble.  A prominent example of this help concerned the retired ghillie, John McKenzie, who lived at the West Lodge near the Old Bridge of Dee at the foot of the Ballochbouie and close to John Michie’s house, Dantzig Shiel.  McKenzie acted as gatekeeper for some years, but eventually started to suffer from urinary retention in 1895.  Dr Noble had to make repeated visits to McKenzie and inserted a catheter to relieve his medical problem.  “Yesterday Dr Noble succeeded in passing a catheter and relieving McKenzie's bladder.  The old man is better in consequence, but he performed the same operation today”.

By late 1896, the Court had taken the decision to replace Alexander Profeit as commissioner.  John Michie learned of the impending change from James Reid, the Queen’s Physician.  “Called on Sir James Reid KCB MD with whom had an interesting conversation regarding certain changes, chiefly in regard to Dr Profeit having given up the medical part of the appointment, which he has held here for the last 21 years and Dr Noble, my friend, having been appointed to it, with the condition that he keep an assistant at Crathie &c”.  Dr Noble’s role on Upper Deeside then assumed an even higher profile.  In 1900, a concert was held for the benefit of the dependants of soldiers who were away fighting in the Second Boer War.  Inevitably James Noble took the chair and in his remarks to the audience dwelt upon the splendid response the nation had given to their Queen and country and said they, that night, were endeavouring to do their little best to cooperate by helping those whom our brave soldiers had left behind them.  He received a rousing cheer for these sentiments.

 

Visitors to the Michie residence

Although for most of the time that John Michie was wood forester at Balmoral the family lived at the Dantzig Shiel, which was quite remote, being at the extreme western end of the estate, about five miles from the castle, equidistant from both Crathie and Braemar and not on the public road, Michie recorded a regular stream of visitors.  These included the Queen and members of her family, other Royal family members and VIP guests of the monarch, Michie family friends and acquaintances, typically from their stratum in local society, relatives and occasional strangers who fetched up at the Dantzig for a variety of reasons.  Some days the Dantzig was positively teeming with visitors, for example, 8 May 1890.  “Dr Profeit … was in church.  He called at Danzig in the afternoon on his way home from Braemar whether he had gone to ask for Miss Helen McNab.  Mr & Mrs Anderson (Balmoral Clerk of Works) had also been to Braemar & called on their way down.  Mr Strath (Schoolteacher at Girnoc) too had been there & turned up to his dinner & tea”.  All were accommodated.

William Michie (no relative) occupied a small farm, Tullochcoy, on the Invercauld estate.  He was also the local inspector of the poor, the registrar of births, marriages and deaths and secretary to the local school board.  A typical visit by the William Michies to the John Michies took place in February 1884.  “Mr and Mrs Michie of Tullochcoy came on a visit, Mrs for the day and Mr to tea”.  This was a way for the women to relieve the isolation of rural life.  William Michie was a regular visitor over the years.  The local clergy, too, frequently made their way to the Dantzig.  In February 1885, “The Revd Mr & Mrs Gordon (Church of Scotland minister at Braemar) called and had tea with us”.  Visits were not confined to clergy of the Michies’ faith.  April 1894, “In afternoon Mr Paul the (Catholic) Priest of Braemar called”.  The Free Church minister from Ballater also visited.  Soon after the appointment of a new minister for Crathie church in 1897, a visit to the Dantzig Shiel was arranged.  “By appointment Mrs Sibbald the Minister's mother, the Minister himself and Miss Lizzie Begg of Lochnagar his reputed future wife”.  Acqaintances from Crathie village needed little excuse to drop in at the Dantzig, as the following instance from December 1894 showed.  “Last evening Albert Thomson of Crathie Post office, & Andrew Lamond, Tailor & Clothier, Crathie came in during the evening on their way back from Braemar & the Dubh-claish where old John Thomson the former's uncle lives”. 

 Some visitors arrived out of the blue and even stayed overnight, such as the following occurrence in November 1886.  “Mr J Profeit (farmer at Nether Towie and brother of Alexander Profeit) came in somewhat unexpectedly.  Indeed, he and his little girl (probably Ida Louisa Profeit b 1879) to stay overnight”.  The following day John Michie drove the visitors to Ballater.  Friends, such as Dr Noble, the Braemar general practitioner, were regular callers, as noted above.  A typical visit by Michie’s medical chum occurred in March 1890.  “… Dr Noble from Braemar had come down to spend the evening.  Accordingly went over, did tea smoking & gossip till 8.30 when the Doctor mounted for Braemar to see Watt a Bank Clerk who leaves there for good tomorrow”. 

Senior servants on adjacent estates were usually on friendly terms with the Michies and would drop by.  In September 1890, “Mr Arthur, gamekeeper at Invercauld and Dolan Excise Officer Lochnagar Distillery called in the evening”.  A few days later there was another visitation from the Farquharson estate.  “The housekeeper at Invercauld to Sir Aljernon Borthwick and two friends called to tea”.  Even Gordon Foggo, the Invercauld factor, occasionally looked in at the Dantzig, as in October 1895.  “… Gordon & Murry Foggo spent the evening”, though his sons were more likely to cross the river to see the Balmoral wood forester than their father.  Another functionary from a Deeside estate, Mr Pirie, overseer at Blackhall Castle, Banchory visited Balmoral in November 1892.  “… showed him over the Policy grounds.  Mr Francis Clark took him round by the cottages and distillery in the darkening … Drove Mr Pirie to the Danzig in the evening late where he spends the night with me. ...  Pirie is an enthusiastic forester and possessed a good deal of knowledge concerning the management of woods.  He is also somewhat of a gardener as well as a farmer and boasts to some little extent of his quality as a plain gun shot.  This list if you add a good salmon angler, means that Mr Pirie knows a good deal about the management of a country place of the higher-flying type”.  John Michie clearly saw Pirie as a man in his own image.  The manager of the Durris Estate in Kincardineshire was also a familiar of John Michie’s and visited the Dantzig in 1897.  “Remained at home and received Mr & Mrs Braid, the Factor & his wife of Durris & their two children who paid us a visit”.  

John Michie played a prominent role in the Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition held in the summer of 1884 and there he made the acquaintance of several prominent people, including a visiting delegation from Japan, whose chief secretary was Morimasa Takei.  Takei had been imprisoned for political activities in his youth but was released and rose to prominence in national life after the Meiji Restoration of 1868.  The Japanese party visited Balmoral following the termination of the Edinburgh event.  “I walked round the high drive with them and down Glen Beg.  They were highly pleased with the woods and Morimasa Takei, Chief, left me a pair of beautiful studs and pin, in remembrance of his visit”.

Some of John Michie’s visitors came for scientific reasons.   In September 1890, “Mr Donald Lamond some time assistant to Professor Trail (Botany) of Aberdeen came over from his father's croft and spent the day with me”.  Similarly, in August 1894, “Found my old & much respected friend Mr George Stabler (moss expert) at Danzig.  In November 1897, George Barrow, a prominent Government geologist called before undertaking field work.  Later, “At 4.30 Barrow who had been examining the ground about Carrop returned for tea”.

When relatives came to the Dantzig it was often to stay for several days, or even a few weeks.  In March 1890, “Helen heard from a cousin, Sam Stephen Walker (MA1891, Aberdeen – later an ordained Minister of the Church of Scotland) who is at College at Aberdeen to the effect that he intends coming to spend a few days at Danzig when the session ends on the 26th inst.  Sam arrived on 27 March, having walked the 15 miles from Ballater.  John Michie noted on his departure, “We see by the newspapers that he has taken 2 prizes at the King's College exams”.  Visitors also came to the Dantzig from the Michie side of the family.  In September 1892, “I drove to Braemar to meet my brother Thomas who came by Cairnwell coach.  We got home about 8.30 and spent two hours of music &c”.  Another brother arrived in October 1894.  “My brother David from Ceylon with his wife & little daughter arrived on a visit this evening from Blairgowrie bringing Mother from there with them.  (David Kinloch Michie 1854 – 1950, was Managing Director, Walker, Sons & Co., an engineering firm in Ceylon).  John Michie’s father (David Kinloch Michie, 1820 - 1903), too, was an extended visitor from time to time.  “Tuesday 23 March (1897).  This is my father's birthday, his age being 77 years.  He left today after staying fully a month with us.  I drove him to Ballater to catch the 10.20 train”. 

Senior servants at the castle and on the estate, while out and about at leisure, would often call in.  This was expected and often unplanned, a typical example from July of 1885 being, “During this afternoon. we had Mrs McHardy housekeeper at the Castle & friend also Mr Grant Sen & Jnr with Mrs Mussen”.  Other casual visitors could be from a distance who were on Upper Deeside for some other reason, such as attendance at the Braemar Gathering.  In 1885, “Went down to Balmoral and returned by 11 am to find Messrs John Brown & John Stewart Merchants, Cullen who had come to the Games yesterday and just paid us a visit on their way to Aboyne whether they were going to stay for some short time”.  Church attendance at Crathie on a Sunday could lead to a social invitation, as in January 1886.  “Went to church yesterday and brought Mr. A Thom, Grieve, Invergelder up for the afternoon”.  New senior servants would usually receive a call to visit the Dantzig.  In March 1892, “Mr Troup, the new gardener (at Balmoral) rode to the Danzig with me to spend the afternoon by appointment”.  Farm tenants on the Balmoral Estate would also visit the Michies.  One interesting caller in December 1897 was James Blair, tenant of Balnacroft “who played several times on my man's fiddle to my father who was much delighted with James's performance.  The Queen's fiddler which he used to be in times of the balls which were done away with the year John Brown died (1883)”.  

Business contacts were also frequent callers at the Dantzig Shiel.  In August 1886, “Mr Garvie of B Reid & Co. called and had tea on his way from Braemar to Cuish”.  In connection with John Michie’s membership of the School Board for Crathie and Braemar, “Messrs Aitken, Banker, Braemar and Henderson, Architect, Aberdeen called with plans of new school buildings &c Crathie”.  Richard Grove of A&G Paterson, wood merchants, was a frequent visitor, indeed a friend.  In February 1892, “Yesterday spent the day (a Sunday) with Mr Richd. Grove of A & G Paterson's.  He left this morning by Post Car”.  In February 1893, “Donald McDonald Builder, Braemar came to Danzig by appointment.  He got some 800 sup. ft. of boarding from the sawmill for general purposes.  Mr McDonald is a School Board member along with myself, he had dinner with me and we had some conversation respecting the opening of the Crathie schools &c which takes place on Monday next”.  John Michie’s role as a member of the School Board also brought other guests to his door, as in March 1895.  “At Balmoral returning at noon when Messrs Philip Teacher at Crathie & Turnbull, Examiner under the County Council in Technical Instruction who is to be my guest till Monday morning.  Had a walk round in soft snow and discussed a variety of matters and drove Mr Philip as far as Crathie in the evening”. 

Local people were often recruited to Royal service and served not locally but in the south.  When they returned to Deeside, they usually made a round of calls on old friends.  In September 1885 the Michies received two such visitors.  “Arrived home at 1 pm at which time I appointed to meet Charles Michie (not a relative), gentleman porter at Buckingham Palace & Alexander Grant, Queen's Messenger late HRH Prince Leopold's Valet.   Went round by the falls and through some of my plantations with them”.  Francie Clark, cousin of John Brown, was a visitor in August 1886, “… returning home by dogcart with Mr F Clark and Mr & Mrs Manning (Clerk of Windsor Mews)”.  In November 1890, “Came home to dinner and brought Mrs Hugh Brown up with me to say goodbye to Mrs M before leaving for Windsor on Tuesday”.  Hugh Brown was another brother of John Brown, also in Royal service.

Some visitors came out of curiosity to see over the Queen’s residence.  In November 1890, “John Milne, Carrier Braemar (a regular contractor employed by John Michie), James Gray, Grieve at Mar Lodge and their wives drove down according to appointment with my wife to see the Castle when the Queen left.  Milne & I halved the company between our "machines" from the Danzig.  We returned in the gloaming and they proceeded to Braemar after dark”.   Dantzig visitors were occasionally present to carry out domestic or maintenance tasks.  In October 1891, “Kenneth Dunbar, Joiner at Balmoral came up and hung a clothes-drying apparatus in the scullery and Jas Smith Jnr. who drove him dressed a porker for Mrs M”.  In May 1892, “Mr Stevenson watchmaker Schoolhill, Aberdeen came to put clocks right”.  He then stayed overnight with the Michies. 

In 1885, the British Association for the Advancement of Science held their annual meeting in Aberdeen and as part of the programme, about 150 of the attendees visited Balmoral.  John Michie had been up to the castle and saw the “great men” arrive, but after his return home he had two unexpected visitors.  “… two members (of the BAAS) Messrs Dee Cohn & Moss knocked at our door on their way to Braemar.  They were lost & fatigued so I drove them up to McNabs.  Weather very stormy out of West with dark night & heavy showers”.  The bedraggled strangers must have been relieved to find such rural generosity.  Another stranger who visited the Dantzig in April 1890 was seeking employment advice.  “A man named Gray who used to be carter to Mr John Profeit called.  He had been to Braemar to engage as grieve to Mrs McNab of the Fyfe Arms Hotel but did not conclude and having given me particulars asked my advice.  I strongly advised him to accept, his own only objection being that “Allanquoich was ower far up among the hills””.  In the wild conditions of an Upper Deeside winter, generosity to strangers was both evident and expected.  During February 1893, “Met Campbell, Gamekeeper at Farlar in the storm bound for Braemar.  Asked him to come over to spend the night which he did.  This morning I drove him up to Braemar by sleigh and found the road at the Castle parks blocked”.  Perhaps the most unexpected meeting with a stranger was in August 1893.  “On my way up at Garmaddie found a coloured gentleman who had lost his way when he meant to return from the Falls of the Garrawalt to Braemar.  I drove him up to the Danzig & showed him over the bridge”.  John Michie was an upright citizen.  If he met a stranger, any stranger, needing help, he did his best to alleviate the problem.

 

John Michie and the Established Church

There has been a Church of Scotland building on the present site, adjacent to the North Deeside Road in Crathie since 1804.  All seats were free in the first building and it catered for the whole parish of Crathie and Braemar.  The minister was subject to the strong influence of the heritors (feudal landowners) of the parish, the estates of Balmoral, Abergeldie, Invercauld and Mar Lodge. When John Michie arrived at Balmoral in 1880, the incumbent was Archibald Alexander Campbell, who had been born in Arran in 1845 and was appointed to Crathie in 1874 at the age of 29.  It was a high-profile role for a young cleric, though he quickly settled into the pattern of ministering to his temporary Royal parishioners in late spring and late summer, when they were in residence at Balmoral Castle.  He became a Domestic Chaplain in Scotland to the monarch.  Queen Victoria often attended divine worship at Crathie when she was in residence, though she would also substitute a private service held within the Castle.  On these occasions, the Crathie minister, or a stand-in if he was unavailable, would lead prayers, sing hymns and deliver sermons on the south side of the River Dee.  Frequently on a Sunday, the Crathie minister would be invited to dine with the monarch.  The Queen took a great interest in the preaching style of her minister and often recorded her thoughts in her journals.  A typical example from November 1875 was, “Service in the house, at ½ p. 10, performed by M^r Campbell, who preached an excellent sermon”. 

Crathie Old Church and Manse

Alexander Campbell and his wife Mary had difficulty creating a family.  They were married in 1874 but their first two children, born in 1875 and 1877 only survived for less than one year, and for two days, respectively.  After the 1877 birth, the Queen visited the Campbells at the Manse to enquire about Mary Campbell, following the death of her new baby.  The monarch learned that the personal tragedy of the Campbells was even more harrowing than this recent loss.  Mrs Campbell had by that year endured four confinements and had no surviving child.  It was 1887 before the cleric and his wife had a viable infant, a girl who was baptised “Victoria Alexandrina” at the monarch’s request.  The Queen, often accompanied by Princess Beatrice, became a regular caller at the Manse, especially at the end of a Balmoral stay, to say “goodbye”.  The Crathie minister was called upon to baptise, marry and bury the Queen’s retainers and their family members.  Notable burials included John Grant, the Head Keeper, in 1879 and John Brown, the Queen’s Highland Servant, in 1883.  Rev. Campbell baptised the Michies’ daughters, Beatrice and Alexandrina.

John Michie was a religious man and his diaries are a rich source of information on his religious attitudes and conduct.  He usually worshipped at Crathie Church but occasionally did so at Braemar and sometimes at an establishment of the Free Church, for example at Cullen when he visited his wife’s relatives.  John Michie was very attentive during church services, taking particular note of the messages being imparted by the minister in his sermon and the biblical text used as a source of inspiration.  “Attended Crathie Church, Colin Campbell B.D. (no relationship to AA Campbell) preached from Judges V chapter - end of 21st verse.  A sermon plainly calculated to please the Queen - Deborah the great woman was his theme and his text.  “Oh my soul thou has trodden down strength”.”  This was a typical example from November 1884.  The Head Forester was an admirer of Archibald Campbell too, though on two occasions he caught him out reusing an old sermon.  “Attended Crathie church when Mr Campbell preached a fine sermon from the 19th Psalm 12th verse "Who can understand his errors?  Cleanse thou me from secret faults."  This record was also from November 1884.  John Michie knew his bible well, apparently rather better than Queen Victoria, who seldom recorded the reference to a biblical text.  Curiously, John Michie never became an elder of Crathie Church, though it is likely that he had been approached to take on this task.  Dr Profeit had been an elder.

Communion was held approximately six-monthly at Crathie Church, typically in April/May and October/November.  A Communion Sunday was preceded, typically on the Thursday of the previous week by a Sacramental Fasting Day.  A service was then held at the church and tokens given out to attendees which permitted participation in the sacrament and they were surrendered the following Sabbath to the elders.  Queen Victoria, as head of the Anglican Church, established the habit of worshipping at Crathie (Presbyterian Church of Scotland) from 1848, rather than at a Scottish Episcopal Church, which action was frowned upon by many.  There was even more ecclesiastical tut-tutting when she took communion there on 2 November 1873, when Dr Taylor, Dr Campbell’s predecessor at Crathie, officiated.  Subsequently the Queen was a communicant at Crathie on numerous occasions.  John and Helen Michie regularly took Holy Communion, often contemporaneously with the Queen.  In his diary for 23 October 1892, John Michie noted as follows.  “Yesterday was the half yearly communion at which my wife and I participated.  The present is the first autumnal sacrament since we came here, over 12 years ago, that the Queen has been absent from in Crathie Parish Church.  I understand she meant to participate on the present occasion too until at the last moment she altered her mind.  Whether this was on account of the prevailing storm of north wind and driving snow I cannot tell.  Anyhow it has been snowing all day accompanied by a strong bitterly cold noreast wind making the place look and feel quite cheerless.”  Perhaps even the Queen could be daunted by the weather, as John Michie certainly could, though her journey to church was of less than one mile.

Following the disestablishment of the Anglican Church of Ireland in 1869, it became the policy of the Liberal Party under Gladstone to disestablish the Church of Scotland, which horrified traditionalists and led to the creation of Church Defence committees.  Upper Deeside lay within the West Aberdeenshire Parliamentary Constituency which was instituted in 1868 and had developed a strongly pro-Liberal voting pattern.  Dr Robert Farquharson, the Laird of Finzean, had been the sitting MP since 1880.  He was a supporter of disestablishment.  John Michie, an opponent of disestablishment became involved in actions to thwart the policy at the 1892 General Election.  He first mentioned the subject in January 1891, when he attended a church defence meeting at Crathie with Dr Profeit.  Michie “proposed the resolution that a committee be elected to promote the defence movement at next parliamentary election and that delegates be appointed to attend any general meeting of the defence association for the electoral district of West Aberdeen.  Among others I was appointed a member of committee and also a delegate.”  On this topic, entrenched religious views transcended political inclinations for many people on Deeside. 

A Central Church Defence meeting was held in Old St Mary’s Chapel in Aberdeen on 23 January, where John Michie was present, along with Rev Campbell and John Abercrombie from Crathie.  Almost every parish in Aberdeenshire was represented.  It was agreed to send a delegation to Dr Farquharson to ask him at least to abstain from voting on the Disestablishment Bill then wending its way through Parliament.  Farquharson refused to give the undertaking sought, so the West Aberdeenshire Church Defence Association then tried a different tack.  They would seek a candidate of liberal views but who was opposed to disestablishment to stand against the sitting MP at the forthcoming General Election in 1892.  This was John Michie’s own proposal.  The Association landed upon Mr Robert Cox of Gorgie, Edinburgh as a suitable candidate.  In mid-October 1891, John Michie attended a meeting in Aboyne which was addressed by Mr Cox and he was introduced to Cox and his wife, probably by Francis Sandison, the landlord of the Huntly Arms, Aboyne and another active campaigner against disestablishment.  (see “Francis Sandison (1839 - 1901), Alexander Sandison (1875 - 1926) and the Huntly Arms Hotel, Aboyne” on this blogsite).  John was asked by Francie Sandison to propose a vote of thanks to Robert Cox after his speech, but Michie declined on the grounds that, “feeling as I do that to take a such part in political proceedings is scarcely compatible to my position as a private servant of the Queen's.”  The Queen’s political neutrality had to be preserved, at least in public.  (Unfortunately, the following year, John Michie broke his self-imposed vow of abstinence from public political actions at a meeting in support of Sir Arthur Grant’s candidacy.  “I proposed a vote of thanks to Sir Arthur which was enthusiastically given.”  The meeting was in the Crathie School Room, so perhaps it was difficult for John Michie not to take responsibility for this act of courtesy.) 

Cox subsequently withdrew, leaving the Association with a difficult situation.  They could not replace Cox, due to shortage of time, so they then decided to support the Conservative candidate.  John Michie related his part in this decision.  “Monday 18 April 1892.  Attended church yesterday and after service had some conversation with Mr Campbell anent adopting Sir Arthur Grant of Monymusk as Church Candidate at the next General Election.  He shares my views that this should be done.  Having seen Mr Sandison of Aboyne on this subject on Friday by appointment & on that day ran against Mr Henderson by chance, as well as the Revd. G Argo of Kin. o'Neil.   I think I am successful in advising them against attempting to find a Liberal Church Candidate who would now only have the effect of subdividing the vote.”

Sir Arthur Grant of Monymusk had the wrong party label but the right attitude towards preserving the position of the Established Church in Scotland, yet he had a political hill to climb in Liberal West Aberdeenshire.  Although Sir Arthur made massive inroads into the support base of Dr Farquharson, he just failed to take the seat, winning 49.5% of the vote compared to 50.5% by the incumbent.  John Michie cast his vote for the Monymusk Laird.  “I have voted for the new and that he may win (but fear it).  I do so for the sake of the Established Church and against Home Rule becoming law in Ireland.  Uphold the Established Church and integrity of the Empire.”

The first mention of a new church for Crathie appeared in John Michie’s diaries on Monday 9 June 1890.  “Went to Crathie church yesterday & heard Dr McGregor preach a surpassingly excellent sermon on "The Church" as an edifice - it is mooted that some folks want a new kirk at Crathie.”  A new church was deemed necessary for several reasons.  Increasing numbers of visitors to Deeside and their attendance at Crathie services was crowding the old building, which had limited capacity and this throng was inhibiting the Queen from attending services there.  Additionally, the old building was plain and had little architectural merit.   In October 1892, John Michie visited Crathie Manse and, by chance, met Alexander Marshall McKenzie, whose firm, Matthews and McKenzie had received the commission to prepare plans for the new church.  Design was then at a provisional stage as Michie recorded.  “There are three - identical in ground arrangement but different in elevation.  The ground plan is cruciform.”  At that time McKenzie was already the author of several important Aberdeen landmarks, including the Art Gallery (1885) and St Mark’s Church (1892).  Subsequently, he would go on to design many more.  On Deeside, McKenzie was chosen by the Duke and Duchess of Fife to design New Mar Lodge in 1895.  The new Crathie church occupied the same plot as the old building which lay entirely on Invercauld land.  

Crathie Church 1895

 

The choice of design must have been close to being finalised by November 1892 as John Michie “Got an approximate list of wood for new church of Crathie with the view of seeing whether we could produce the wood for the job or at least part of the job.  Went over it and made an estimate of the number of trees required and value of the sawn timber.”  He handed his estimate of the number of Ballochbuie trees required and their prepared value to the Balmoral Commissioner, Dr Profeit, a day later, on 12 November 1892.  Alexander Profeit must have immediately put the estimates to the Queen, but the message came back quickly that the monarch would not donate any of the wood for the new building.  At church on 11 December, John Michie learned that the minister was away in Edinburgh “conferring with Her Majesty's Chaplains respecting the new church to be at Crathie or perhaps the money to build it”. The Rev Archibald Campbell then set about fund-raising for the project.  By 1 March 1893 he had raised £4061 and by the middle of April the sum had been elevated to £4331.  The Queen contributed £500 and Alexander Haldane Farquharson, the Laird of Invercauld, a similar amount.  Further funds were raised through local subscription from the employees and tenants of the three estates.  John Michie donated £5. The fund still did not match the anticipated construction cost, with a deficit of about £1,000 projected.  Princess Beatrice then had the idea of holding a bazaar to raise funds which was to be held in tents on the lawns near the castle.  John Michie was responsible for preparing “14,000 ft. sup. odd of 3/4" boarding and over 7,000 ft. lineal 6" and 5" x 2 1/2" pine timber” from the Ballochbuie to floor the tents.  He also “presided” over the entrance with several of the keepers, taking the sum of almost £264 over the two days.    The result was a total donation of almost £2,400 to the building fund from all the bazaar activities.  A full account of this event will be found below in the section dealing with Robert Profeit.

The spring Sacramental Fast Day and the dispensation of the Sacrament were held slightly early in 1893, on 20 and 23 April, to allow demolition of the old church to proceed.  Helen Michie attended the Sacramental Fast, so as to gain the necessary token, but John “remained at home and sowed some seeds in the garden”.  The following Sunday both were communicants on this last occasion that the old building would be used.  On 15 May, John Michie attended church which was now being held in the Iron Ballroom on the Balmoral Estate as an interim measure.  By this date the old church was “almost level with the ground” and a new temporary wooden church was being constructed with timbers recovered at demolition.  The builders were working with remarkable speed because this interim building was expected to be ready for use by the following Sunday. 

 

Crathie temporary church

The 11^th September was the day chosen for the laying of the foundation stone by Her Majesty.  About 1,000 people were present to witness the ceremony which began at 12.15pm.  The Queen was accompanied by Princess Beatrice and the Duchess of York, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and their family, a number of senior courtiers and several important guests, including the architect, A Marshall McKenzie.  The stone-laying ceremony was quite brief, a psalm, the Lord’s prayer, a Bible-reading, an address to the Queen from the heritors and parishioners, read by the Rev Archibald Campbell and a brief reply from Her Majesty before the stone was lowered into place, the Queen added mortar with a silver trowel and anointed the top with wine and oil.  A final prayer and the Benediction brought matters to a close and left the builders free to crack on with construction.  But the years were passing for Queen Victoria.  The Aberdeen People’s Journal noted that the monarch looked “rather frail”.

The estimated building time for the new church was 15 or 16 months.  On 19 June 1893, John Michie observed that the foundations of the new Crathie Church were already being prepared. By the end of March 1894, he noted the state of construction of the new church.  “Went round walls of new church which is now about ready for a commencement to steeple.”  The building was constructed mainly from white granite from the Inver quarry on the Balmoral Estate and contained 400 seats.  The south transept was reserved for the use of the Queen and the Royal Household, while the north transept was for the use of the other heritors.  The total cost of construction was about £6,000 and it started life debt-free.  In early June 1895, the new church was nearing completion and Tuesday 18 June was set for the formal opening.

There were many gifts for the furnishing and decoration of the new building.  The Queen donated two stained glass windows, the Royal Household provided funds for a seven-sided pulpit made of different types and colours of granite and decorated with pebbles collected by Princess Louise on Iona, which were polished before incorporation.  A baptismal font, also in granite, was a gift from the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and Dr and Mrs Campbell of St Mary’s, Dundee presented a brass lecturn.  Princesses Beatrice and Louise gave a peal of four bells.  All this decoration seemed a bit out of character for the austerity usually associated with Scotch Presbyterianism, but the hierarchy seemed to tolerate and even justify the decoration of the replacement Crathie Kirk.  

Crathie new church interior

The new building was formally opened for worship on 18 June with a service of dedication attended by the Queen and Princess Beatrice.  It opened with a dedication prayer, followed by a dedicatory hymn with words by the Marquis of Lorne and the music composed by Dr Bridge, the organist at Westminster Abbey.  The hymn was first published in the book “Under Lochnagar” which was sold at the fundraising bazaar.  Dr Donald McLeod, Moderator of the Church of Scotland preached the sermon.  There were so many high-status clerics present that the Minister of Crathie, Archibald Campbell was relegated to playing only a bit-part in the service.  The first session of public worship was held the following Sunday, 23 June 1895.  It would have been expected that John Michie and his wife Helen would have at least been in attendance for both the dedication and the first service of public worship, but his diary lacks entries for all days except one (14^th) between 11 June and 19 June inclusive.  This omission is both curious and unexplained.

Sadly, the hectic process of planning and fundraising for the new church at Crathie seems to have caused a casualty, the minister, the Rev Archibald Alexander Campbell, who was intimately involved with most aspects of the programme.  On 29 August 1895, John Michie saw Rev Campbell at Crathie, “says he is quite out of sorts on account of worry over dissatisfaction of certain of the Heritors with the sitting accommodation of the new church.”  Although Michie does not finger the complainant it was likely to have been Alexander Haldane Farquharson, the young Laird of Invercauld, then aged 28, since he had demonstrated over other matters that he lacked empathy and tended to assert what he saw as his rights.  (See “Benjamin John Ottewell (1847 – 1937) watercolourist - Queen Victoria and Upper Deeside” on this blogsite).  Although Farquharson seldom worshipped at Crathie, he owned the land on which the new church stood.  The dispute resulted in a meeting of the heritors in the new church on 6 September.

After this incident, Archibald Campbell’s health seemed to deteriorate rapidly.  Towards the end of September 1895, John Michie called at the Manse.  “Dr Campbell who has been ill & is not much better.”  Twentieth October was Communion Sunday at Crathie and both John and Helen Michie attended.  The service was conducted by Dr Cameron Lees “in the absence of our own minister who is absent thro. Illness”.  The sad indisposition of Rev Campbell continued into November.  Princess Louise was taking a close interest in the landscaping of the grounds of the new kirk and met John Michie on the 14^th of the month.  “Saw the Princess Louise who has a most charming power of expressing herself.  The plots of shrubs near the Castle were discussed also the new church and Dr Campbell's indisposition, and decided not to do anything in the way of laying out the church grounds for some time.”  This delay was ostensibly to allow the minister to have some input into the plans but Michie probably realised that AH Farquharson would need to be treated with kid gloves. At the end of October 1896, Princess Henry (Beatrice) also started agitating with John Michie for the church grounds to be planted.  He cautioned that any plans should be cleared through Mr Farquharson’s agent in Aberdeen.  

On 16 November 1895, John and Helen Michie visited the Manse to enquire of Mrs Mary Campbell the state of her husband’s health.  She reported that Archibald was somewhat better but that he intended to undertake a continental tour or a sea voyage for the winter “for the sake of rest and recuperation”.  This ray of hope proved to be a false dawn.  In mid-January 1896, John Michie reported that, “Bad accounts are abroad of the health of Mr Campbell.”  By late February it was clear that the health problem from which Rev Campbell was suffering was chronic.  “The reports respecting the Minister of the Parish's health are not such that we can expect to see him back soon.”  He never undertook a long holiday and was instead confined in Craiglockhart Asylum (Craig House Hospital), Edinburgh, which took paying patients with mental health problems.  In December 1896, John Michie confirmed the nature of Rev Campbell’s condition, “… wrong in some way about the head”.

By mid-1896, Queen Victoria was showing concern for Mrs Campbell’s situation and visited her on 6 June.  “Out with Lenchen & visited M^rs Campbell, who is so brave & sensible, but so distressed.  Another visit to the Manse took place on 22 June.  “Breakfasted in the Cottage, after which I took a turn in the pony chair as far as the Manse, & visited poor M^rs Campbell, who is such a good brave woman. She said her husband was no better, but no worse.”  The Queens journal for 5 September showed no change.  “The accounts of M^r Campbell are no better & she seems very anxious & distressed, poor woman.”.  The monarch also reported that Rev Campbell had attempted to take his own life and that Mrs Campbell knew this.  There would be no recovery for the unfortunate cleric.  “A successor for him will have to be found, which is no easy matter.”  Dr Campbell demitted his post and his resignation was formally accepted by the Presbytery of Kincardine O’Neil at the end of November.  A collection was held at Crathie to present Mrs Campbell with a parting gift from the parishioners, a sum of just over £50 being raised.

Tributes were paid to Archibald Campbell from the pulpit at Crathie but attention now turned to the vacancy there and who would secure this high profile position.  Mrs Mary Campbell left Crathie with her family and went to live at 37 High Street, Old Aberdeen.  John Michie called to say goodbye to her the day before her departure.  He later called to see her in Old Aberdeen, but she had left to visit her husband in Edinburgh.  Later, John was fortunate to find her at home in May 1897.  However, the news from Edinburgh continued to be gloomy.  There was no improvement in Archibald’s condition.  The Rev Campbell was at some stage moved from Edinburgh to the Sunnyside Asylum in Montrose.  He died there, aged 62, of a cerebral haemorrhage in 1907.  It was a tragic end to a life of achievement in the service of his church and his monarch.  

 Alexander Campbell grave  

A Mr Walker took services at Crathie Church throughout most of 1896, when Dr Campbell was ill and unable to perform, but before he had resigned.  John Michie did not find the stand-in impressive, “Mr. Walker preached in his usual slow style”.  Walker took his last service as substitute on 6 December 1896 and the following Sunday, the church was declared vacant by Rev James Middleton of Ballater.  From Monday 4 January a congregation roll was deposited at Crathie Post Office, where it was open to inspection for a week.  On 11 January there was a meeting of the Kirk Session to receive applications for the vacant post and four days later there was a meeting of the congregation to appoint a committee from amongst their members, whose role would be to evaluate the applications and make a recommendation.  There were 14 applications for the vacant pastorate.  John Michie was nominated to serve on the evaluation committee.  His preferences for the short leet were D A Cameron Reid, MA BD, 5a Lauriston Gardens, Edinburgh; George Gordon Stott, MA BD, Claremont Park, Leith; D Melville Stewart, Glasgow Cathedral; S J Ramsay Sibbald, BD, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, and John Duncan, 3 Devanha Terrace, Aberdeen.  At a meeting of the committee held on 8 February, John Michie had to fight for the inclusion of Rev Reid on the list for consideration, against fierce opposition from James Philip, the Crathie schoolmaster.  Michie found the doggedness of Philip’s opposition inexplicable, since he was seeking to leave the district anyway.  Rev Cameron Reid apparently had the backing of the Queen’s six chaplains in Scotland and John Michie wanted to give the Queen an opportunity to state her preference for the post.  However, Mr Philip, bristling with hostility at the suggestion, demanded that the committee act totally independently and “bend to none”.  Michie thought the committee was making a mistake.  “I cannot help thinking they are taking a course prejudicial to the best interests of the Parish and the Church of Scotland.”  The committee then voted for a short leet and excluded Rev Cameron Reid, though Michie voted for his inclusion.  The opponents of Reid claimed that he was “fitted to please the cultured but not the common people”.  An equivalent to this attitude would be “To be gamma is good” (Brave New World – Aldous Huxley, 1932). The applicants taken forward were Rev G G Stott, D Melville Stewart and S J Ramsay Sibbald.  These candidates were then invited to preach before the Crathie congregation.

John Michie heard Mr Ramsay Sibbald preach on 7 March 1897.  John’s positive reaction was, “very favourably impressed with his preaching, his voice & his sermon.  His text was at Revelations 5 VI, "The lamb that was slain"”.  The next candidate, Mr Melville Stewart, presented himself on 14 March.  While performing well, in John Michie’s opinion, he did not surpass Mr Sibbald.  A week later the last candidate, Mr Stott, was on show for the judgement of the congregation but John Michie found him “overbearing”.  John also took against his optical aids, “Mr Stott wears eyeglasses & seems to need them”!  On his moves about the estate on the Monday following Mr Stott’s performance, John Michie picked up opinions from other congregants on the committee.  “From all I can gather Mr Sibbald seems well thought of still altho. there seems to be a clique of persons interested in Mr Stott canvassing in his favour.”  The following Wednesday the committee recommended to the Kirk Session that all three reverend gentlemen who had preached should remain in contention for the vacant post.  The actual congregational vote on the candidates took place on Saturday 10 April.  At a meeting of the Congregational Committee on 8 April a letter was received from the Queen’s secretary indicating that she would find either Sibbald or Stewart suitable to fill the Crathie post but the dissident faction in the congregation was at work canvassing for Stott and against Sibbald.  According to John Michie, this activity caused resentment.  The actual voting was Sibbald 169, Stewart 16, Stott 9, so the Rev Samuel James Ramsay Sibbald became the next minister of Crathie Church.

The Rev William Gordon of Braemar, who had been acting as Moderator of the Kirk Session during the interregnum, preached at Crathie the day after the vote, announced the result and indicated that the form of call to Mr Sibbald would lie at the Crathie Post Office, Abergeldie Castle and Inver Post Office for the signatures of parishioners.  John Michie wasted no time in signing off the call at Crathie.  John would have been pleased that his man had won through against the detractors in the congregation.  The ordination of Rev Sibbald took place on 14 May and it was followed by a celebratory dinner given by the Queen in the Manse.  However, John Michie was not invited to dine, which miffed him.  Given the prominent role he had played in the selection of the new minister, he thought his attendance would have been appropriate.  The following Sunday, Sibbald read the lessons at the Sunday morning service, his father and mother in the congregation. John and Helen Michie and two of their children drove down to the evening service when Rev Sibbald preached “an excellent sermon”.  The first attendance at divine worship by the Queen, with Rev Sibbald in charge was on 6 June 1897.  According to John Michie, “As showing that HM was pleased with him, he was sent for to lunch at the Castle”.  For the Rev Sibbald there must have been relief that he had negotiated the shoals of congregational rivalries and made a good impression on the monarch. 

Samuel James Ramsay Sibbald was born at Thornhill, Dumfries in 1869, the son of a draper.  Thus, he was 28 when he accepted the charge of Crathie.  He graduated from Edinburgh University with the degree of MA in 1889 and was a Jeffrey Scholar of Biblical Criticism, graduating BD in 1892.  Academically, he was a high-flier, coming first in all his examinations.  When he arrived at Crathie in late spring 1897 he was unmarried but, during the next year, he met and married Lizzie Begg, daughter of Henry Begg, the distiller at the Lochnagar Distillery on the Balmoral Estate.  John Michie had become aware of this relationship by mid-November 1897, when Rev Sibbald, his mother and Lizzie Begg paid a visit to the Michies’ home.  Lizzie must have been swept off her feet by this prominent and eligible bachelor recently appeared on Deeside.  She was 26 at the time of the nuptials in July 1898.  A year later the couple had a son, Samuel James Ramsay and in 1902 a second male offspring, Edward Ramsay, was born.  But Rev Ramsay Sibbald had arrived on Deeside at the end of Queen Victoria’s reign, and he would soon have to start to build a fresh Royal relationship with a new monarch.  He commenced this new period in his life with a piece of ecclesiastical entrepreneurialism, printing and offering for sale the sermons he had delivered at Crathie on both the Sunday after Queen Victoria’s death and on her funeral day! 

SJ Ramsay Sibbald and Elizabeth Sibbald

 

Visiting the sick, injured and dying, and attending funerals

Both John and Helen Michie were assiduous in calling on local people who were sick or had been injured.  This concerned, social visiting was not confined to the families of men under John’s control, or to Royal estate employees but was general across the local community.  Similarly, when local inhabitants died, the Michies followed the tradition of quickly calling on the bereaved family and viewing the remains of the deceased.  This could be a harrowing experience at times, but it was appropriate in this compact community.  John Michie’s predecessor as wood forester at Balmoral was John Thomson.  His son contracted tuberculosis (“consumption”) in his teens and died aged 18 in 1884.  “Mrs came down to see J Thomson's corpse and I called in to see the remains - humiliating.”  In 1892 there was another visit to a sick youth.  “called also to ask for Thow's eldest son at the Inn, who has been down with inflammation of the lungs he is not better but worse the temperature of his body being up to 106º, raving and weak.”  Many similar visits were recorded in the Michie diaries.

Cancer of the mouth and throat seemed to be cited quite often as the cause of death in Crathie men.  Perhaps this should not be surprising, given the almost universal male consumption of both whisky and tobacco, which act synergistically to induce neoplasms in this anatomical location.  In January 1901, John Michie “Called for James Stewart at the "Auld Brig".  Poor James is no better and not likely to be, cancer in his throat is said to be his ailment.”  But the most famous son of Crathie to die of a head/neck cancer was Francie Clark, cousin of John Brown and the Queen’s Highland Attendant.  In 1895 Francie Clark was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue and throat, on which the Queen’s physicians decided to operate to remove the growth.  The operation took place on 1 July at Buckingham Palace and three days later Dr Profeit received a telegram describing the procedure, which he showed to John Michie.  Francie Clark’s tumour at operation was far advanced with no hope of recovery and little hope of survival.  Five days after the procedure he was “in a critical condition” and died the following day.  John Michie was upset by the demise of Francis Clark, who had been a friend since John first arrived at Balmoral.  Clark was another member of the wider Brown family who was close to Queen Victoria.  She had granted Francie a lifelong tenancy of a cottage, Garbh Corrie, in Crathie village, which had been much improved and extended, with Royal finance, for the occupation of Francis in his retirement.  The Queen’s late Highland Attendant was buried at Braemar on 10 July and John Michie noted the pathos in the circumstances of Francis’ death and burial.  “The furnishing was only completed this spring, & it is sorrowful that Francis never spent a night in it (Garbh Corrie) till he did so in his coffin last night.”  The same circumstance had befallen Francie’s cousin, John Brown.  So close was HM’s attachment to Francie Clark that she paid for a tombstone to be placed over his grave.  In mid-October, while she was in residence at Balmoral, she visited Braemar graveyard to view the monument, calling at the Dantzig Shiel afterwards to take tea.  She complained to John Michie that the gravestone had been put in the wrong place, so John undertook to visit Balmoral to check on the problem.  What he found was that the men installing the granite edifice had moved the votive flower wreaths to one side and omitted to return them to the grave.  Michie quickly put things right and made sure that the Queen was aware that the problem had been solved. 

Francie Clark

Francie Clark grave

 

John McKenzie, the retired gamekeeper and neighbour of the Michies, was gatekeeper at the West Lodge adjacent to the Old Bridge of Dee.  Both he and his wife were ill at the start of 1893 and John Michie bought a bottle of wine for the 89-year-old lady, in the then current belief that it would improve her health.  He also arranged for a nurse to go up to look after Mrs McKenzie.  She died in March and Dr Profeit certified her death as being due to “Old age”.  John Michie arranged for a coffin to be made for the old lady in the joiner’s shop at Balmoral.  Thereafter, John McKenzie’s health gradually declined and the Michies were often at the house enquiring about his condition.  In early January 1895, McKenzie sensed he was nearing his end and asked John Michie to write his will.  This was not a task Michie felt qualified to do personally, but he agreed to record McKenzie’s wishes on paper and to pass them on to James Aitken, the manager of the bank in Braemar, who would construct the definitive document.  This action had been taken just in time.  When John Michie visited the Bridge of Dee cottage on 24 January, he found his friend, Dr Noble, tending the old man, who appeared to be in a coma and unlikely to regain consciousness.  John then took responsibility for the developing situation.  “I went on to Braemar & sent down a Mrs Pringle to be with the old man's granddaughter while sent back a message for Mrs M (Helen Michie) to come up which she did at once.  Walked back from Braemar at 1 pm & found him in same condition, came home had some dinner & drove up when found him very near the end. He had died at 3 pm a few minutes after I had left from Braemar to wire his daughter-in-law to come from Curragh Camp, Ireland.  The message that he was dead followed me up.  George Profeit (Balmoral Commissioner’s son) wired the Queen, as from his father, and also contacted his father who has gone to Aberfeldy with 2 rinks of Braemar curlers to play”. 

That was not the limit of John Michie’s compassionate but decisive leadership.  The following day, 25 January, he walked to Braemar in appalling weather to make arrangements for McKenzie’s funeral, “so stiff were the roads and blind the drift that I spent 2 hours on the 4 miles.”  The funeral “of which I have the management” was arranged for 28 January and took place in dreadful conditions.  John Michie and Alexander Profeit had been appointed executors of McKenzie’s estate.  “The sleighs from Braemar arrived at the appointed time, noon, and I proposed to my Co-executor Dr Profeit that we should read the will before proceeding with the funeral service which was agreed to owing to the exceptional circumstances of bad roads preventing all those interested returning after the interment.  This being done the service was proceeded with and the processions started, the coffin being roped on a sleigh of which there were six, three being driven tandem.  We had to leave the road in two places - beyond the Inver & beyond the Street of Monaltrie.”  The next day, 29 January, “Dr Profeit came up this forenoon by appointment and we proceeded to the Bridge of Dee for the purpose of making a temporary arrangement with the late McKenzie's friends consisting of his grand-daughter Margaret McK. Brown, his daughter Julia from Aberdeen and his brother James from Garlogie.  We had to inform Julia that she could not remain under the express desire of her late father.  We also informed "Maggie" that she could not remain alone, which she wished to do, and arranged with the brother, her grand uncle to remain with her for some little time.  Maggie got pettish saying she would leave altogether, but ultimately our proposals carried.  I went on to Braemar and carried out the registration.”  John Michie’s last act of support in the immediate aftermath of John McKenzie’s death was to send his photograph, via the Braemar Post Office, to the editor of the Aberdeen Journal, as the old gamekeeper had been close to Queen Victoria for many years.

On an earlier occasion also, John Michie had shown his compassionate side publicly after the death of a workmate.  This was in January 1885.  “Attended at the funeral of poor Peter Coutts who has been one of my workmen for the last four years.  His widow and 5 children are in very poor circumstances and we propose raising a fund of money to give her. This turned out a very rainy day wetting everything.  Peter was a volunteer and his comrades paid the respect to his memory giving him a military funeral.  The piper paying "Lochaber no more" very slowly, which sounded most plaintive.”  Over the next few days, John Michie opened a subscription book for the benefit of Peter Coutts’ widow and toured the local settlements seeking contributions.  Alexander Profeit set the scene with a gift of £1 and the total sum donated was £18-3s, which was held in trust for the benefit of Mrs Coutts.

Right from the start of his career at Balmoral, John Michie had shown that he had leadership potential by his attitude to his men and to his acquaintances.

 

Contacts with other estates

The foresters and other senior servants on major estates elsewhere in Great Britain behaved as though they were members of an informal club or society.  Most contacts were with estates local to Deeside, but other estates in England and Ireland also featured.  In February 1891, “Last night Mrs M & I drove to Mar Lodge and spent the evening with Mr & Mrs Gray managers there.”  Sometimes these contacts at a servant level were useful in smoothing over tense relationships between estate factors or even proprietors, for example in agreeing the line of marches between adjacent estates.  On Upper Deeside, Gordon Foggo, the factor on the Invercauld Estate and his master AH Farquharson could both be tetchy and difficult.  John Michie was recruited as a trustee of the Farquharson Educational Trust but he found it difficult to fulfil his duties as “R G Foggo the Factor at Invercauld who holds all the office in connection with the Trust … .  He is Chairman, Secretary & Treasurer”.    In July 1890, “By arrangement Cameron, Forester Invercauld and John McHardy Gamekeeper was sent they said by Mr Foggo to go over the march with me between Ballochbuie and Glen Callater grazing or rather between the latter and White Mouth forest, which we mean to keep clear of sheep by fencing the boundary.   They accepted my proposal Donald Stewart the keeper here being present to hear.”   Foresters often visited each other, and they freely swapped information, seeds and plant collections.  In 1892, “Planted a pair of blackcurrant bushes from Joseph Rust, Gardener to the Marquis of Abergavenny of Eridge Castle, Tunbridge Wells, Kent”.  In return, Michie, “Got some small seedlings of Betula nana for Mr J Rust Eridge Castle which I promised him”.  The “club” also cooperated to mutual advantage in recruiting new staff and in offering opinions on young foresters who had served under their personal tutelage.  Michie himself trained many young foresters, in 1890 for example, “Drove to Birkhall then walked on to Ballater with A Grant who leaves for Edinburgh on Friday or Saturday& thence to Chatsworth on Monday where he is to work under the Forester James P Robertson.  They are both old apprentices of mine, Alick having just left me to go to James as an improver.”  John Michie was also occasionally consulted by recruitment agents for large estates.  In 1892, “Wrote Thomas S Howe Esq Agent, Hillsborough, Co. Down, Ireland respecting a Land Stewart for the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava's Estate near Belfast.   Having been asked by Messrs James Carter & Co. High Holburn London to recommend a man.”  Locally, Ben Reid & Co, who offered a recruitment service, principally for landowners, consulted John Michie.  In 1896, “Wrote to B Reids in favour of Frank Machray for forester's place at Kildrummy.”  Machray was not successful with his application but was later appointed to a foreman position at Rosehaugh, near Avoch on the Black Isle.

 

John Michie, amateur bryologist

John Michie’s diaries, in the period that he was Head Forester, contain many references to species of moss that he found on Upper Deeside.  Although he had always been interested in plants, mosses are not a phylum that is commonly attractive to the amateur botanist.  They constitute a group of non-vascular plants, now recognised as being separate from the related liverworts and the hornworts.  Mosses are widely distributed in a variety of habitats around the world.  The diary for 1884, the first one which is available, covers the period when John Michie was preparing exhibits for display at the Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition of that year, including a collection of mosses from the Balmoral Estate.  It is possible that the need to prepare exhibits for that showcase, which was supported by Queen Victoria, stimulated him to search out the Bryophyta in his forest domain.  Two major Exhibition activities during the first half of 1884 involving mosses were, collecting and arranging moss species and constructing the wooden Exhibition chalet.  John Michie records searching for mosses at the Dubh Chlais (Black Hollow), Glen Beg and on the slopes of Lochnagar, where he got an “awful drenching”.  The external walls of the chalet were covered in moss, but it is not clear if this had a functional purpose or if it was simply at attempt to give the structure a decorative, rustic aura.  Attaching moss to the walls was time-consuming and Michie carried out much of the work himself, referring to it as “mossing”.  One species that was found in the Dubh Chlais was Hypnum crista-castrensis (Ostrich plume feather moss) in fruit, “which is rather rare”.  Messrs Stabler and Slater, both moss experts (see below) visited John Michie at Balmoral in the summer of 1884.

The following year, 1885, John Michie’s interest in mosses continued, even though the Edinburgh Exhibition had been concluded.  He corresponded with Mr Matthew B Slater, a nurseryman and landscape gardener, who shared his interest in mosses.  Slater described the moss, Trichacolea tomentilla to him by letter, though it is not clear if the species had been found on Deeside.  John Michie’s own moss collecting continued.  In July 1885, while on a successful fishing expedition for trout in the Garrawalt, he “failed to gather Buxbaumia aphylla (Brown Shield Moss) which plant I have been looking very closely for most of the by-gone summer”.  However, a collecting expedition up Lochnagar a few days later was successful in yielding several mosses and various flowering plants.  “Went to top of Lochnagar - Found two species of Tetraplodon (Slender or Narrow Cruet Moss) and Splachnum (Pink Stink Dung Moss), both on Dung of animals Foxes & Deer's respectively.  Found Trientalis europea (Chickweed Wintergreen or Arctic Starflower (Primulacea)) about 3000 feet up the plant smaller but instead of a single bloom two & sometimes three.   This fact is in favour of the theory that plants grow more stunted at high altitudes but flower more profusely.  Gathered Cornus suecica  (Dwarf Cornel or Bunchberry) near the water's edge at Loch-an-eon, in flower.   Got a few Hypnums (Sheet Moss) including H sormentosum in fruit.  Also Oxycoccus palustris = the common cranberry but not the plant known here as the Cranberry that is Vaccinium vitis idaea or Cowberry (lingonberry, partridgeberry, or mountain cranberry).   Michie also corresponded with George Stabler, an acknowledged expert on mosses.  Stabler was a schoolteacher at Levens in Westmoreland, where he had worked since 1858.  John Michie attached a list of mosses, which had been collected in Scotland and identified by George Stabler, to the page in his diary for 2 April 1885, though this inclusion must have been made retrospectively, since some of the specimens were gathered after that date.  “Mosses named by Stabler.  Orthotrichum speciosum, described as rare found by me near Balmoral Castle on decaying Populus tremula.  Physiotrium cochleariforme, at Sligachan, Skye by CH Binstead on 28 July 1885.  Dicranum virens on Ben Lawers by CHB 21 July 1883.  Hypnum trifarium on Ben Lawers by CHB 23 July 1883.  Tayloria tenuis Killin  CHB 19 July 1885.  Splachnum vasculosum Ben Lawers G Stabler 18 July 1885.  Captothecium niteus under Cam. Chreag, Perthshire 24 July 1885 (CHB).  Myurium hibridarum naris Loch Coruisk Skye CHB 7 July 1885.  Dicranum spurium Strensall Common, Yorkshire July 1883 (G Stabler).”  Probably the list referred to a letter he received from George Stabler on 13 November 1885.  “Received a letter from Stabler, Teacher, Levens, Westmorland last night containing some English, Perthshire and Skye mosses.  He acknowledges that one I sent him is very rare Orthotrichum speciosum (Bristle Moss – an epiphyte).  I collected it from some decaying Populus tremula (Aspen) in the wood east of Balmoral stables about 200 yards.”  Later, in 1902, George Stabler wrote “Hepaticae of Balmoral” Trans Bot Soc Ed 1902.  He added many new moss species to the British Flora.  The “CH Binstead” who collected some of the mosses in this list was Charles Henry Binstead, a clergyman and bryologist, who collected mosses throughout Britain and in North Borneo, and who sent specimens to the Natural History Museum in London.  Binstead was a member of the Moss Exchange Club, which was the precursor of the British Bryological Society. 

In December 1885, John Michie bought himself a microscope for examining and identifying his moss samples.  On the 17^th of the month, he wrote “Examined some mosses with the microscope”.  Later in the month he was collecting on the Mar Lodge Estate.  “Called at Corriemulzie Falls and I picked up some rare mosses from the rocks.”  Five years later, John was still on the lookout for specimens as he went about his work.  “With the view of starting the sawmill went up the forest by the middle drive to select some trees, and while admiring the number of Scots pine seedlings & which are springing naturally this year found Buxbaumia (Bug Moss, a genus of 12 species of moss) or a new moss very like it.  I feel a little doubtful before getting the opinion of others - if Stark describes it well this is something else but there are other plants faulty in delineation by him.”  (Stark’s identity has not yet been uncovered.)  The following year, 1891, John Michie found another location where Buxbaumia was growing.  “Gathered Buxbauma aphilla (Brown Shield Moss) in full fruit on the upper verge of the Middle drive some 30 yards to the west of the mill gate.”  He discovered a further location for this species in 1892.

John Michie was becoming well-known in the Bryophyte community.  In April 1895 he received a letter from Professor F O Bower of Glasgow University (Botany) “asking whether I could send him some specimens of the rare moss Buxbaumia aphylla.  I have answered his letter & sent him specimens by today's post.”  Michie was also consulted by JM Troup the Balmoral Head Gardener over the identification of a moss species.   “A plant presented to me by J M Troup the Queen's Gardener which he got from the Duchess of Connaught turns out to be the common Alpine Club moss Lycopodium alpina which I named & returned.”    

John Michie tried to include dripping water in some of his rocky landscape designs to encourage the growth of mosses but after his translation to the factorship in 1902, his interest in mosses waned and the only further mention of Balmoral mosses in his dairies was during WW1 when there was extensive collection of Sphagnum on the Balmoral and other Deeside estates for the manufacture of wound dressings.  Dried Sphagnum has an immense capacity (16x its dry weight) for absorbing fluids, be it rainwater on the hillsides or the exudate of war wounds.  Helen Michie was put in charge of the collection depot at Crathie, which seems to have been in the clubhouse of the Crathie Curling Club.

 

Attitudes to wild-life

It is perhaps not surprising, since he was brought up in the house of a gamekeeper, that John Michie would have a gamekeeper’s attitude to wild-life.  Animals were there to be exploited, if they had economic value, or to be killed down if they were harmful to the estate’s economic interests. This was an orthodox, country view at the time and nature was treated as though it was an inexhaustible resource.  Balmoral employees had no sense of the need for nature conservation and John Michie could kill a wild animal and still admire its natural attributes.  A typical example of this philosophy in action occurred in January 1884.  “Trapped a fine dog otter.  He had a beautiful dark coloured skin which is now in alum and saltpetre.”  Otters killed salmon and so were classed as “vermin”.  But there could be competing economic interests on the estate (see below) in the case of rabbits and deer browsing on young forest trees, especially in plantations. 

However, Queen Victoria’s lease and then purchase of the Ballochbuie to prevent over-exploitation of its native Scots Pines is often cited as one of the first nature conservation projects in Britain.  There were certainly some giant (and therefore old) trees in the Ballochbuie.  In August 1906, John Michie made some measurements of three of the largest specimens.  “Drove to Ballochbuie this morning and measured three of the largest girthed trees there -the King tree in Glenbeg - 3 feet above ground on lower level 13' 11" above ground on higher level 12' 4" (estimated to be about 300 years old).   Maiden of Ballochbuie on Glenbeg burn bank - 3 feet above ground absolutely 12' 7".   Tree on low ground west of Danzig Shiel 3 feet above gd. absolutely 12' 6½".   This tree splits into two gigantic limbs above 5 feet up.” 

The Queen often showed an appreciation of the grandeur of nature.  In 1860 on one of her great expeditions, “We passed by Inchrory—seeing, as we approached, two eagles towering splendidly above, and alighting on the top of the hills.”  Again in 1883 the monarch’s fascination with this top predator received a mention in her journal.  “Drove with Beatrice & Victoria B. by the Upper Glen Beg road, where we saw, on a ledge of rock, an eagle's nest!”  John Michie too was a keen observer of the life of the golden eagle.  In 1884, “Found a kite (Glentanner Glade) lying dead on high drive just as you enter the pine woods in Glen Beg coming from Stron-na-brack.  Golden eagle cause of her being there.”  At other times – in July 1892 and late June 1893 - John Michie got close to eagle nests bearing fledglings.  On the latter occasion, “walked to the Corriebuie and climbed a not very conspicuous rock to an eyrie where there were two young golden eagles.  They are well grown the wing & tail being half length.  Stroking with my walking stick put them at once in an attitude of defence and offence.  They stood straight up with tail spread, wings extended eyes glaring and beaks agape with which they repeatedly struck at my stick”.

The monarch’s views on nature were not consistently enlightened.  On several occasions, golden eagle fledglings were taken into captivity on the Queen’s instructions.  In 1885, John Michie noted, “… thence Balnacroft and saw the two eagles taken by the gamekeepers from an eyrie on Craig-Nise by the Queen's instructions.”  An eagle house was built about 1860 to accommodate such captives.  “Mr Anderson, Clerk of Works, preparing a plan for eerie to hold two eagles taken from a rock east of Abergeldie last summer.”  John Michie was commissioned to provide the sawn wood for its construction.  Later in 1886 the Queen and Princess Beatrice went to view the birds.  The Eagle House still exists and is now a listed building. 

Eagle House, Balmoral

 Foxes were also held responsible for the slaughter of game birds, though Reynard was not particularly prevalent on the Royal estates and was persecuted by the keepers, who killed foxes if they were encountered by chance.  For example, in 1885 “James McLaren while trapping rabbits within No 2 enclosure caught a fox”.  Later the same year on a roe drive, “The bag consisted of 8 roe deer, 2 stags and a fox.”  Occasionally special fox hunts were held, though not always successfully.  John Michie noted in early 1886, “Started for Birkhall to a fox hunt and principally to have a side cut out of the young wood near Inchbobbart - which I did.  No foxes, none seen even.”  On another fox hunt in 1891, the party on which John Michie was a member was barely more productive.  “Met gamekeepers at Littlejohn's for a fox hunt and brought workmen up from Birkhall to beat.   Tried Craigh Leah woods, without seeing any.  On Craig Pheepie a Reynard came up the hill to Alex Stewart of Althailloch who was stationed next to me.  He gave him right and left without apparently effect but the shots turned him along the hillside in the direction of where I sat in a cairn.   He made to pass behind within 20 yards but a number 3 shot cartridge stopped his career before he got quite opposite.  This a fair-sized dog was the only one seen the whole day.”  John Michie occasionally encountered foxes while going about his forest duties.  In February 1893, “On way home behind Craig Gowan young wood saw a fox walking about barking or calling on its mate - rather an unusual circumstance in daylight even at this the pairing season.”

Royal hunting parties were utterly casual about what they targeted.  Even though they might be hunting for roe, they would let off a hail of pellets and bullets at almost anything that moved.  In October 1895, John Michie was invited to join such a party, the “breakers of command No 6” (Thou shall not kill) being Prince Henry of Battenberg, Lord Lansdowne, Sir Allan McKenzie and two officers from the Guard of Honour based at the Ballater Barracks.  The bag was, “9 roebuck, 2 red hinds, 8 W.cock, 2 hens, 2 foxes & a woodcock”.  A similar party in 1897 (the Hereditary Prince Hohenlohe Langenberg, Lieut Ponsonby, Sir Allan McKenzie, the Captain of the Guard of Honour at Ballater, James Forbes, Commissioner and John Michie) produced a not dissimilar result.  “Killed were 14 roe, 1 hind, 2 grey hens (female Black Grouse) & 4 rabbits.”

 

Education, science and culture

Although John Michie was a very practical man, able to turn his hand to many different practical subjects such as, horses, gardening, cattle, carpentry, bridge design, road maintenance and shooting, and had not attended university as part of his education, he retained a strong interest in literature, art, drama and science throughout his life. 

At three periods, in 1892, 1893 and 1897, he attended what were then called “ambulance” classes (“ambulance” was borrowed from French and meant a moving hospital) but would today be named “first aid” instruction.  Much of the teaching dealt with the practical care of accident victims.  In June 1892, John Michie noted, “Attended practical work of ambulance at 11 am and at l2 there was an exhibition before the Queen in the front corridor of the Castle.  Put up a bandage on Geo. Profeit for fracture of the jaw, while he dressed me for fracture of the forearm.  Some of the gamekeepers carried a boy on a stretcher splinted and bandaged for fracture of the thigh.  In the evening at 7 o'clock was the examination.”  The other two courses seemed to cover practical skills, too, though in 1897 there was some theoretical instruction included.  The third course was led by Surgeon Woods, MD, Deputy Inspector General of the Royal Navy and this instructional series also attracted Royal attention.  In November, John Michie was present at a session dealing with bandaging and stretcher drill.  “HRH the Princess Henry attended and witnessed the practice with which she appeared to be well pleased”.  This series ended with a written examination set by the Ambulance Association, which Michie seemed to deal with competently.  “I feel that the composition of my answers is not perfect but believe I have done well enough to pass the second stage”.  There had actually been two separate courses conducted by Woods, one for men and one for women, a remarkable example of gender equality for the times.  After their conclusion, Michie acted for both classes in composing an address and arranging for signatures and the attendees and some of the senior Balmoral denizens, including Rev Sibbald and Mrs Barbara Forbes, wife of the Queen’s Commissioner.

John Michie was an avid consumer of books.  Often, when the weather was bad and he decided not to venture along the estate roads to Crathie church on a Sunday, he would record that he spent the day reading.  Science was often his companion as on a stormy Tuesday in October 1884.  “An awful wild day of drift first then sleet remained at home doing some odd jobs and studied the successive formation of the stratified rocks - lower & upper Silurian (first traces of life). Devonian Era (fishes abundant), Carboniferous era (land plants & animals)”.  Two years later, he noted that he was reading “Rambles of a Geologist” by Hugh Miller, the self-taught Scot who made major contributions to the development of the subject.  Keeping in touch with advances in his fields of interest must have been difficult from his home at the foot of the Ballochbuie but he had a subscription to “Garden” and other magazines, which would have helped.  He also had access to “Transactions of the American Forestry Congress”.  Usually, Michie had to buy books unseen and he was not always impressed with his purchases.  One such book was “Cottages for Rural Districts” by William Menzies, an architect from Egham, Surrey.  “A very common affair of about 36 pages most of which are occupied by a few drawings of cottages, a set of specifications and some note quoted from the Report of the Commission for Enquiring into the Housing of the Working Classes.  A sorry half guinea's worth”.  Displenish sales, especially those resulting from the death of noted Deeside personalities, occasionally gave John Michie the opportunity to acquire literature.  In 1890, “Went on to Ballater to attend sale of house furniture & belonging to the reps of the late Hugh Rose - late Provost of Ballater.  Bought a lot of old books only”.  In November 1896, John Michie, confined to home with a bad cold, read "Natural History and Sport in Morayshire" by Charles St. John.  Once he had completed this tome, he passed it on to Murray Foggo, the son of Gordon Foggo, the Invercauld factor.  Despite having at best a guarded relationship with Foggo senior, John Michie got on well with the junior members of the Foggo clan.

From time to time, John Michie was asked to contribute, or chose to submit, articles to magazines.  His efforts were not always appreciated by editorial boards, as in 1885 when Michie noted, “Received notice of the failure of the paper "Woods & Forests"”.  Visitors to Balmoral Castle would occasionally ask for contributions from John Michie, Charles Acland, the Liberal MP and prominent educationalist being one of them in 1885.  “Went to work in the evening to write an article on the planting of shelter belt for high sheep grazing in the south of England for C T D Acland Esq M A”.  The same year he was commissioned to write a report for the Select Committee of House of Commons on Forestry.  Queen Victoria had arranged for John Michie to visit the forests of the Duke of Coburg in Thuringia, Germany in 1894 and the following year he began to write a paper on his findings for publication in the Transactions of the Royal Scottish Academy.  However, just as he settled down to commit his thoughts to paper, he was interrupted by the news that the Queen was coming to tea at the Dantzig!  After the paper had been submitted, it was copied to Maurice Mutter, the Queen’s German secretary.  Later, in 1897, John Michie would be roped in by the RSA to act as a judge of an essay competition.  That was also the year of the Queen’s 60 anniversary of accession to the throne, John Michie contributed a paper, by request, to the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society on “her majesty's long reign, her estates and farms”. 

John Michie bought a microscope from R&J Beck, the well-known London manufacturers, which he particularly used in his study of mosses.  In 1886, he attended a lecture given by Professor Traill the eminent professor of Botany at Aberdeen University and his diary reference to the event contained the following.  “Phanerogam Thallogens (Rhodymenia Palmata (Dulse) (Laurencia Pinatifida (Pepper Dulse) Edible Seaplants Algae (Alaria Esculenta (Edible seaweed) (Ulva Lactuca) Laminaria Saccharina”. 

The Michies often attended dramatic and musical performances, held either at the Castle or in one of the local communities, usually Braemar or Crathie.  Events at Balmoral were frequently duty occasions, commanded by the monarch.  John was mostly accompanied by his wife and sometimes also by his senior children.  A typical example from February 1890 was “Drove Mrs M and 2 children - Annie & David to a concert held in honour of Robert Burns in Castleton Hall”.  The Michies’ older daughter, Annie, learned to play the piano under the tutelage of Ralph Dadge, the Crathie church organist, who was engaged by the Michies.  In 1896, Annie and Mr Dadge performed a piano duet at a concert in the Auchendyne Hall, with John, Helen, David and Beatrice present.  Annie was also a competent singer and was a member of the church choir at Crathie.  The form of conduct of local concerts, lectures and the likes was for a prominent local personality to take the chair and order proceedings.  Often this would have been Dr Alexander Profeit, the Queen’s Balmoral Commissioner.  However, in January 1897, Profeit was terminally ill and unable to fulfil such roles.  John Michie then acted as a stand-in until a new commissioner was in post.  On 25 January, John Michie was called upon to chair an event at Braemar, “A Nicht wi' Burns” in which Annie was performing.  With some trepidation. John complied though the weather “blew a hurricane of driving snow from the north”.  The Michies did not remain for the following dance, fearful they would not be able to travel home if they did so.

For John Michie, one of the most interesting aspects of high-level invitations to dramatic productions was the opportunity to meet and converse with unusual and interesting personalities associated with the theatrical world.  Such an occasion was his invitation to a play, "A Husband to Order", in which Princess Beatrice was a performer, which was staged at the Castle in October 1894.  The following day, John noted the occasion in his diary.  “At the Theatrical performance last night.  The Duke & Duchess of Fife, Sir Algernon & Lady Borthwick, Mr Farquharson of Invercauld, Lady Kinnard, Lord & Lady Carrington from Abergeldie &c were present.  Met Mr W. Clarkson, Perruquier (wigmaker) who strongly invites me to see him in London.  He promises to give me passes for the Theatres”.  Willy Clarkson was an exotic creature, probably homosexual, who had taken over a theatrical wigmaker from his father.  Only rarely would a theatrical performance take place in London without the help of Willy Carson’s props, such was his influence.  It was said of him that, “Not to know Willy Clarkson and his doings is to be out of the theatrical world… .”  A public lavatory in Dansey Place, Soho, was known as Clarkson's Cottage.  John Michie did not record whether he took up Willy Carson’s invitation. 

Willy Clarkson

Apart from Her Majesty, the other major landed proprietors on Deeside occasionally invited the Michies to events held at their estates, most usually balls celebrating some important occasion.  Sir Alan McKenzie of Braickley House, Glenmuick, was the most frequent host.  In September 1891, John and Helen Michie attended a ball at Braickley, travelling in a wagonette that John had hired for the occasion.  They did not get back to the Dantzig until 5.00am. 

Another frequent, non-royal host was Sir Algernon Borthwick, who was a journalist, Conservative MP and owner of the Morning Post newspaper.  He did not own property on Deeside but regularly rented large houses and estates around the area, where he became well known as an enthusiastic and generous host.  At various times he leased Invercauld House, Glen Taner House and Glenmuick House.  On his retiral from politics in 1895 he was raised to the peerage and took the title 1^st Baron Glenesk (in Midlothian, not Angus!).  Borthwick had married Alice Beatrice Lister in 1870 and his wife usually accompanied him on his extended visits to the north-east of Scotland.  In August 1890, the Michies received an invitation to attend a ball at Invercauld House, which was tenanted at the time by Sir Algernon.  “Sir Aljernon is a most enjoyable gentleman, and my lady enjoys herself while young Master Borthwick dances Ghillie Callum gracefully & well and having done so to the delight of all present was heartily applauded.  Helen danced in the same reel with Lady Borthwick while at Sir Aljernon's request I was Her Ladyship's partner at "Hullachan"”.  This was the first of three attendances by John Michie at Invercauld that autumn and the Michies and their hosts quickly got to know each other and appeared to enjoy each other’s company.  The third ball was marked by Sir Algernon’s unavoidable absence and his wife’s immobility due to injury but that did not markedly dampen the proceedings.  “Most of those present seemed to enjoy the dances.  Lady Borthwick unfortunately had sprained her leg and had to be carried into the ballroom and after remaining several hours left by the same means after Angus McIntosh, President of the Braemar Royal Highland Society on behalf of all present, thanked her Ladyship and Sir Aljernon, who was unavoidably absent having had to start for Birmingham in a hurry this day, for their kindness and hospitality in entertaining so many of all classes around them.  Her Ladyship sent for me on arrival and expressed the hope that all would enjoy themselves regretting that she was not able to join in the dancing on account of the accident referred to above”.  The following season the Borthwicks were again in residence at Invercauld and the Michies were once more invited to a grand occasion.  “The weather improving decidedly toward 9 o'ck we went spending a most enjoyable evening, for my own part more in the conversation of those present than in dancing altho. I had the honour of opening the evening by dancing the Reel of Tulloch with Lady Borthwick”.  Less than a week later the Michies were again on the road to Invercauld to attend a concert in august company.  “Drove over to Invercauld by the invitation of Lady Borthwick and was present at a Drawing room Concert given by Sir Aljernon & She.  Among the guests were the Prince Christian, Prince Henry of Battenberg., the Duke & Duchess of Connaught.  All their Royal Highnesses appeared to enjoy themselves.  The two chief performers were Mr Wolfe, the great violinist and a Mr Blunt who amused all & sundry with his comic singing”.  

Algernon Borthwick

John Michie was a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative but that did not prevent him attending two lectures by Rev Souper, the Free Church minister at Crathie, who espoused a radical political philosophy, the first talk was in 1895 and the second two years later.  The latter offering to the Mutual Improvement Association sailed under the title, “Labour & Wages".   “Mr Souper described a man's work as his capital but contrasted the money capitalists and the labourer, advocating unity of action of all artisans with the view of getting a share in profits as well as what he termed a living wage”.  John Michie did not reveal his own thoughts on this proposition, but they would not have been difficult to anticipate.  Michie himself occasionally gave public lectures such as that presented in Castleton, Braemar to the Mutual Improvement Association, in March 1896 on “German forestry, the state of forestry education in this country & some hints on planting for lawns &c”.  John Michie also led a discussion at the Crathie Mutual Improvement Association on the interesting topic of “Wood vs Coal”, though it is unlikely that the renewable vs finite dimension was covered and certainly not any notion of global warming.

The professional education of foresters in Scotland was a subject close to John Michie’s heart.  He was a member of the Highland and Agricultural Society and in 1896 he had been elected to a committee charged with raising money to establish a Chair of Forestry at the University of Edinburgh “… for which purpose a sum of £10,000 to £16,000 is required £5000 being promised by the last government if a like sum could be raised.  It was proposed to issue a circular to landed proprietors who are interested in the advancement of forestry inviting them to co-operate & contribute.  This is not the course I approve of exactly, but I welcome any means for the advance of education of this subject.”  A lectureship in forestry was established the following year but it was 1909 before the University of Edinburgh established a BSc degree in the subject.

Probably the most exciting and certainly the most popular public lecture that John Michie attended was given in Aberdeen in February 1897 by the noted Norwegian Arctic explorer, Fridtjof Nansen.  He had just returned from the Fram (name of Nansen’s ship) expedition in which he had attempted to reach the geographical North Pole by locking the vessel into the pack ice, where it drifted slowly and passively in an anti-clockwise direction through the ice covering of the Arctic Ocean.  The expedition started in 1893 and the ship escaped from the ice into the North Atlantic in 1896, though Nansen and a colleague had earlier left the ship on skiis to try to gain the pole.  They did not achieve this aim and had to complete their journey by the same means back to the North Cape of their home country.  A heroic failure but a remarkable feat of human ingenuity and endurance.  The lecture took place in the Mitchell Hall, Marischal College, but thousands gathered outside hoping at least to glimpse this famous man.  Curiously, Michie did not comment on the proceedings in his diary. 

 

Fridtjof Nansen

Social, political and religious views

John Michie was a conservative, with both an upper case and a lower case “C”.  In religion he was a strong defender of the Church of Scotland maintaining its position as the Established Church.  He was also a dedicated defender of the British Empire as the following quotation from 1892 shows.  “At Braemar on account of polling day for the General Parliamentary Election. The candidates are Dr Farquharson of Finzean - Gladstonian Liberal & Sir Arthur Grant Bart.   of Monymusk, Conservative or Unionist.  The former is the old member.  I have voted for the new and that he may win (but fear it).  I do so for the sake of the Established Church and against Home Rule becoming law in Ireland.  Uphold the Established Church and integrity of the Empire”.  In addition to his adherence to the philosophy of the Conservative Party, John Michie was also socially conservative.  Although he would always try to show concern for those under his direction and for neighbours and others in the local community who found themselves in difficult circumstances, he held to a clear distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor.   He indicated this in 1890 while ruminating on a sermon given by Rev Campbell.  “Mr Campbell in his sermon referred hopefully to the scheme taken up by the Salvation Army called General Booth's Scheme, for, as I understand it, the saving of poor morally & religiously lost.  The Minister likened these to the impotent man on his bed at the pool of Bethesda.  It is a big undertaking to reinstate moral ruin in the individual, from influences outside him & his maker.  But how much more so the scum of a whole nation?  Michie found his church’s obsession with converting the peoples of other countries to be misplaced, as when Professor Cowan preached at Crathie in 1893.  “Attended church yesterday with Mrs M when Pro. Cowen preached on a Central African Mission of the church and a collection which he earnestly begged for was taken.  The Professor seemed a little absurd when he told us of the men and women of this country who were labouring among the blacks and all for nothing, yet he wanted a large liberal collection of coin for the purpose”.  The Balmoral Wood Forester found the hypocrisy of many in the local population to be contemptible, as in the aftermath of Commissioner Profeit’s death in 1897.  “The Profeits complain that the Crathie have done little to help their sale which I must admit is correct.  Most of them would have disjointed their noses to serve the old Doctor when he was in power so late as a few months ago & now many of them will not make one track to help his family by even purchasing an article at their sale.  Such is the spurious nature of the blood running in the veins of the most of mankind”.   

John Michie was a conviction Royalist and held the Queen and other members of her family in deep respect.  However, he occasionally let his mask slip sufficiently to show that sometimes he found the wishes of his monarch misplaced, misjudged or anachronistic.  The annual ritual of drinking to the memory of Prince Albert on his birthday around the pyramidal cairn on Craig Lourighan was one such ritual which he observed but found outdated.  Another was the monarch’s approach to staff attendance at the annual Braemar Gathering, as expressed in 1891.  “All workmen got a holiday tomorrow on account of the Braemar Gathering.  To state my opinion of donning the kilt dress belonging really to the Queen, collecting at the Castle, marching in a kind of order about the place with Her Majesty's pipers playing in front, then she inspects these clansmen, they are driven to the Gathering to meet others of Mar & Invercauld.  The way by which her Majesty enters the field to her pavilion is lined by these clansmen they are dined, and the function is ended except that later on some get affected by strong drink.  Now there seems to me to be a mutual misunderstanding.  The Queen thinks she is giving us all a treat by this day's outing, & we believe we are pleasing the Queen by donning that Stuart tartan & strutting about.  My private feeling is that both are mistaken”.

Michie’s conservatism extended to his attitude to local government, which underwent considerable reform and extension during the 1890s.  In 1897 he expressed his opposition to the costs of the expanding local bureaucracy.  “The Statutory meeting of the Parish Council was held within the Invercauld Arms Braemar at 12 noon today which I attended & feel a bit sick of Local Government which after all is but a name and a means of raising inflated taxes as compared with those levied a few years ago.  Acts are passed by the legislature of Local Government, but Local Government Board are also created which prescribe for the Local Parish Councils who I am convinced have little to do but obey in a manner which a single parochial official could do better than a few men who cannot give but a limited time to the work while they believe they are Solomons all”.

 

Dogs

Dogs of various breeds were owned by the Queen and other members of the Royal family, or by the Balmoral Estate generally.  Many were working dogs, but some were simply pets.  Michie himself often kept dogs of breeds which were used around guns and hunting.  Two of John’s brothers bred dogs and were the frequent sources of new animals, either for personal or estate purposes, for example, Dr Profeit acquired a deerhound for the estate from Henry Michie in January 1885.  This breed was used to track and corner wounded deer on the hill.  Canines thus featured frequently in John Michie’s diaries.   Brother Henry Lumsden Michie, who was four years younger than the Balmoral Wood Forester, was a specialist dog breeder, while Tom Michie, one year younger than Henry, farmed the family property Clunskea in Perthshire.  These two are known to have bred deerhounds, Irish setters, collies and pointers. 

Young dogs were often given as presents.  In 1886 John Michie of Tornawarran (not a relative) gave John Michie, Dantzig Shiel, a young collie bitch.  The Balmoral Wood Forester himself sourced an Irish setter puppy from brother Tom for Alexander Profeit junior.  Alex Profeit, in turn, gifted the animal to his Army doctor brother, Charles, who was then a surgeon-lieutenant stationed at Barry Camp, an Army training area near Dundee.  John Michie usually owned a setter for use to search out and put-up grouse.  In August 1890, “Went out the Fiendallacher with my Irish setter puppy of 6 months and gun to shoot grouse.  Young Chas. Profeit and the gamekeepers were also out.  My little bitch hunted remarkably well for her age, and I killed over her 10 brace - the total bag of the company being 44 brace”.

John Michie was quite unsentimental about dogs.  To him they were working animals and had to earn their keep.  Dogs that he owned were frequently sold on, just as he might sell a horse.  For example, in 1891, “I sold him (brother Tom) "Jill" the puppy given me by my father last summer”.  A quite different attitude to stray dogs was to be found in Aberdeen.  In 1890 Mrs Susan Murray, widow of Andrew Murray, Advocate in Aberdeen, set up a home for stray dogs and cats at the rear of a property at 616 King Street and in that foundation year John Michie went to view the operation, though his purpose in making the journey was unclear.  “By Post Car to Aberdeen.  Went out King Street to Brickfield with Mr Robt. Gordon to see the Dogs' Home instituted by a Mrs Murry for stray dogs.  What a motley show of the canine race and a prison rather than a home.  I think this is a mistaken charity toward the animals.  There are about 40 & the smell of one house containing about 25 is to say the least unhealthy.”  If John Michie expressed any disapproval of her home to Mrs Murray, it had no effect.  The charity still exists today in the same general location and operates with the support of volunteers and charitable donations.

Members of the Royal family also kept dogs, more often as pets than as working dogs and the Queen herself had so many pooches that she could even be considered to have been a dog hoarder.  Quite often she received dogs as gifts.  When she went out for her daily drives about the Balmoral estate, she was often accompanied by a gaggle of canine companions, in addition to the humans as John Michie recounted in October 1893.  “Met the Queen who did not speak but bowed twice as she was being drawn along in her pony chair, while the Princess Beatrice walked by her side.  F Clark lead the pony, and A Rankine walked behind - these two highland attendants or "ghillies" looking after the Queen's dogs which trotted about the road.”  Michie gives no indication of the number of dogs accompanying the monarch on this occasion.  In 1891 the Queen had 88 dogs in residence at the Windsor kennels.

Royal dogs were given some freedom to wander about the estate, or they found it easy to evade their servant-minders.  Not infrequently, individual animals came to grief.  In October 1885, a fox terrier belonging to the Duke of Connaught escaped from the castle and four days later had not reappeared.  At the end of the Queen’s visit to Balmoral in 1895, the Royal party decanted for Aberdeen on the way to Windsor.  As the carriages were approaching Ballater, Princess Beatrice’s collie, which had been running about, was killed after being caught under the wheels of one of the vehicles.  Two years later Princess Beatrice again lost a pet dog in unfortunate circumstances.  Her pet pug was found dead in an ashpit at Balmoral stables.  It is thought that the animal died after feeding on something unsavoury amongst the rubbish.  The result was a Royal order to give the whole environs of the Castle a good clean-up and the following day John Michie went down to the Queen’s residence to examine progress.  He noted, “Invergelder carts taking away rubbish from shrubberies, ash pits, &c in pursuance of orders given foreman yesterday”.

 

High Status contacts of John Michie

The Balmoral Estate had a constant stream of high-status visitors, especially while the Queen was in residence and several of these VIPs found their way to John and Helen Michie’s door, though it is clear that such visits happened much more frequently towards the end of John Michie’s time as head wood forester.  Like all callers, distinguished visitors were accommodated and made welcome.  It was perhaps a reflection of the informal generosity of John and Helen Michie that the exchanges with such visitors were often of a familiar nature and led to requests for help from the Balmoral head wood forester. 

However, in his diaries John Michie occasionally gave less than flattering accounts of his impressions of VIP visitors.  In June 1884, Dr Profeit called with Lord Carlingford, the Lord Privy Seal and was shown some of the Balmoral forests.  Michie’s view of this visitor?  “His Lordship has evidently studied to some extent the economy of trees, but nowhere practically regarding them”.  Another expert who was shown over the Bamoral forests by Michie was General Michael, then a retiree from the Indian Forestry Service, in 1894.  “We drove to the Ballochbuie and having left the carriage at the Garrawalt Falls proceeded up by the Eagle's nest walk, I giving the General what information he wanted so far as I could which he said he appreciated much.  From it he means to compile a "paper" to be read to the Society of Arts, London a month or two hence.  He had a lot of questions placed on paper for me to answer such as preparation of ground to plant, fencing, draining &c”.  It seemed that General Michael was picking Michie’s brains for his own advantage, though Michie appeared not to mind, finding the General to be a pleasant companion.  In August 1885, John Michie had a more fruitful exchange with another visitor, Mr Acland, the MP for East Cornwall.  “Had a consultation with Mr Acland MP East Cornwall about the planting of his father's estates in north Devonshire.  Extensive shelter walls for the benefit of sheep is what he wants to get at”.  Michie was also entrusted by Acland with a letter to be delivered to Princess Frederica of Hanover, wife of Baron von Pawel-Ramingen.

Lady Borthwick, wife of Sir Algernon Borthwick sought John Michie’s advice on the advisability of inviting the Balmoral Highlanders to a dance in September 1892, given that there had recently been several deaths in the Royal Family and the Queen was a stickler for proper mourning.  The considered position of Michie and the commissioner was to avoid such an invitation.  The Highlanders would be sure to drink and dance noisily and that would not be seemly.  The Borthwicks had many exchanges with John Michie, and Lady Borthwick was particularly keen to dance with the Balmoral wood forester when balls were held, a good example being from October 1895.  “Left started on invitation to Glen Muick for a Ball given by Sir Aljernon & Lady Borthwick having been pressed to go by the latter.  Sir A had just arrived from the Tyrol where he had been with HRH the Duke of Sax Coburg Gotha shooting deer & chamois.  He showed me a pair of stags' heads which he had killed & was very kind.  Beautiful evening as they speak of the whole night up to 3 am.  I left at 2 am”.  The relationship with the Southesks continued the following year.  “Having to go to Ballater I proceeded thither by forenoon coach and deposited some money with N of S Bank continued up to Birkhall thence to Glen Muick House and made my excuses in person for not going tonight to see moving photographs - a novel entertainment which Lady Southesk invited Mrs M & myself by wire last night.  Having seen Lord & Lady Southesk they took my reasons as sufficient excuse. I also happened to see the Duke & Duchess of York who are guests at Glen Muick but who are commanded to Balmoral by the Queen tonight and Lord Glenesk tells me the Tsar, princes & all are going to shoot driven grouse with him on Monday”.

The Queen’s Physician, Dr James Reid, was another North-East loon, who had been born in Ellon, Aberdeenshire and had trained at Aberdeen University.  He and John Michie shared a particular leisure interest – gardening and Michie supplied plants or trees to Dr Reid from time to time.  Reid was knighted in 1895 and John Michie called on him at his home “The Chestnuts” to deliver congratulations and to look over Reid’s garden.  “By arrangement went out to see Dr Reid & his place at Ellon.  Lunched with him and had a look round found that young trees & shrubs planted there last autumn had suffered more from the severe winter even than they did here.  I promised to send him a few Scots pines & birches next spring as an experiment in spring planting instead of autumn”.  John Michie received a further invitation to visit Ellon in 1896.  “Saw Sir James Reid who said adieu but asked me to go out to Ellon next spring or summer to see his plants and give my opinion as to how they are doing”.  

Sir James Reid

When Queen Victoria was in residence at Balmoral, a minister of the then current Government was required to be in attendance on the Deeside estate and in this way, John Michie made the acquaintance of a number of serving ministers, such as Mr Campbell-Bannerman, Minister of War, in 1893 and 1894.  Several other VIP visitors to Upper Deeside took the opportunity to source seedlings from the Balmoral wood forester, such as Major Harry Legge, Equerry-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria and Lady Antrim of Glenarm Castle (Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria).  Following John Michie’s visit to Coburg in 1894, the Duke of Coburg sent some plants of Sorbus aucuparia var Dulcis to John Michie for planting at Balmoral.  Michie noted, “The fruit being sweet & edible it is said indeed a small bottle of the preserved fruit has been sent me which is sweet enough but of course the preserving ingredient is sugar”.

On 25 September 1895, “Sir Fleetwood & Lady Edwards called afternoon”.  At the time Sir Fleetwood was Keeper of the Privy Purse.  Another, similar VIP visit was in 1901 when “Wednesday 25 September.  Earl (a distinguished naval officer) & Countess Clanwilliam, Lady Elizabeth & Captain Dawson; and Ladies Beatrice, Adelade, & Catherine Meade from Abergeldie Castle called & had tea”.  The following day was another busy afternoon for high status visitors to the Dantzig.  “Sir Dighton Probyn (distinguished Army officer who was awarded the VC during the Indian Mutiny and was the newly-appointed Keeper of the Privy Purse), his sister Mrs. Hill, his niece Miss HiIl; Sir Francis & Lady Knollys with their girl & boy; and Sir Edward & Lady Bradford (Sir Edward Ridley Colborne Bradford was a British Indian Army officer who served as head of the London Metropolitan Police, from 1890 to 1903.) Chief of the London Police all came to the Danzig and had tea. Sir Francis tells me he has not been here that is at Abergeldie since 1886 except two days two years ago and even then, his visit was to Mar Lodge with the King, not to Abergeldie or Balmoral”.  By this date it was known that John Michie would be the successor to James Forbes and that elevation of status surely accounted for this flock of high-status visitors?  

Sir Dighton Probyn

 

The Mackenzies of Glenmuick

Not all the landed proprietors on Mid- and Upper Deeside owed their good fortune to “old” money.  Some had acquired estates with decidedly “new” wealth, but their status with other proprietors seemed to derive from the magnificence of their holdings and not from their ancestry.  Two prominent examples of recently acquired wealth along the Dee valley were Sir William Cunliffe Brooks, who bought the Glentaner estate and Aboyne Castle and its policies, with money made in banking, and one subject in this vignette, James Thomson Mackenzie (1818 – 1890), whose fortune was derived from trade in and with the Empire. 

JT, as he was usually known, was the son of an Aberdeen “‘haberdasher linen and woollen draper”, but not a very successful one.  George Mackenzie, his father, became bankrupt in 1808.  James Mackenzie was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School before travelling to India as a merchant seaman in 1837, when he was only 19.  His brother, Alexander, had previously moved to the sub-continent.  James began employment in an indigo factory in Bengal and proved to be both diligent and hard-working, learning both to speak and to write the native language.  Promotion was rapid and he was put in charge of the factory at an early age.  Indigo is a deep blue dye derived originally from a leguminous plant, Indigofera tinctoria which has been cultivated and traded around the world for so long that its geographical origin is unknown.  India was the main source for the compound used in Europe, once trade routes to the east were in place.

In 1843, JT became ill and had to return to Britain for a year but on his return to India he “… took the management of Gingergatcha in 1844 with a share in connection with James Ferguson & Co. of Calcutta, and they brought me into a good deal of business connection with Messrs. Ker, Jagore & Co. at Calcutta, which was one of the leading firms there.  In those days there were only six large firms in Calcutta. My brother Aleck had given up the sea and managed the marine part of their business”.  JT’s ability was quickly recognised but he declined a partnership in the firm, instead negotiating a commission arrangement.  In 1848, James Thompson became an indigo manufacturer himself on a large scale, the villages which he controlled having a population of about 350,000 people and he paid land revenue to the Government amounting to £11,300 per annum.

In 1849, JT married Mary Eliza Sophia, a daughter of Charles Dupre Russell of the Bengal Civil Service and their first child, Allan Russell Mackenzie was born in India the following year.  His father then decided to sell off his assets and return to Britain, as his health was in an indifferent state.  The sale realised about £100,000 and initially JT lived at Phesdo House, Laurencekirk, Angus.  James Mackenzie then moved to London where he started a business as an East India merchant.  Again, JT’s hard work, knowledge and intelligence brought major success.  “‘From 1863 to 1869 I was principally occupied in business connected with foreign loans and financial transactions; when I finally gave up business in 1869, for in the previous 4 years I had been working extremely hard and had had a severe illness which had obliged me to give up business … at that time I believe I had made about £1,000,000”.

James Thompson Mackenzie was well-connected in London and in 1868 he was largely responsible for financing the Marlborough Club, which was established by Prince Albert Edward of Wales, Queen Victoria’s eldest son, in association with his friends.  The Prince vetted membership proposals and the rejection of one of JT’s nominees led to him withdrawing his money from the project.  No one crossed JT with impunity!  However, he retained a good relationship with the Royal family as indicated by the presentation of his eldest son Allan at a levee held by the Prince of Wales on behalf of his mother in 1871. 

Now, aged 51, James Mackenzie turned in a different direction.  As befitted his station in life, in 1869 JT bought the Barony of Kintail from Mr Mackenzie of Seaforth and he also negotiated with Colonel James Farquharson of Invercauld to purchase the Glenmuick (meaning sow valley) estate in Aberdeenshire.  Complications arose due to this property being entailed but the 36,000-acre Glenmuick Estate was eventually acquired for £50,000.  Now JT needed a grand house on his new property to give a visible demonstration of his wealth.  Glenmuick House was designed by Sir Samuel Morton Peto and built by William Henderson & Co.  The foundation stone was laid in 1871 and the building was completed in1873, though it was in use earlier.  Furnishings included several valuable tapestries, a 300-year-old sideboard of black oak and a marble mantlepiece which had belonged to the late Emperor of the French, having been presented to him by the City of Paris.   St Nathalan’s Episcopal Church was constructed in the grounds of the house in 1875.  From time to time his friend, the Prince of Wales, visited Glenmuick House to take part in grouse drives. 

Glenmuick House

 St Nathalan Church (ruin), Glenmuick

At this time, the relationship between Sir James Thompson Mackenzie and his eldest son, Allan Russell was harmonious, and Sir James committed to building a separate mansion for his eldest son’s use at Braickley (Braichlie, Brackley) on the Glenmuick Estate.  “Sow Valley” afforded ample opportunity for sport and Allan Mackenzie soon became a keen shot and one of the most proficient stalkers in Scotland.  However, he needed a career and joined the Army.  In October 1872, his father gave a ball, which was attended by 150, in his honour at Glenmuick House, as he had to return to his regiment.  A huge bonfire was lit in front of the house and ghillies danced a Highland reel round the body of a splendid stag.  This was followed by fireworks.

In 1874, Allan Russell Mackenzie married Lucy Davidson of Tulloch, Rossshire.  Allan had left the Army before his marriage and then sought to live as a country gentleman, moving between properties in Invernessshire, Aberdeenshire and London.  His wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter, in Inverness in 1875.  The couple went on to have a family of five.  In the 1870s, JT and Allan Mackenzie often acted in concert, for example encouraging curling in Ballater, shooting and deerstalking in Glenmuick, promoting an annual rifle competition for Volunteers on Deeside and attending society events on Deeside and in Aberdeen.  When members of the Royal family, or VIP guests travelled to Balmoral or Abergeldie, Mackenzie, father and son, were often part of the greeting party on the platform at Ballater station.

In 1883, JT caused his will (called a trust disposition in Scotland) to be drawn up.  The nominated trustees were his two oldest sons, Allan Russell and Randolph Douglas, together with advocate James Auldjo Jamieson WS.  JT took a dynastic view of the family’s future after his death.  He and all his descendants were to be buried in a vault at Glenmuick House and his mother (but not his father, who had deserted his mother after the bankruptcy) was to be re-buried there.  Heirs to the estate, including the husbands of female heirs were obliged to take the family name and arms of Mackenzie.  The trustees were empowered to complete Braickley House and to spend £4,000 on its furnishings.  All JT’s property in Scotland was then to be entailed in favour of his eldest son.  Everything seemed set for Allan Russell Mackenzie to succeed his father in due course.

The Braickley site had originally been occupied by a castle but it appeared to have fallen into ruin and the debris had been removed.  It is not clear when construction of Braickley House started or when it was completed and put to use by Allan and Lucy Mackenzie, but completion seems to have been after 1881, because in that year they were living in the Birkhall mansion.  From the wording of JT’s will, it seems building work was underway in 1883.  The house was definitely in use in October 1885.  Allan Mackenzie reached 36 in 1886 and was acting independently of his father in many matters.  He was in very good standing with Queen Victoria and in September of that year he lunched at Balmoral and afterwards had the honour of being received by Her Majesty.  On a number of other occasions, Allan Mackenzie also dined with the monarch.  Further, he shot with the Prince of Wales on a regular basis. 

James Thompson Mackenzie was well known to the Prince of Wales and, by 1884, lent the future monarch at least £250,000 secured against the deeds to the Sandringham estate.  This loan, and possibly further large sums lent to other friends, apparently caused a disagreement with his eldest son and the consequence was that the father took brutal retribution against Allan.  As was remarked above, no one crossed JT with impunity.  In 1889, James Thompson Mackenzie lodged a codicil to his trust disposition.  The family trustees were replaced by his youngest daughter, Margaret, acting with Mr Jamieson.  JT’s son Randolph had died in 1887 but Allan was still very much alive and was thus removed from any direct influence on the disposal of his father’s estate.  All benefits previously accruing to Allan Mackenzie were deleted and, in their place, he would instead receive an annuity of £4,000.  There was no longer an obligation on the trustees to complete Braickley House, but the trustees were empowered to buy an estate in England, for up to £75,000, made available for Allan’s use during his own lifetime, which provision was clearly designed to keep Allan away from Glenmuick.  Finally, the cruellest blow of all against his recalcitrant eldest son by JT was to decree that his Scottish properties should now be entailed in favour of his grandson, Allan James Reginald, the eldest son of Allan Mackenzie.

Presumably, this change to JT’s will was made without the knowledge of his son Allan, as the two of them continued to appear in public together to carry out various duties.  Eighteen eighty-nine was a busy year.  His Imperial Highness, the Shah of Persia arrived at Aberdeen in July on his way to Deeside, where both JT Mackenzie and Sir Algernon Borthwick had agreed to act as hosts for this eastern potentate.  James and Allan Mackenzie, along with Prince Albert Victor, the eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, were on the platform at Ballater to meet His Imperial Highness.  At Glenmuick House, a wide panoply of Highland activities had been brought forward for the imperial visitor, Highland games, dinner, a ghillies’ ball and a torchlight procession.  The following day, the Shah left for Invercauld House, which Sir Algernon Borthwick was leasing, before finally moving on to Balmoral Castle and his stay with Queen Victoria.  When he left Balmoral, the Shah was transported in the Royal yacht, Victoria and Albert, directly from Aberdeen to Cherbourg.

It was a curious fact that JT Mackenzie had a rather rough manner of speech and was blunt and forthright, even with the Prince of Wales, but the way he conducted himself was tolerated.  Early in 1890 he received the honour he had probably craved for years when he was created the first Baronet of Glenmuick.  As part of the celebrations of this accolade, a cake and wine banquet was held at Glenmuick House, together with the lighting of a bonfire on the hill behind the mansion, fireworks display and a ball.  But JT did not have long to enjoy his newly elevated status.  Queen Victoria noted in her journal in May of that year, “In the afternoon, drove … to Sunningdale Park, where Sir James M^c Kenzie of Glen Muich is very ill. Liko got out to inquire for me”.  JT died on 12 August at Brighton having moved there in the hope that the sea air would improve his pleurisy.  Allan Mackenzie must then have found that while he had become Sir Allan, 2^nd Baronet Glenmuick, he had been eliminated as the main beneficiary of his father’s will.  His unhappiness can be imagined.

James Thompson Mackenzie’s body was returned to Aberdeenshire and he was buried on 21 August 1890, as he had requested, in the vault behind Glenmuick House.  His wish was that his funeral should be as private as possible, but it was still widely attended, especially by local people from Ballater and from the estate.  The Queen sent a letter of condolence to Lady Mackenzie and was represented at the funeral by Dr Alexander Profeit, her Balmoral Commissioner.  John Michie was also present, as was Donald Stewart, the head keeper at Balmoral.  The Prince of Wales was represented by Sir Dighton Probyn and the prince also sent a wreath composed of heather and foxtails, “as a last token of sincere friendship and regard from the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children”.  Five days later, when the Queen arrived at Ballater on her way to her Highland home, she wrote, “We missed poor old Sir J. M^c Kenzie, who used always to be there”.  James Thompson Mackenzie had, indeed, been stupendously wealthy, his personal estate amounting to over £694,700.

Sir Allan Mackenzie tried to overturn his father’s will in the courts but though the process went on until 1894, it was without success.  The most he achieved was to negotiate an amelioration of its terms with JT’s trustees.  They agreed two things, firstly not to sell any part of the Glenmuick estate until his eldest son, then ten years old, reached the age of 24.  Secondly, the trustees agreed that as an alternative to spending £75,000 on an estate in England for Sir Allan’s use, they would instead pay him the interest on that sum.  While these actions and negotiations were in process, Sir Allan continued to live at Braickley House and to conduct himself normally in his full range of activities.  He was not allowed, under the terms of his father’s will, to move to Glenmuick House, which was let by the trustees, “… but not to a cad nor to one who would be disagreeable to the royalties, from whom I have always received the greatest kindness”.

The Queen seemed to make a special effort to support Sir Allan, his wife and family.  She visited the Mackenzies at Braickley House in September 1890 and the following account is from her journal.  “In the afternoon, drove with Beatrice & Harriet P. to Brackley, Sir Allan M^c Kenzie's pretty little place, & took tea with L^y M^c Kenzie, who is a very nice person. They have 4 charming children, the eldest, a pretty girl of 15, & 3 boys, the youngest only 3, a beautiful boy. From here, we drove through very pretty fir woods to the house of Glen Muick, an enormous building, in a very exposed position, to see the widow old L^y M^c Kenzie, a nice old lady, who was very pleased at our visit. Her 2^nd daughter, M^rs Pigott, & her children, were with her.”  Sir Allan and his wife were frequent guests at theatrical performances and dinner held at Balmoral Castle.  In September 1891, a performance of “The Mikado” was mounted to which the Mackenzies were invited and after the performance Sir Allen was received by the Queen in her drawing room.  John Michie also attended the performance.  His pithy comment in his diary was, “… proceeded to Balmoral where last night a theatrical entertainment was held in presence of a large assemblage of the upper caste including the Borthwicks, from Invercauld & Fifes from Mar Lodge”.

Sir Allan Mackenzie was a very popular figure on Deeside, because of his interest in the welfare of the estate employees and the people of the glen and of Ballater generally.  His support for local activities and causes was always significant.  Annually, he would arrange a distribution of venison to the poor of the district, much of which he must have shot himself.  Another act of generosity was to provide the Glenmuick tenants with seed oats in February 1893 after the failure of the previous year’s harvest.  John Michie seems to have had no dealings with JT Mackenzie (though Michie’s diaries for 1880 – 1883 are missing) but he had frequent dealings with the 2^nd Baron Glenmuick.  In September 1891, Michie was an invitee to a ball held at Braickley House.  “Attended Sir Alan McKenzie's Ball at Braikley last night.  Weather extremely wet till midnight.  Got home at 5 am”.  It was a long drive over indifferent roads for the Balmoral wood forester.

However, in 1892, Sir Allan Mackenzie had to vacate Braickley House.  The Queen was appalled by the way JT Mackenzie had treated his eldest son and she stepped in to offer her country cottage in Glenmuick, Altnaghuibhsaich, for his accommodation.  It was not a mansion, in fact it was quite pokey, but at least it was nearby.  In September of that year Queen Victoria wrote,” Drove with Beatrice & Harriet P. to Altnaguithasach, where Sir Allan M^c Kenzie with his wife & children are staying. I lent it them, as they have been driven out of their own home, by the most unjust Will of his old Father. They made the little sittingroom very comfortable, & gave us an excellent tea”.  John Michie had been instructed by the monarch to help the Mackenzies to settle in their temporary home.  He first heard of the new tenants on 11 July, “To Altnagiubhsaich this (Monday) morning and the Birkhall workmen there by appointment for thinning spruces and other work on account (the latter) of Sir Allan McKenzie coming there, by the Queen's command to live for some time”.  A month later Michie arranged for two loads of firewood to be delivered to Altnaghuibhsaich followed a little later by a further delivery of fuel. In September, John Michie received a complaint that the road to Altnaghuibhsaich had many loose stones, so he arranged to have them cleared.  Sir Allan’s status as a mere tenant in Glenmuick caused some embarrassment late in 1892 when he had to withdraw his candidature in the election for the district of Glen Muick, Tulloch & Glengairn, as he did not qualify, since he paid no rates there.  

Altnagiubhsaich

The difficult situation caused by the will of JT Mackenzie, appeared to be resolved in 1893, as Sir Allan Mackenzie and his family resumed residence at Braickley House.  Apparently, an interesting solution had been worked out with JT Mackenzie’s trustees.  John Michie got wind of the new arrangements in late 1893.  “Received a letter from David Reid, Crofts of Glen Muick asking me to patronize a "Banquet & Ball to be given to Sir A McKenzie (on the occasion of his having got the management of the Glen Muick Estate?) which by descent ought to belong to him”.  The new arrangement for the management of the Glenmuick estate met with general approval in the district and this banquet was the outcome.  It was held on 5 January 1894.  John Michie recorded the event, which was held at Glenmuick House, in his diary.  “At Balmoral and in the afternoon started in a close carriage accompanied by Homerville Hague, Artist, to a Banquet given to Sir Allan McKenzie by his friends and neighbours on the occasion of his coming to reside in the district of Glen Muick and Ballater.  Many were present.  The Loyal and Patriotic toasts were gone through by the Chairman D Reid of the Crofts of Glen Muick, being the largest Tenant.  Also, the health of the guests Sir A and Lady McKenzie.  Neighbouring proprietors Sir A Grant, Sir W Cunliffe Brooks of Glentanar replied.  Deputy Lord Lieutenant of County.  Dr Profeit replied to by himself Sir J Clark of Tilliepronie.  Strangers the Reverend Mr Meanie, R C clergyman replied to by myself.  Health of Chairman by Mr Sandison Aboyne &c &c.”  Everyone, from the monarch to the man in the streets of Ballater, seemed satisfied that a wrong had been righted. 

The speech given by Sir Allan Mackenzie at the banquet was particularly revealing, while being couched in very diplomatic language.  ““I should, indeed, be blind if for one moment I pretend not to understand what has prompted this expression of goodwill.  I do not intend by referring to the past with its many ups and downs to spoil the harmony of the evening.  I can only say I have never faltered.  Even when the hours seemed darkest, and I was surrounded by rocks on all sides I have tried to steer my course clear keeping straight to the goal I had in view assisted to persevere in reaching it by the loving sympathy of my wife and the kindness and advice of friends.  (Applause).  The past three years will soon be forgotten by me and like a troubled dream swept away.  But there are some things that never can be forgotten and will always remain in pleasant memory and I trust will form an additional incentive to me to do my duty in the future.  (Applause).  I need not here refer – for it is so well known to you – to the gracious act of favour which was shown to me last autumn when literally I had no home of my own. … I should like to take this opportunity of saying how much and how often my wife and myself have been touched by the silent but unmistakable marks of deep sympathy which have been shown to us by those who perhaps did not like to put their thoughts into words. … I intend to live many more months in the year amongst you than my father was able to do …”.

In early in 1894, John Michie discovered the details of the new arrangements.  “At Birkhall saw Grant who has been manager on Glen Muick estate for some years but who has resigned his place on account of Sir A McKenzie having become factor and commissioner under his late father's trustees - so says Grant.  Bade him goodbye”.

The year 1894 saw the final act in the legal proceedings concerning the will of JT Mackenzie, when an attempt to prove that JT had been domiciled in England and thus that his will should fall under the jurisdiction of the English courts, failed.  However, although Sir Allan Mackenzie only had the formal status of factor and commissioner of Glenmuick, he behaved as though he was the laird of the estate (other than occupying Glenmuick House) and he was accepted as such by everyone in the district, including the Royal family.  The family’s land in Kintail also fell under Sir Allan’s direction.

In 1894, Sir Allan regained access to the Glenmuick waters of the Dee, though the shooting on the estate was let to Sir Algernon Borthwick.  The quasi-laird of Glenmuick became even more prominent in doing good deeds, pursuing the Conservative interest in politics, donating to charities, such as the District Nursing Association and contributing to the bazaar held at Crathie to raise funds for the new Crathie church.  He was also appointed as a Justice of the Peace and as a Deputy Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire.  Annually, Sir Allan provided gratuities to the engine drivers and firemen manning the Deeside line.  Another annual event was a concert in support of the poor of Ballater, with Sir Allan presiding.  Allan Mackenzie, with common touch, was also a supporter of the Aberdeen Football Club, formed by the merger of three pre-existing clubs in 1903.

Sir Allan also started to spend money on improving Brackley House, installing electric candelabra and other electric lights throughout the property, changing the drive and installing a new portico.  The electricity came from a turbine powered by the Braikley burn and utilised a battery pack for storage.  The Queen, ever curious to see improvements instituted by her neighbours, called at Braickley in 1897.  “Drove with Beatrice & May to Brackley, which has been much improved, with a new approach & additions to the house. Found L^y M^c Kenzie & her daughter at home, & took tea with them”.       

Interactions with the Royal family even intensified, Sir Allan greeting the King of Portugal at Ballater when he visited Queen Victoria in November 1895.  Sir Allan and Lady Mackenzie were regular diners at the castle, including when the Czar and Czarina of Russia visited Upper Deeside in 1896.  John Michie and Donald Stewart were roped in by Prince Henry to act as beaters for a shooting party in Glen Muick.  The trees were heavy with snow as Michie related.  “Started in a shocking storm to the Castle to join a shooting party for Glen Muick, whither Prince Henry had asked me to go yesterday.  The weather cleared up a little as the day advanced.  Stewart (Donald) the keeper in chief & I were driven over the hill to Altnaguibhsaich or within half a mile of it where the shoot began.  It ended after a rough time beating the woods hanging with showers of snow, or what was turned into that when the laterals were disturbed.  The bag was a satisfactory one.  The breakers of command No 6 (Thou shall not kill) were Prince Henry of Battenberg, Lord Landsdowne, Sir Allan McKenzie of Glen Muick & two officers from Guard of Honour, Ballater, 9 roebuck, 2 red hinds, 8 W.cock, 2 hens, 2 foxes & a woodcock.  A slow & cold journey.  At Danzig at 9 pm.  Michie and Prince Henry were on good terms, so John Michie would not have resented his hard day. 

So, life continued for Sir Allan and Lady Mackenzie.  The year 1901 was special for the couple as their eldest son, Allan James, reached the age of majority.  This milestone was celebrated with a major gathering at Braickley House in honour of Allan James, which was attended by John Michie, basking in his new status of factor-designate on the Balmoral estate.  “In the afternoon started for Brackley to dine by invitation at a big party given by Sir Allan & Lady McKenzie in honour of coming of age of their eldest son in May last.  The Chief speakers were the Marquis of Huntly, Lord Kintore and Sir Allan McKenzie himself who in proposing the health of his tenants & neighbours coupled me with "the neighbours" and paid me the compliment of congratulating me on my recent appointment as Factor to the King”.  The following evening John Michie and his wife, Helen, were invited to Braickley again, though they declined “in view of all the lamented occurrences (death of Queen Victoria, principally) of this year”.  Michie was present at Braickley again two weeks later for a further send-off for Lieutenant Mackenzie.  The young soldier was presented with field glasses and a Mauser pistol.  In April 1902, probably as a result of Michie’s recent promotion, his relationship with Sir Allan deepened.  “Lunched with Sir Allan MacKenzie and spent the afternoon with him …”.

But tragedy befell the family in 1903.  Allan James, the oldest son of Sir Allan and Lady Mackenzie and the main beneficiary of the will of JT Mackenzie, became an officer in the Imperial Yeomanry and served in South Africa during the Second Boer War.  Subsequently, he was assigned to the West African Frontier Force, which was set up to defend the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.  Sadly, he died of acute bacterial gastroenteritis while serving in Zaria, Northern Nigeria in 1903.  It was a substantial time before the body could be repatriated and, in the meantime, a memorial service was held in the private chapel at Glenmuick House.  John Michie was present.  “Attended Memorial Service at Private Chapel, Glenmuick 12-30. Held by Sir Allan Mackenzie for his Eldest Son who died in Northern Nigeria on 28th September last - age 23 years past 26th May. Most impressive Service”.  This loss must have been a severe blow to Sir Allan and Lady Mackenzie.  In mid-December John Michie was again a lunch guest of Allan Mackenzie.  “… walked over his grounds with him. He pointed out the new family burying ground”.  Only two months later, John Michie was once more in the company of Sir Allan in sombre circumstances.  Peter Robertson, an old Royal retainer had died and was being buried in Glenmuick churchyard.  “… walked to Glenmuick Graveyard with Sir Allan Mackenzie behind old Peter Robertson's Remains”.  It was March 1904 before Allan James Mackenzie could be buried.  John Michie, of course, was present.  “There was a large funeral - Col. H.H. Mathias aide de camp to the King attended as representing His Majesty the King”.

Immediately after he became factor on the Balmoral estate, John Michie was assigned the Mains of Abergeldie as his living accommodation.  In August 1904, Sir Allan Mackenzie & Lady Kilmarnock (Sir Allan’s married daughter, Mary) called & I walked up with them to see the Dee & Donside Association who had permission to walk through the Grounds today”.  Cordial relations between the Balmoral factor and the de facto laird of Glenmuick continued.  In April 1904, “Sir Allan Mackenzie came to the Mains by appointment at 3pm when I walked round by the nursery, Craig gowan hill and the Castle Gardens with him”.  Mackenzie seemed increasingly to look to John Michie for advice and help with his own estate.  In January 1906, “Lunched with Sir Allan MacKenzie at Brackley promised to help him in planting a piece of rough ground at his kennels by providing a few Scots pine plants”.  Michie reciprocated in the following April.  “Sir All Mackenzie came at noon, lunched with us and went round the grounds”.  A few days later, “Sir Allan Mackenzie rang me up about plants and I arranged to send him a lorry-ful of Pinus cembra tomorrow”.

But time was running out for Sir Allan.  He had lived life to the full and in early August 1906, he contracted pneumonia affecting both his lungs.  On 16^th of that month Michie called at Braickley to enquire about the state of Sir Allan’s health but there was no improvement to report.  He died, aged 55, at Braickley House on 20^th August.  John Michie attended the funeral, when Sir Allan’s body was interred in the family burying ground at Glenmuick House.  Sir Dighton Probyn represented the King.  A fulsome eulogy in the Aberdeen Journal failed to mention the difficulties created for Sir Allan by JT Mackenzie varying his will shortly before his death, while being fulsome in its praise for his son’s good works.

There was an interesting postscript to the relationship between John Michie and Sir Allan Mackenzie.  Gordon Foggo, the Invercauld factor had first stood for Aberdeen County Council in Crathie and Braemar in 1890.  He was defeated by Dr Alexander Profeit and at the next election in 1892, Foggo removed himself to Glenmuick, Tullich and Glengairn, probably to avoid another contest with the Queen’s commissioner.  At a further election in 1895, Foggo stood against Sir Allan Mackenzie and was trounced by the popular incumbent at Braickley House.  Thus, when Sir Allan died in 1906, a vacancy on the County Council was created.  Apparently unprompted, “The Ballater people are sending a largely signed requisition to the County Council nominating me (John Michie) as their representative to succeed Sir Allan Mackenzie.   Went to Ballater in the evening by appointment to see some of the leaders in this matter”.  John Michie was duly appointed to fill the seat vacated by his friend, Sir Allan Mackenzie, a substantial accolade for the Balmoral factor, given Mackenzie’s status and standing in and around Ballater.

 

Artists      

Queen Victoria was herself a competent painter and was frequently a host to visiting artists at Balmoral.  One consequence of this was that John Michie often came across painters at work on the estate and in some cases came to know the visitors well.  Probably the closest relationship which developed was with Benjamin John Ottewell, the landscape watercolourist and this friendship has been covered in detail elsewhere on this blogsite (Benjamin John Ottewell (1847 – 1937) watercolourist - Queen Victoria and Upper Deeside).

Another painter, George Reid (1841 – 1913), also developed a personal relationship with Michie.  Reid was the son of a blacksmith and ironmonger who was born in Aberdeen and who showed an early, natural talent for drawing.  He was apprenticed for seven years as a lithographer.  Subsequently, George Reid studied painting, initially in Aberdeen but later in Edinburgh and on the continent.  From about 1870 his talent as an artist was recognised and he was elected as an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in that year, became a full member in 1877 and was the President of the RSA 1891 – 1902.  From 1882 he lived and worked in Edinburgh, though before that time he had been resident in Aberdeen where he had a fine house with a studio in Viewfield Road.

Sir George Reid

Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria’s youngest child married Prince Henry of Battenberg in July 1885.  The couple had four children before Prince Henry died tragically of malaria in Ashanti in 1896.  The couple’s last child was Prince Maurice Victor Donald of Battenberg who was born at Balmoral Castle in 1891, the first Royal birth of a Royal Prince in Scotland for over 300 years.  His given names were in honour of his great grandfather, Count Mauritz von Hauke, Victor after his grandmother, Queen Victoria and Donald in recognition of his birth in the Scottish Highlands.  However, the most prominent “Donald” at Balmoral at the time was Donald Stewart, the head keeper, who was accorded great respect by the Royal family, especially the hunting members, and they included Prince Henry.  Prince Maurice was baptised in the drawing room at the Castle on 31 October 1891.

Queen Victoria invited George Reid, recently elevated to the presidency of the Royal Scottish Academy, to come to Balmoral, probably with the specific intention of having him paint the baptismal scene.  It was a rather crowded event, as Reid’s painting shows.  John Michie recorded in his diary for 30 October, “Received invitation to attend christening of the infant Prince - son of (the Prince Henry and Princess Beatrice) Prince & Princess Henry of Battenberg tomorrow. Supplied trees for decoration of corridor for tomorrow”.  Although Michie does not say that he was accompanied by his wife, Helen, it is likely that she was present, though it is not possible to recognise the Michies in the George Reid painting.  The Michies’ own fifth child, born in 1885, had been baptised Henry Maurice (the given names of Prince Henry) at the specific request of Queen Victoria.  “The Queen, Prince & Princess Henry & the Hereditary Gd Duke of Hesse were present.  The Revd A A Campbell officiated.  Our ordinary guests were Dr & Mrs Profeit, Mr & Mrs Hugh Brown, Mr John McKenzie and Mrs McLaren”.  John Michie and Prince Henry had a kind regard for each other.

Baptism of Prince Maurice of Battenberg by George Reid

George Reid stayed on at Balmoral for some time after the baptism of Prince Maurice and at some stage, John Michie and George Reid got to know each other.  The first mention of Reid in Michie’s diaries is for Sunday 15 November 1891.  John Michie had set out for Crathie church when he met “Messrs Chas. Clark, William Brown, Mr Reid the artist and Mr Rust from Strachan” on their way up to the Dantzig to visit.  Michie turned round, embarrassed to realise that he had forgotten they were coming.  At that social meeting it is likely that George Reid offered to sketch John, because on the following Wednesday, “Went down to the Castle and sat to Mr G O Reid an artist … .  He made a passible sketch of me in about half an hour's time”.  Michie had a further appointment with George Reid the following day, Thursday 19, when he found him sketching Mr Muther, the Queen’s German librarian.  John Michie and George Reid seemed to get along well together because, “Mr Reid has asked me to give him a call at his studio, 18 Shandwick Place should I be to Edinburgh about the new year time and he has promised to pay me a visit should he come here for part of his holidays next summer”.  No evidence has been found that John Michie ever made that courtesy call in Edinburgh.

In addition to the baptism painting and the portraits of these two Royal functionaries, George Reid also completed works depicting Queen Victoria (unflattering, but probably accurate), Prince Alexander (the Battenbergs’ eldest child), Princess Victoria Eugenie (the Battenbergs’ second child), Prince Henry and Princess Beatrice.  This artist also contributed a landscape of Loch Avon in the Cairngorms to the Book of the Crathie Bazaar held in 1894.

Queen Victoria by George Reid, 1891

The only other artist who had a passing acquaintance with John Michie was Joseph Edward Homerville Hague.  He was born in 1855 on the Isle of Wight and retained links to the Island for much of his life, marrying a local girl, Alice Mallard at Whippingham in 1895.  Hague had such an unusual character that it is difficult to summarise his life in a few words.  As an artist he was recognised as being very talented and he attracted the attention of Royalty, politicians and other high-status persons. However, as a person he was so absorbed in his universe of painting that he frequently came into conflict with the real world, which would often not make allowances for his absorption and eccentricity.  Disputes and conflicts followed him everywhere, in the correspondence columns of newspapers, in the courts and in public places.  They alone would constitute a valid subject of inquiry.  One incident will suffice to illustrate his bizarre and unworldly mien.

In 1924, a high-relief sculpture by the then controversial modernist, Jacob Epstein, with engraved text by Eric Gill, entitled “Rima”, was installed in the Kensington Garden Hudson Memorial Bird Sanctuary.  William Hudson was a writer and naturalist and in 1904 had published a children’s book about Rima, a girl who lived in the jungles of Venezuela (Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest), which provided the inspiration for Epstein’s creation.  The work was instantly controversial and attracted protests for many years, including being daubed with paint, feathers and swastikas.  Homerville Hague was a painter in the traditional mould and a leading member of the Nineteenth Century Art Society.  Unsurprisingly, Hague was one of those offended by “Rima”, but his method of protest was unique.  He announced that he would give a 12-hour speech of denunciation in front of the monument, which he did, judging it to be alien, vulgar and, worst of all, an example of modernism. Not all his audience approved of his judgemental diatribe, some telling him to shut up so that they could form their own opinions.  The day before his monumental protest, Hague delivered a four-hour preliminary rant and then spoke to a member of the press.  “… I hope to help further the movement to induce Parliament to take action for the removal of the panel.”  He was, of course, unsuccessful in his aim.

Rima by Jacob Epstein

Homerville Hague

It is unclear how Homerville Hague first came to Royal notice, but in 1893 it appears that he was commissioned to record scenes at the wedding of the Duke of York, Queen Victoria’s grandson, to Princess Mary of Teck.  The Morning Post gave the following account.  “A series of pictures studies and sketches painted by Mr Homerville Hague in illustration of various scenes and incidents connected with the Royal Wedding will shortly be exhibited at one of the West End galleries.  In the collection will be included a view of the last garden party held at White Lodge before the departure of Princess May, representations of Her Majesty’s state balls and state concerts at Buckingham Palace and of the Palace gardens and six pictures of the wedding procession which the artist accompanied on foot to make his sketches at different points on the route.”  By November of the same year Hague had been commanded by Her Majesty to produce a picture from an operatic performance mounted by the Carl Rosa Opera Company at Balmoral Castle.

Homerville Hague did not make a good first impression with John Michie, when he visited the Dantzig Shiel at the end of November 1893.  “Homerville Hague, a London artist of paint to whom the Queen has given leave to procure his calling on the Estates here at Windsor & at Osborne, came up and remained overnight going on with his work this morning.  He sketched my wife's face in pencil, my own and when he returned from his work in the evening, he pencilled Dr Noble who dropped in.  The artist of whose merit I have no idea, not having a finished picture of his painting, but his opinion, as expressed, of himself is by no means small”.  But he was the Queen’s guest and had to be treated with a measure of deference and accommodation.  The self-opinionated artist took lodgings locally and remained at Balmoral at least until the end of January 1894.  During Hague’s period of residence, John Michie took him to a banquet given for Sir Allan Mackenzie in Glenmuick, and by the latter part of January, Hague had become a regular visitor at the Michie home and had begun a small portrait of Michie himself.  At the end of that month John Michie recorded, “Started for Balmoral this morning and took down a pair of pictures for Hague, who went to draw old Mar Castle”, though it was not clear who was the recipient of the pictures.  Homerville Hague returned to Balmoral in November 1894 and again spent time at the Dantzig Shiel.  He told John Michie that he had just finished a portrait of Dr Alexander Profeit, the Queen’s Commissioner.  Although John Michie subsequently received letters from the artist, he appeared not to visit Upper Deeside again.

Anxiety about the Fenians

“Fenian” was a loose term applied to Irishmen who sought independence from Britain and were prepared to use violence to that end.  Fear of the Fenians was one reason that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had sought homes in remote areas, judging that they would be less at risk of suffering an atrocity perpetrated by disaffected Irishmen.  John Michie often took on casual labour for his gangs on the Balmoral estates.  In 1885 he engaged an itinerant Irishman by the name of Sinclair Redmond, giving no thought to his national origins, until Dr Profeit appeared at the Dantzig Shiel one evening to say some suspicion had fallen upon Redmond and asking what John Michie knew about the man.  Apart from his nationality, his performance (he was a good worker) and his arrival about a month previously, Michie could not enlighten the Commissioner.  Inspector Brandie from Aberdeen then interviewed Michie but nothing significant emerged.  Brandie returned a day later and advised leaving Redmond alone for the present.  Five days after the initial contact, there was a further development when Mr M’Hardy, Inspector of Explosives arrived at Balmoral with a warrant from the sheriff to examine Sinclair Redmond and his goods and chattels.  Michie paid him off immediately, on the grounds that he had not guaranteed Redmond work.  Redmond demanded a week’s pay for his dismissal, but Michie did not relent.  The Irishman then went home to meet the “limbs of the law”, as John Michie put it.  They searched Redmond and his possessions but found nothing incriminating, which caused John Michie some regret.    Redmond complained to Dr Profeit about the way he had been treated but apparently did not get redress.  Not surprisingly, Sinclair Redmond then left the Balmoral area, no doubt harbouring a justifiable grievance against the British.  Racial profiling has existed for a long time.

 

John Michie and Balmoral memorials

Queen Victoria was a great memorialiser throughout her period of occupation of the Balmoral estate.  Cairns, plaques, gravestones and trees were her way of commemorating significant events, such as marriages, deaths, visits to the estate and accessions.  During his period of office as head wood forester from 1880 to 1902, John Michie was involved with many of the monarch’s monumental schemes, through designing hard and soft landscaping, selecting suitable tree specimens and preparing the ground for insertion. 

In 1884, Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Victoria, wife of Prince Frederick, Crown Prince of Prussia, together with their daughter, Victoria, visited Balmoral.  This was an important event given the significance of the German state of Prussia and called for a memorial planting.  The ceremony took place on 10 September and John Michie was in charge of the preparations.  “At Balmoral early and got things together for the planting of these trees by our Queen's eldest daughter and her daughter Princess Victoria of Germany.  the ceremony passed off all right and I am much pleased.  The trees are two Picea nobilis (Noble Fir).  Weather most beautiful to be getting late in the season”.  Further commemorative trees were planted the following year, firstly by Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the maternal half-sibling of the Queen.  The second planting occurred during the visit of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught (seventh child of Queen Victoria) and his wife Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, “Princess Margaret & Prince Arthur of Connaught each, with my assistance, planted a Pinus cembra (Swiss stone pine) in memory of their visit here”.  A few months later Michie visited these three trees to check they were still growing satisfactorily.

Jane Loftus, Marchioness of Ely was Lady of the Bedchamber to and a close friend of Queen Victoria.  She died in 1890 and the monarch decided to plant a tree in her memory at Balmoral.  The tree was on this occasion externally sourced, probably from the Ben Reid Nursery in Aberdeen.  As usual, the planting operation was a cooperative one between the monarch and her head wood forester.  “Planted a weeping willow in the Balmoral gardens the Queen having held it while I put in some soil then I held it while Her Majesty shovelled in some soil, Princess Beatrice following that example by V R's request.  Then Her Majesty instructed me an indelible label placed at its root inscribed thus - Planted by the Queen in memory of the Dowr. Marchioness of Ely June 19 1890.  Which HM afterwards wrote for me”.

John Michie had to accommodate so many memorial trees that he evolved a layout plan to cope with the numbers.   When Count Arthur Mensdorf-Pouilly an Austrian Army officer and a cousin of both Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, visited Balmoral in 1895, John Michie was again charged with organising the planting of an arboreal monument.  “At Castle & planted a tree with Count Arthur Mensdorff Pouilly in a line I have laid out for the purpose of planting memorial trees stretching from the gardens westward under the bank towards the boat pool”.  The following year, the Czar and Czarina of Russia visited Balmoral and the obligatory tree planting was again undertaken.  Michie chose sites according to his plan, “Prepared sites for the Emperor & Empress's trees in a curved line stretching from the gardens westward which when completed will terminate where the Queen has planted a sycamore each for the late Prince Consort & herself”.  Saturday 3 October 1896 was the chosen day for the Imperial Russian couple to delve into the Upper Deeside soil.  “The Emperor, Empress & their infant daughter, The Grand Duchess Olga left Balmoral for France this evening.  The two former planted a tree each with me on the lawn some 60 or so yards west of the gardens near the little drinking fountain.  I selected a pair of Pinus cembra plants.  The Queen wished that they should be pines and the cembrian pine being the most fitting pine for these parts I picked on it.  The Emperor performed first asking me what he was supposed to do.  I handed him the little spade telling him put some soil round the roots after which handed him a watering pan out of which he sprinkled some water over the plant through the rose of the pan.  The Empress having done likewise the matter ended”.

Not all memorial trees were placed by Royal command.  In April 1896, John Michie planted a tree for William Brown, brother of John Brown, in memory of his son, Dr Albert Brown, who died the previous year at the tragically early age of 26.  Nor were all trees planted in the “Michie crescent”.  Another of Queen Victoria’s German relatives, Prince Franz Joseph of Battenberg visited Balmoral in 1896 and his sojourn was marked by the planting of a Picea nobilis glauca, the noble fir, near the west Police Box.  Michie and the prince collaborated in the effort. 

Albert Brown grave

In 1897, Queen Victoria celebrated the 60^th anniversary since her accession to the throne and she decided to plant a memorial tree, with the help of the head tree forester.  After some dithering, she agreed a location.  “Tuesday 15 June.  To the Castle and planted a Pinus cembra with the Queen to commemorate the Jubilee.  Her Majesty did not get out of her ponychair which was drawn close up to the put into which I had placed the plant when she used the small spade to place some soil round its roots, this done HM sprayed the young tree from a small watering pan and the proceedings so far as the Queen was concerned ceased.  Inscription for the tree:-  Planted by Queen Victoria on June 15th 1897, in remembrance of her Diamond Jubilee June 20th 1897”.  Earlier the same month, the Queen’s third daughter, Helena, had partaken in a similar ceremony.  “The Princess Christian (Helena’s married title) also planted a tree of the same kind west of the gardens.  Inscription: - Planted by Her Royal Highness the Princess Christian June 15th 1897”.

The eldest son of Prince and Princess Christian was Prince Christian Victor.  He had an extensive career in the British Army but during the Second Boer War he contracted malaria and died on 29 October 1900.  He was buried in Pretoria.  One of the last commands of Queen Victoria to John Michie was to plant a memorial tree at Balmoral, which the head wood forester fulfilled after the Queen’s death.  “Cycled to Balmoral where planted a tree, according to instructions given me by our late beloved Queen, in memory of Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig Holstein; the inscription to run thus - "Planted in memory of Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig - Holstein who died while on active service at Pretoria; 29th October 1900””.  

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, was Queen Victoria’s youngest son and tragically an inheritor of the gene for haemophilia from his mother.  He died prematurely at Cannes in March 1884, following a fall which caused internal bleeding.  The prince’s marriage had been marked by the installation of a cairn on Craiggowan in 1882 and following his death a further granite memorial, this time a seat, was designed and erected at Balmoral.  In November 1884, John Michie was involved in its preparation.  “Rode down to Balmoral and assisted in the erecting of the Peterhead Granite chair in memory of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.  There is one little mistake in the architectural construction and that is a lightness in the stand under the back, which makes the back look as if it is resting upon nothing”.  Much later, in 1897, Michie arranged for Lord Blytheswood and his sister to plant some white heather around the base of the Prince Leopold memorial chair.  

Prince Leopold's cairn

Princess Beatrice, the Queen’s youngest daughter, married Prince Henry of Battenberg in 1885 and it was decided to build a cairn to mark the event on another Balmoral hill, Craig Lourighan.  John Michie was charged with designing and building a path up the hill in order to access the cairn.  “Went down and marked a line of a proposed walk up Craig Lourighan to a Cairn to be built in honour of the coming marriage of HRH The Princess Beatrice”. In 1897, when a monument was being prepared to the memory of Prince Henry, who died in 1896, John Michie voiced his views on the design.  “Expressed my opinion to mason building base for Prince Henry of Battenberg's monument at Connachat, that it would have been finer to have had a large stone near as a base”.  Michie had been tasked with designing the hard and soft landscaping at the base of the memorial.  “… I started to make two sketches of Prince Henry's memorial monolith showing what I should propose in the way of rock work and planting both by leaving it in its present position and by raising it 2 feet”, presumably to accommodate his views on the base.  These plans were submitted to Princess Beatrice for her approval, but it is not clear which option the princess chose. 

 

Prince Henry obelisk

Royal presents for the Michies 

Queen Victoria was very fond of young children and that frequently seemed to be the main reason why she visited the homes of her senior servants at Balmoral.  The Michie family often benefitted from Royal generosity and it is clear that there was an emphasis on the Michie children during the earlier part of John Michie’s Balmoral service.  However, towards the end of the Queen’s reign, presents from her, from other members of the Royal Family and from visiting royalty became more personal, especially to John Michie himself, probably reflecting his status and direct involvement with his Royal employers.  The following list of such presents is culled from the pages of the Michie diaries but is likely to be incomplete, especially due to the unavailability of the diaries for some years.

4 September 1884.  “Her Majesty came to tea and presented me with leaves from the Journal "A Life in the Highlands"”.  This was the volume produced by Her Majesty following the death of John Brown and illustrated her life at Balmoral during his period of influence.

29 August 1885.  “The Queen called and presented my wife & children with new dresses each and gave me a marriage medal”.  A marriage medal usually denoted a long marriage, perhaps 50 years.  At the time of Queen Victoria’s gift, the Michies had only been married for seven years, so it is difficult to understand its significance.

14 October 1886.  “The Queen wished our children photographed and that Mr Taylor, London was coming this afternoon to take them and that, it was also desired by the Queen to have a second plate with my wife & self in the group”.  In October 1886, the Michies would have had five children.

27 May 1892.  “The Queen presented to my wife a portrait of the late eldest son of HRH the Prince of Wales - HRH Prince Albert Victor Edward, Duke of Clarence & Avondale (who died of influenza) and myself a bookslide (self-supporting rack for storing books) brought by HM from Hyeres (holiday destination on the Riviera) in France”.

18 June 1892.  “HM gave Annie and Beatrice (the two daughters of the Michies) a shawl each”.

6 November 1893.  “HRH Prince Henry of Battenberg … presented me with a small gold pin for fastening the apron of my kilt in the form of a sword, in a case”.

31 August 1895.  “Prince Henry of Battenberg … presented him (Henry Maurice Michie b 1885)) with a silver watch, in case, bearing the inscription "Henry Maurice Michie from Henry of Battenberg, August 1895". 

3 September 1895.  “The Queen … gave Mrs M & children presents”.

12 September 1895.  “The Queen gave a present of a portrait of the late Francis Clark (cousin of John Brown and another Highland servant to Queen Victoria)”.

29 October 1895.  “Prince Henry of Battenberg … presented me with a handsome spirit flask”.

5 October 1896.  “Czar.  His Imperial Majesty left me a present of a beautiful cigarette case of platinum with diamond & sapphire”.  (It is possible that this cigarette case was crafted by Faberge jewellers, who rose to fame from 1882.  Sadly, this item was stolen from a Michie descendant in a burglary and has never been recovered.)

24 May1897.  “The Queen came to tea bringing me a "Gould" from Nice with stag, roe &c &c painted on”.

25 September 1897.  “The Queen … presented me with HRH Prince Henry Maurice of Battenberg KG, a Memoir, by Rowland E Prothero, containing Her Majesty's autograph on the fly leaf thus - "Victoria RI"”.

8 October 1897.  “… the Duchess of Connaught (&c &c) who presented my wife with a brooch & left photographs of the Duke, herself, and their son & two daughters”. The Duke of Connaught was Queen Victoria’s seventh child.

17 October 1897.  “… presented by the Queen with a silver jubilee medal for 1887”.

6 March 1901.  “Received a letter from Lt. Col. Sir F.I. Edwards K.C.B. (Keeper of the Privy Purse) forwarding me a Faithful Service medal and informing me that it was one of the last commands given by Queen Victoria …”.

21 October 1901.  “The King presented me with the Victorian Medal for services to the late Queen as Forester”. 

 

John Michie and Abdul Karim

The East India Company was established in 1600 to exploit the spice trade in East Asia but the Company grew progressively to act as the governing authority, with its own army, on the sub-continent.  By 1800 the EIC controlled much of India as well as other territories in Asia.  In 1857, Indian soldiers in the EIC’s army mutinied against their British officers and this led to a war for India’s independence.  The mutiny was suppressed, and the Crown then took direct control of India.  Queen Victoria’s interest in Indian affairs was further stimulated in 1877, when Benjamin Disraeli proclaimed Victoria Empress of India.  She subsequently styled herself “VRI” (Victoria Regina Imperatrix) and developed an increasing fascination with Indian political and cultural matters, though she never visited the country.

In 1886, the Colonial and Indian Exhibition was held in South Kensington, London, to stimulate trade with the Empire.  When the Queen made her first visit to Balmoral in spring of that year she passed a message to John Michie, via Dr Profeit, that she would like him to visit Windsor after she had returned south and, while he was there, he should visit the exhibition in South Kensington.  She added that he should also take in attendance at the International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art, which was concurrently being held in Edinburgh, on his return journey north.  Queen Victoria had given the same command to other Balmoral servants and residents too.  Those in the party, in addition to Michie, were William Brown, farmer at The Bush and his 17-year-old son, Albert, John Thomson, the road overseer, living at Garmaddie, Alexander Thom, farm grieve, Invergelder, Donald Stewart, the Head Keeper, Arthur Grant, gamekeeper and James Mitchell, blacksmith/farrier at Clachanturn.  This was a curious mixture of servants, tenants and acquaintances.  On Tuesday 29 June, the party travelled by train overnight, arriving at Euston the next morning, where they were met by William Ross, the Queen’s piper, who conducted them to Paddington and on to Windsor by train.  There, the Crathie group spent the day wandering about, admiring the treasures in the Castle.  This was probably John Michie’s first visit to Windsor, and he was overawed.  “After a refreshing wash and the substantial meal discussed we proceeded to go through Windsor Castle which is a wonderful place indeed.  Amongst the richer sights, the Library, the North Corridor and the Gold Pantry are amongst the most gorgeous.  Amongst works of art one was completely lost as we all were amongst the rooms and passages. We walked about continuously admiring the grand things under slates for 6 mortal hours anon meeting someone we knew.  A splendid dinner was spread for us on a round table in King John's prison to which ample justice was done after which I proceeded to Mr Hugh Brown's house where I am to sleep.”  Hugh Brown was another of the Brown brothers from Crathie, who was employed in Royal service.

The following day, 1 July 1886, was set aside for visiting the exhibition but before the trip into London, John Michie was intent on visiting the Windsor agricultural assets of the monarch.  “Got up at 6 in the morning and enjoyed a long drive first to the Shaw farm (the Prince Consort’s home farm) then to the Flemish farm (which was erected by the Prince Consort) after which drove round by Belvedere and back another way past where wild boars are kept.”  At 9.30am, the party left for London “on a visit to the Colonial Exhibition where much was to be seen but little time to see it.”   “Wandered about the various courts some of us in absolute bewilderment which was evident in more ways than two.  Returned to Windsor in the evening.”  The Exhibition had been opened by Queen Victoria and attracted over five million visitors.  It was housed in purpose-built accommodation rendered in an Indian architectural style on a substantial site and even had native Indian craftsmen on display.  John Michie’s bemusement was entirely understandable.  It is not presently known when the Crathie party returned home, due to a gap in John Michie’s 1886 diary. though it is likely that the exhibition in Edinburgh, which was also very successful, was visited too.

The following year, 1887, was the jubilee of Queen Victoria’s reign and was marked by many celebratory events and actions, for example, a bust of the Queen’s head was commissioned from sculptor FJ Williamson and many copies distributed throughout the Empire.  The monarch also decided to employ some Indian servants.  The first two to arrive in England were Abdul Karim and Mohammed Buksh, both Muslims and both married.  Others would arrive later.  The Indians were kitted out with exotic uniforms and employed as waiters.  The Queen described her first two Indians as follows.  “Drove down to Frogmore with Beatrice to breakfast, & met Vicky & young Vicky there. My 2 Indian servants were there, & began to wait. The one, Mohamed Buksh, very dark, with a very smiling expression, has been a servant before with Gen: Dennehy, & also with the Rana of Dholpore, & the other, much younger, called Abdul Karim, is much lighter, tall, & with a fine serious countenance. His father is a native doctor at Agra. They both kissed my feet.” 

 Painting of Abdul Karim by Swoboda  

Queen Victoria soon developed a special affection for Karim and progressively elevated his status within her entourage, which process bore similarities to the development of her previous friendship with John Brown, though Karim was always respectful, unlike the Highlander.  At the end of August 1887, Victoria noted her developing relationship with Abdul Karim.  “After luncheon, I saw Gen: Dennehy, who had kindly come over, as I wanted to speak to him, about some arrangements for my Indian servants, & he has so much experience with Indians. The one Abdul is beginning to teach me a little Hindustani, which interests & amuses me very much”.  The Queen started to take regular lessons in Hindustani (now called Urdu) from Abdul Karim and by December, when she was visited at Windsor by a powerful Indian ruler, the Gaekwar of Baroda and his Maharanee, Victoria felt confident enough to employ her new linguistic skills.  “The Maharani & Gaekwar arrived in different carriages. — At 3, I received her with Beatrice in the Audience Room. All the men were kept out of the way, & the Indian attendants in particular. … The Maharani understands a little English, & says a few words, but her sister does not. I ventured upon a sentence in Hindustani which Abdul & Mohamed had helped to teach me. I also presented Beatrice in Hindustani.”  Subsequently, the Queen advanced Abdul Karim’s status with the appellation Munshi, or teacher.  He would later be further endowed with the title Queen’s Indian Secretary. But another relationship with a servant, and a brown-skinned one at that, caused consternation amongst her courtiers, due to the memory of the difficulties of the John Brown era, plus an admixture of snobbery and racism by her advisers.

Queen Victoria’s Indian servants travelled with her and they fist accompanied the Royal party to Balmoral at the end of August 1887, where they became involved in the leisure and cultural entertainments favoured there by the Royal Family.  Dressing up to present tableaux vivants, representative of different subjects or places, was one such activity.  (A tableau vivant is a silent and motionless group of people arranged to represent a scene or incident.)  On 5 October 1888, “Alix & the girls arrived in good time, & we went down to the Ball Room, where the stage was beautifully arranged, in the recess below the stair-case. All the company were already seated. Some guests from outside, & all our servants were invited. The subjects of the Tableaux were illustrations of the letters in the name of Henry — Maurice, Liko's names, & as it made it too long for one evening, to-night's performance was devoted to the first: H. Harvest in which took part, Maud, Alicky, Daisy & Arthur, Eddy, Miss Trother, (staying with Lily) Pawel & Sir Robert Collins. E. St. Elizabeth, Beatrice, lady in attendance, Louise of Wales, & the Landgraf of Thüringen, Liko. N. Novice: Alicky, Abbess, Lily, nuns, Louise, Victoria, Maud & Miss Robson, (Daisy & Arthur's governess) R Rebecca, taken from Horace Vernet's picture, Minnie Cochrane, Evelyn M. M^rs Campbell, Abdul, & my 2 Indian servants Mahomed & Ahmed. Y York. Daisy & Arthur (the 2 Princes in the Tower) & Gen: Dennehy the Governor. — The Tableaux were most successful, & really beautiful, in particular St. Elizabeth Novice, Rebecca, & York.”  The program was continued the following evening when, “Beatrice impersonated the Indian Empire, draped most correctly in beautiful stuffs, which Abdul had helped to arrange & wearing quantities of my Indian jewellery. Louise of Wales, Alicky, & all my Indian people helped to form the group. One of the servants made a salaam in front of Beatrice, presenting a golden plate to her.”  There was known to be similar involvement by the Indian servants in 1890, 1892, 1893 and 1895.  It is possible that they participated in other years too.  John Michie, his wife Helen and his daughter Annie went to the castle to witness the 1890 production.  “After the Tableaux a dance followed in which both actors and audience joined except the Queen who however came on the stage, one of the Indian servants pushing aside the curtain to admit of HM seeing the dancers as the reels &c went on to music from Signor Costes’ band.”  But being so close to the Queen started to go to Abdul Karim’s head.  He was on several occasions allowed to return to India for a six-month holiday.  Shortly after his return from one such vacation, in February 1889, the Queen made it clear that Karim was to be considered above the other Indian servants.  In turn, he started to behave in a superior fashion towards them.  When Karim travelled to Balmoral, he was transported in his own special saloon carriage attached to a regular train.  The Queen made superior accommodation available to him.  At Balmoral, a cottage, called Karim Cottage was built close to the castle in 1893.  His special treatment by the Queen and his puffed-up, self-important manner raised the gentlemen of the Court to a state of near mutiny. 

Sadly, the absence of John Michie’s diaries for 1887 – 1889 and 1898 - 1900 limits what is known about Abdul Karim’s experiences at Balmoral.  Though the Queen referred to him as the Munshi, her courtiers usually referred to him, rather disrespectfully, as the Indian.  Whatever his personal thoughts on the Munshi, John Michie did not put them on open display.  In June 1893, John Michie “Walked to Craig Gowan, saw Dr Profeit schemed with him a palisade for the Indian's bungalow and I returned home by coach.”  Were they seeking to shut Karim and his entourage away from general view?  Possibly not, as John Michie’s use of “schemed” may have had a literal meaning of creating a scheme.  In June 1894, Michie recorded the arrangements made by the Munshi to hold a series of housewarmings in his new cottage.  “This evening the Munchi Abdul Karim inaugurates the cottage built for him on the old site of Mason's yard and &c by the Queen by holding the first of a series of tea parties. He invites the household (Queens) tonight and with them such as Messrs. Philip, Schoolmaster, and Cowie, Stationmaster. Gentlemen of household do not accept (author’s emphasis). Mrs. M and I come in of course a stage lower being asked for Monday night along with Mr. Lawley, clerk-controller, Mrs. Adams, Mrs. McDonald &c Queen's dressers. Mrs. Mussen, Housekeeper and the game keepers &c &c.”  The Munshi clearly had a personal sense of the Balmoral hierarchy and John Michie’s place in it.  John and Helen Michie did attend.  “In the evening drove with Mrs. M to the Munchi's second tea party consisting of Heads of Departments on the Estates and their wives with a few upper servants from the Castle amounting together to 30. Mr. Lawley Clerk Comptroller read the Munchi's address and they deputed me to reply on behalf of the guests.”  When the Court departed Balmoral in June 1894, John Michie “bade the Munchi Abdul Karim goodbye”.  As far as the surviving evidence from his diaries is concerned, John Michie, unlike the gentlemen of the Court, seems to have behaved in a civil fashion towards the Queen’s favourite Indian servant. 

Abdul Karim also took up the sport of shooting, as was fitting for someone with a perception of his own occupation of an elevated position in Royal life.  In early October 1894, John Michie was given the task of organising a roe drive for the benefit of the Munshi.  “To the Castle and arranged a drive for the Munchi with whom I walked to the different stations for the beats.  He is practically of little use as he will hardly fire at a running deer.  A doe which came up and stood looking at him met her death however, but she was only one of some 7 roe male and female which were roused in the beat westward from Campbell's Walk.”  A few days later John Michie organised another roe drive for the Munshi “but he did not fire a single shot although he had chances”.  Michie is perhaps being a bit over-critical of Karim, who had not been brought up in the household of a gamekeeper or had the opportunity to shoot regularly from as early as he could hold a gun.

When the Queen had been on the throne for 60 years, in 1897, many celebratory events were held, especially in London.  James Forbes, Commissioner and William Strath, teacher at Girnoc travelled from Balmoral to take part in the celebrations held in the capital.  John Michie guessed that Strath was selected as a result of the Munshi’s influence, since the Indian had a special regard for teachers.

In April 1901, a few months after the Queen’s death, John Michie noted, “Men engaged in laying Electric light tubes & cables for outside lamps & to the Munshi's house which may not be occupied by him again".  Michie was correct and Karim Cottage was soon reallocated to Dr Muir Corbett.  The cottage was also renamed the Doctor’s Cottage, another of King Edward’s moves to expunge the Indian’s name from the Balmoral estate map.  Interestingly, perhaps in the pursuit of commerce, this building, which is currently available as a holiday let, is again referred to as Karim Cottage! 

 

Queen Victoria’s dealings with the Michies

In two separate articles on this blogsite (Queen Victoria: Death and her Wild Abodes on the Balmoral Estates and Queen Victoria and her favourite Scottish Servants), the relationship between the monarch and the Michie family was explored with regard to her interest in the Michie children and her pleasure at taking tea or lunch in the Michies’ accommodation at the Dantzig Shiel.  In summary, between 1884 and 1897, the Queen is known to have visited the Michies on 81 occasions occasionally for lunch but usually taking tea.  The true number is likely to have been higher.  Indeed, it was such a frequent occurrence that in October 1892, John Michie invented a neologism for use on such occasions.  “The Queen and Princess Beatrice teaed at my house”, demonstrating that it is possible to verb any noun!   However, separately from these homely occasions John Michie had many other interactions with Queen Victoria and different members of the Royal family and these events, recorded in the John Michie diaries, help to describe a more holistic picture of the relationship between the head Balmoral wood forester, his monarch and her relatives.

The Queen was in the habit of commanding that certain things should happen in conformity with her beliefs, wishes or desires.  One such annual event was the tramp by courtiers and servants to the top of Craiglourighan to remember the life of her departed husband, Prince Albert, even decades after his passing, through the consumption of Lochnagar whisky.  John Michie was very familiar with this ritual.  Queen Victoria issued similar instructions on other occasions too, as John Michie often recorded.  On 30 April 1884, “In Ballochbuie during the forenoon but about 10 a messenger came from Dr Profeit, with instructions to have all the men at the Castle to drink to the health of Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Hesse Darmstadt (Queen Victoria’s grandaughter), and Prince Louis of Battenberg, who were married this day”.  As well as commanding that something should happen, the Queen could also command that an activity was to be avoided.  On the day of the Braemar Gathering in 1884, John Michie reported one such Royal prohibition.  “The Queen has given instructions that the people are not to go, on account of the lamented death of the late Prince Leopold.  This we almost unordered obey”.  John Michie was devoted to his employer and felt deeply about her tribulations in life. 

Prince Albert cairn, Balmoral

The ritual visits to the Dantzig Shiel were often in the company of her ladies, her daughters and her visitors.  The Michies did not always get notice of a Royal visit and sometimes they were told to expect a visitor who did not turn up.  On 9 June 1884, “The Queen came to tea.  We expected the Duchess of Edinburgh (Marie of Russia, wife of Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son - Duke of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) and children but they did not come.  Sometimes the lack of forewarning of Royal intentions caused a problem.  In 1884, while the chalet was being prepared for the Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition, the monarch came to view progress.  “Went down to Balmoral and arranged about bringing the Chalet to a conclusion.  Procured stag's head &c for it.   The Queen came in a random sort of way when everything was out of order, but she informed the men that she would return tomorrow”.  Michie was prepared for her repeat visit and all went smoothly.  The monarch was accompanied by the Duchess of Roxburghe, Mistress of the Robes, who “pronounced in favour of it”.  In October 1890, the Queen of Roumania visited Balmoral.  At one time she had been considered as a possible bride for the Prince of Wales.  Michie was closely involved in planning the Highland welcome for the visitor and then received notification from the Queen that she would be bringing the Roumanian visitor to the Dantzig Shiel.  “Received an order that our Queen was to take the Roumanian Queen to my house to tea I drove up to receive them.  She had to see all the children with whom she was much delighted”.  At the time the Michies had six children aged from three to eleven.

The King of Portugal visited Balmoral in November 1895 and a welcome in the usual Highland style was organised for his benefit, with the Balmoral Highlanders on parade under the command of Alexander Profeit and with John Michie as standard-bearer.  In the evening, a bonfire, prepared by Michie and his men, was lit on Craig Gowan.  This was preceded by a march uphill by the light of split-pine torches and the return, lighted by the same agency, to the Castle.  The Duke of Connaught then told Michie to organise “a reel of kilts”.  “I got up two reels taking part in one myself.  "Houlachan" and an ordinary highland reel were danced”.  Two days later, Dom Carlos I was taken to the Dantzig and John Michie had the experience of shaking his hand.  The following day, the Portuguese party left Balmoral, being sent on their way to Ballater in grand style in one of the Queen’s carriages pulled by four greys and with an outrider.  John Michie went down to the Castle to witness his departure.

One of the most significant visits to Balmoral by a foreign Royal Family was in September 1896, when Czar Nicholas II and his Czarina, Alexandra Feodorovna, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria arrived on Upper Deeside.  By this date, the Queen’s commissioner, Alexander Profeit was in terminal decline and the arrangements for the ceremonial reception were entrusted to John Michie.  The monarch told Michie her wishes.  “The Queen sent for me and gave me certain instructions in connection with his arrival when at the Danzig in presence of H.R.H. The Princess Henry and Princess Victoria of Schleiswig Holstein”.  In spite of the appalling wet weather, John Michie set to and ensured that the arrangements were carefully executed.  The Russian visitors arrived on 22 September 1896 in dreary conditions and stayed for 12 days in total.  “The weather of today (Tuesday 22 September) was constant rain from the sou-east.  A bonfire commenced yesterday on Craig Gowan was finished today and another built on Craig Lourighan from the foundation in bad weather.  Made all the necessary arrangements for the procession from the East Lodge on the arrival of the Tsar & Tsarina with their extensive following.  There were close on a hundred torch-bearers - volunteers and Balmoral men all in kilts.  The whole matter satisfactory as expressed by gentlemen of the court &c, indeed said to be the best managed torch procession seen at Balmoral”.  John Michie certainly proved his worth that day. 

1896 visit by Czar Nicholas II to Balmoral

The ultimate accolade for the Balmoral wood forester and his wife occurred on Thursday 24 September 1896.  John Michie described this remarkable occasion modestly and in the briefest possible terms.  “The Queen &c as in Court Circular below tead at our house today”.  The Court Circular list to which Michie referred was as follows.   “Her Majesty drove out this afternoon, accompanied by Their Royal Highnesses Princess Henry of Battenberg and the Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn, and was joined at the Danzig Sheil by their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Russia, Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Her Highness Princess Victoria of Schleswig Holstein, and His Serene Highness Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg”.  It is surely amazing that the most powerful monarch on earth at the time should choose to entertain her guests, the rulers of a massive and significant country, to tea at the house of a mere servant, albeit a senior servant living in an elegant estate cottage in a picturesque location!

On Friday 25 September, a substantial party was assembled to enjoy a deer drive.  John Michie appeared to have taken part as a beater, though he did not say so specifically.  However, his detailed account of the day’s events indicated that he was present.  “Wet morning.  Drove to Castle in morning and found Emperor, Prince of Wales, Duke of Connaught, Duke of York and two Russian Counts preparing for the forest some men having left early to drive deer down from the hills into the woods of Ballochbuie, Ripe and Garmaddie.  The first wood drive was that of the western slopes of Craig Darign and Connical hillocks west of Lachnacoil walk.  Three stags were got here - Connaught 2, Russian Count 1.  Lunch at Bowman's Moss after which drove Ripe where on the highest point of the wood Duke of York killed 5 stags.  Garmaddie was then driven eastward to Carrop hill where the Duke of Connaught finished 2 stags which completed the day and the number of stags killed - 10.  The weather cleared somewhat during afternoon”.  John Michie also attended at the Castle in the evening, expecting to have to dance with other Highlanders by torchlight around a dead deer.  However, this spectacle did not take place, according to Michie, “… it was said the Queen stopped it”.  It appeared that John Michie was intent on ensuring that the organisation of the day’s activities proceeded smoothly, and he was prepared to put himself out to achieve that end.

On Monday 28 September the Russian ruler was entertained to a session on the grouse moors of Glenmuick at the invitation of Lord Glenesk, the tenant of the shooting for the current year.  Sir Allan Mackenzie, the de facto Laird was also present.  John Michie was not involved but spent some time with the security detail looking after the visitors.  “Drove to Balmoral this morning and having put up my mare accompanied the detectives who are following in the wake of the Tsar to Birkhall where I left them on their way to the Glen Muick moors …”.

Tuesday 29 September was another remarkable day for the Michies, the Queen with her Imperial visitors travelled to the Dantzig Shiel for a second time to take tea.  John Michie again treated the event rather briefly.  “… in the afternoon there came to tea all in Court Circular.  (Court Circular -  “The Queen accompanied by the Princess of Wales drove to the Danzig Shiel in the afternoon where she was joined by their Imperial Majesties and Emperor and Empress of Russia, Princess Henry of Battenberg, Princess Louise Duchess of Fife, Princess Victoria of Wales, Prince and Princess Charles of Denmark and Princess Victoria of Schleswig Holstein”.)  If that had been yet another remarkable day, then Thursday, two days later, was also special.  “Drove Mrs M to the castle to see the Grand Duchess Olga - the infant daughter of the Emperor & Empress, by the command of the latter”.  Baby Olga Nikolaevna was almost three years old at the time.  She was the eldest child of Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra, a favourite granddaughter of Queen Victoria.  Twenty-two years later she would be murdered by the Bolsheviks following the Russian revolution of 1917. 

The Russian visitors were due to leave Balmoral on Saturday 3 October and John Michie was again charged with making the ceremonial arrangements.  “I made arrangements to light the Imperial party away on Saturday night by torchlight”.  At the last minute some confusion was caused by the intervention of Dr Profeit, the Queen’s commissioner, who was still formally in post though he was ill and had less than two months to live.  “Got a message from Dr Profeit to have as many torches ready for the Emperor's way going as for his coming.  This is different from my instructions from Colonel Davidson which are that the volunteers are not to take part as on the arrival but the Balmoral Highlanders only”.  Colonel Davidson’s view prevailed as the report in the Aberdeen Journal made clear.  “The interest connected with the departure of the Imperial child had scarcely died down when Mr Michie head forester who was in command of the Balmoral Highlanders emerged from the castle and proceeded to where the torches had been laid.  Soon afterwards the Highlanders to the number of about 30 assembled to the south front of the castle immediately opposite the Royal archway.  The men were drawn up in a semi-circle and about ten minutes to ten they each received a lighted torch made of pine.  At the same time 14 of the Scots Greys under the command of Lieutenant Harrison, who were to act as escort to the Emperor and Empress for half the distance between Balmoral and Ballater arrived and were formed into line with the horses’ heads facing the castle.  The strong wind which prevailed fanned the flames from the torches and the scene was a most picturesque one”.  This report also made clear that the Balmoral Highlanders were commanded by John Michie and not by Alexander Profeit, a fact confirmed in Michie’s diary.  “Had charge of the torchlight arrangements when Emperor &c left on Saturday night at 10.30.  The Balmoral Highlanders were drawn up in a semi-circle immediately outside the Portico, facing the front.  The Escort of Scots Greys on their right.  10 minutes before starting time I had each man served with a lighted torch.  The wind being strong, the torches burned fiercely but no accident or hitch happened.  I called for three cheers just as the Emperor's carriages moved off.  I then had a glass of whisky served out to each man, all of whom were served with supper in the Hall immediately before the parting of the Czar”.

It had been a good couple of weeks for the Michies.  John had been entrusted with the ceremonial arrangements for the welcome and departure of the Russian guests, both occasions having been a marked success, the Michies had both acted as hosts, twice, for a bevy of Royal visitors, including the Czar and Czarina, to tea at the Dantzig Shiel and Helen had probably got to hold the Imperial child, Olga.  The two of them must have been puffed up with pride at the trust which had been put in them by their Royal employers.  And justifiably so. 

The departure of Princess Olga was not the end of Helen Michie’s ogling of Royal children.  In September 1897, her husband recorded, “Went to the Castle taking Mrs M along to carry out the going to see the Duchess of York's children which she was asked to do by Her Royal Highness when here with the Queen on Saturday”.  The Duchess of York was Princess Mary of Teck, later Queen Mary, the wife of George V.         

Queen Victoria took a strong interest in the work of her wood forester, especially with regard to the alien tree species planted extensively on the Balmoral Estate and she would often address questions to him.  In September 1884, “The Queen came tea and wished to see me.  She wanted to know the history of the dwarf pines growing between the Boat Pool and the West Lodge.  The name is Pinus pumilis or montana” (actually Pinus pumilio, the Dwarf Mountain Pine).  John Michie was also the conduit by which the Queen got her landscaping ideas implemented.  On 23 September 1885, Michie met with the Queen at the Garden Cottage, in response to a message delivered by Francie Clark.  “She is desirous of having some of the spruce and other trees thinned in the bank behind the gardens.  I marked what I would suggest to come out.  HM is to get Prince Henry of Battenberg to plant a tree.  HM wishes me to open a view to HRH the late Prince Leopold's Chair, and show the Obilisk through the surrounding trees”.  However, sometimes the Queen’s commands were utterly impracticable but, nonetheless, obedience had to be attempted.  In June 1886, “Saw the Commissioner who states that the Queen wishes the lichen to be removed from the bark of the old birch trees - a humbug - but I have sent for putty knives of a strong pattern tonight that the matter may be attempted”.  Today the lichens would be treasured as an indication of good air quality.

Visits to the Dantzig Shiel were occasions on which the visor of Royal formality could be raised, and this was evident from the earliest days of the Michies’ occupation of the Dantzig.  Perhaps the most striking example of informal conversation recorded in the Michie diaries came on 24 September 1892.  “The Duchess of Connaught and family came to the Danzig to tea and the Duke who was stalking joined after having killed 4 stags and sprained his knee.  He is dead lame by the result.  Mrs M had a black eye which the Duke told her he would chaff me about, and he did so by saying he never thought I was violent - "I disclaim any connection with it": "Of course you do".   "I suppose in any case that would be the best course to take" – conclusion”. 

In May 1885, “The Queen with the three Princesses (Princesses Beatrice, Louise, Marchioness of Lorne and Princess Leiningen (the Leiningens were a German noble family)) came to tea.  I held some conversation with Her Majesty and Princess Louise.  Her Majesty was very kind in her inquiries after the health of my girl Annie.  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”.  Later Michie would remark that although he greatly admired Princess Louise, “… some do not appear to like her so much as other members of the Royal family”.  More warm remarks about Princess Louise were made in June 1892.  “Her Majesty came to tea, accompanied by HRH the Princess Louise, who warmly shook hands.  The Princess is exceedingly agreeable in manner, does a great deal and is most energetic in the doing of it”.  However, John Michie did not seem to have such an admiration of Princess Beatrice, perhaps because she seemed to see his alternative suggestions regarding landscaping as a challenge to her authority.  An illustrative example of this phenomenon occurred in September 1892.  “Received a message that the Princess Beatrice wished to see me according met Her Royal Highness at the garden cottage who is altogether enthusiastic over renewing some shrubberies in and around the Balmoral gardens and which I consider necessary to be done.  She also wants a break of the garden planted out with lilacs totally and some trees put in singly, ie, dotted through the whole of the garden and of a mixed nature evergreen and deciduous.  She also wants the conifers removed from a clump of rowans immediately in front of the portico but will not listen to my proposal of removing the whole clump”.  Princess Beatrice was very determined and persisted in pressing her landscaping opinions on John Michie later the following month.  “The Queen and Princess Beatrice had tea at the Danzig when the Princess began another attack on the line of young conifers between the Police box and the East Lodge, which were planted in order to fill up the ground behind a line of older trees placed too near and must come in contact with the roadway in a very few years’ time.  I thought I had succeeded in fixing this …”.  That was not the end of the matter and three days later, Princess Beatrice returned to the attack.  “Walked to the Castle and met the Princess Beatrice who is bent on having a number of coniferous plants shifted because they stand too near to larger ones which have been planted over near the roadway between the Police box and east lodge.  I explained to HRH how, in time, the larger ones being too near the drive would have to be removed and that I had planted a line at the proper distance back to take the place of the others when gone.  She could not however see it, and consequently I was obliged to mark some.  The lady is evidently suspicious of me carrying the thing out as she instructed me to have the matter carried out now, before the Queen leaves …”.  Michie ruminated on his dilemma.  “… should one obey such an order knowing it to be bad practice, should it be argued against, or should one be passive, ie, leave the plants knowing it to be right, without argument in the extreme when gently fails to convince”.  Michie took the line of least resistance and started moving the offending trees to other sites, probably a wise concession.  However, the following year, 1893, he was still on the horns of a dilemma.  “To Balmoral marking various trees to thin out within the policy grounds - a rather delicate operation more especially that some of the princesses have given me instructions in the matter said to represent the Queen's wish but they are opposed to each other and neither is according to my own”.  Remarkable, Michie managed to satisfy these competing demands.  In May of that year, “Had interview of the Princess Beatrice who is much pleased with my endeavours in trying to please her and the Princess Louise their ideas so far as I can judge being opposite.  The Princess wants more of the shrubberies renewed in the way I have done part and is anxious for more lilac planted as well as laburnum and gelder rose”.  The following month it was Princess Louise’s turn to hand out instructions to the head forester.  “Last night the Princess Louise called and shook hands with me most kindly appointing to meet this morning at the Garden Cottage to arrange some trees.  Met the Princess at the Castle who immediately set to work making arrangements as to what alterations should be made in the Policy grounds.  Memo - some lilacs in clumps just south & west of Castle, also some trees taken out and others pruned in to give better specimens a chance to grow, a Pinus cembra planted near a sycamore which took the place of an old rowan a few years ago.  Three or four sycamores or Norway maples to plant near two "shivering" trees on cricket ground.  Some Pinus montana at point of birchwood near cricket ground 2 birches of 3 or 4 feet planted in front of Castle to take the place of 3 shabby Abele poplars.  General thinning in gardens.  Specially clearing south side of garden of spruce & birch so as to allow light in”.  John Michie did his best to satisfy the Princess Louise while still nuancing the execution with his own judgement.  However, planting instructions from the Queen’s two youngest daughters did not abate.  “With workmen planting clumps in front of the Castle of Juniper mixed with Gaultheria shallon (a leathery-leaved shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America) and other low & creeping shrubs.   I cannot say that I entirely approve of this being done but it is carrying out an order of the Queen's communicated not by HM herself but by the joint representation of their R Hs Princess Louise and Beatrice”.

   Princess Louise and Marquis of Lorne    

In spite of the occasionally tense relationship between John Michie and Princess Beatrice, she clearly had some affection and regard for him.  At a dance in the servants’ hall at Balmoral in November 1893, “… did a reel with the Princess Beatrice at Her Royal Highness's request”!  Further evidence that Princess Beatrice harboured no lingering sensitivity towards John Michie was provided in September 1894.  “HRH The Princess Beatrice & her children were at Danzig at tea with Miss Byng in attendance”.  Indeed, from this occasion visits to the Dantzig by Princess Beatrice’s children occurred regularly, either with their parents or with their tutor, such as in November 1894.  “The Princess Beatrice's children, the two eldest, drove up with their Tutor & Governess to say goodbye”.  Similarly, Princess Louise, the Marchioness of Lorne, clearly held John Michie in some respect, despite their diverging views on landscaping.  In November 1895, just before the Royal departure from Balmoral, the two met when Michie remarked that the Princess “… has a most charming power of expressing herself”.  On the day of departure, “The Princess Louise (Marchioness of Lorne) sent for me to say goodbye”.  John Michie received another vote of confidence from Princess Beatrice in October 1896.  She had been out walking in the vicinity of the Dantzig Shiel with “The Connaught Princesses, the Duchess of Albany's young daughters & Prince Alexander of Battenberg (Princess Henry's eldest son of nine years)”.  Beatrice then asked for Michie’s help.  “She asked me to walk with her as she did not like the responsibility of so many young people in so solitary a place. Talked over some current events”.  

Princess Beatrice

Princess Beatrice gave birth to the Battenbergs’ fourth child, who would be christened Maurice Victor Donald, at Balmoral on 3 October 1891 at 7.00am.  John Michie was immediately summoned and given instructions for implementing the local celebrations.  “I, by instructions, prepared a bonfire on Craig Gowan which was lighted at 7 o'ck evening after the pipers had headed a torchlight procession up the hill.  After remaining abt. half an hour by the fire during which the health of the Queen, and that of the Princess & young Prince was pledged, we then marched down to the Castle & danced several reels with lighted torches to the piper”.  John Michie’s last remark in his diary entry for that day was a single word – “Tired”!    

Another ritual which Queen Victoria followed was to drive around favourite servants prior to her departure for the south to say “goodbye”.  The Michies were members of this select group.  In November 1890, John Michie recorded the following account of the Queen’s farewell.  “The Royal children of the Prince & Princess of Battenberg called by the Princess's orders to say goodbye.  The Queen and Princess also came for the same purpose in case HM could not come later.”  The actual departure of the Royal party was on 19^th November, when John Michie went down to the Castle to see them off.  He also summarised his involvement in the monarch’s send-off since his arrival at Balmoral.  “The present is the 21st time consecutively that I have seen the Queen leave Balmoral and have witnessed her arrival the same number of times.  No!  I missed being present at her departure in June 1884 (from memory) when in Edinburgh with our Forest exhibits at The Forestry Exhibition.”  The reverse of the departure ritual occurred soon after arrival at Balmoral on another holiday, as in May 1891, on the Queen’s return from England.  On the day of arrival on Upper Deeside, “The Queen & Princess Beatrice (Princess Henry of Battenberg) drove on to my house to ask for our welfare and I am glad to see Her Majesty looking so healthy herself and speaking so clearly as she did, considering that she will be 72 years of age on Sunday.  The Princess is in her usual good form.  She (Queen) is always admired (humbly) by me”. There could be no doubting Michie’s loyalty to his monarch.  The Queen’s birthday was the 24^th May, which usually fell during her late spring holiday at Balmoral.  Not infrequently, her programme for the day included a trip to the Dantzig Shiel.  The year 1891 conformed to this pattern.  “Yesterday (Michie was writing on Monday 25^th but referring to events on Sunday 24^th) 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 being 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 same year, the Queen, Princess Helena and Prince Henry also visited the Dantzig on the latter’s birthday (10 September).

It was not the exclusive province of Princesses Beatrice and Louise to buttonhole John Michie on estate landscaping.  In October 1886, “The Prince of Wales and party picknicked at Falls and called at my house in afternoon. … The Prince complained of the rough state of the surroundings to my house, but I was obliged to inform him that it was Her Majesty's wish that the whole should be left rough as it was, and not interfered with in the way of artistically laying out or improving on the natural aspect”.  The Duke of Connaught also tried to bend Michie’s ear in 1891.  “I saw the Duke of Connaught off this afternoon.   Before shaking hands which he did kindly in saying goodbye he expressed himself as agreeing with me in the matter of removing some ill thriven trees of elm &c near the approach at the East Lodge but wished a heather rough piece of ground levelled near the Police box, but I obliged to inform him that the Queen said it was not to be touched.  The Duke said I should tell her its removal would show off the trees”.  Did the Duke think that Michie could sway the Queen more easily that he could?  If so, perhaps he was right.  On the Queen’s departure from the Dantzig after a visit on 16 November 1892, “Her Majesty was exceedingly nice as she always is.  She wished to see the children and bade all goodbye. In talking over business, she wished two sets of stags’ horns placed in the frost lobby opposite the outer door, and I prevailed on Her Majesty to leave the bit of green ground at McIntosh's house unplanted”.  During early August 1893, John Michie was able to make a visit to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight while the Queen was in residence.  “The Queen sent for me and I met HM in the front hall at Osborne. …  HM showed me round herself and wished my opinion in regard to several matters connected with the Demense.  By this date Michie’s status with the monarch was such that she was not only prepared to act as his guide, but also to take his advice on landscaping matters, even away from his own patch at Balmoral.

It was not only landscaping and forestry matters on which the Queen consulted John Michie.  In November 1885, “Drove to the Castle in the morning for the purpose of showing the Queen my dogcart as she proposes having a similar one made to go light journeys such as taking a footman and Her Majesty's tea out instead of using the large four-wheeler which does that duty meanwhile”. 

A warm but respectful relationship developed between the wood forester and Prince Henry of Battenberg and this was evident from the earliest days of his marriage to Princess Beatrice.  After the 1885 Braemar Gathering, “On my arrival home the Prince & Princess of Battenberg came and remained for at least an hour”.  A month later Prince Henry was shooting roe deer in the Ballochbuie and called at the Dantzig.  “He gave me a young hind killed by mistake.  I gave McKenzie (retired keeper living at the Bridge of Dee) half”.  By the Queen’s request, the Michies’ fifth child was baptised Henry Maurice “for HRH Prince H M of Battenberg”.  The ceremony was honoured by the presence of Royal attendees.  “The Queen, Prince & Princess Henry & the Hereditary Gd Duke of Hesse were present”.  Prince Henry’s birthday was the 5^th October and in 1885, the Queen commanded John Michie to arrange a commemorative tree planting.  “I selected an Abies douglassi glauca (Douglas fir) and fixed on a spot 40 to 60 yds. west of the gardens.  The Queen & Prince & Princess of Battenberg were present”.  The state of familiarity between John Michie and Prince Henry was well illustrated in November 1891.  “Prince Henry who has been shooting hinds in Glen Beg came round, and as he was wet I gave him dry shoes & stockings of mine on as well as a dry cap (the one given me by my father last new year)”.  Michie and Prince Henry clearly found it easy to converse with each other, perhaps because they both shared a passion for hunting deer.  In September 1892, “The Queen, Princess Beatrice with Prince Henry & family had tea here this evening. … Prince Henry was at Mar Lodge yesterday shooting with the Duke of Fife.  The Prince killed 3 stags with 3 shots - one being royal he told me”.  Another illustration of the confidence that Prince Henry placed in the Balmoral wood forester came in the same month.  “The Queen came to Danzig for tea … .  Prince H of Battenberg also bowled past with his four in hand but soon returned.  He wrote a note and gave it me, open, to convey to Sir Algernon (Borthwick) who read its contents in my hearing”.  John Michie was deeply upset when the news reached Balmoral in January 1896 that Prince Henry had died.  “The terribly lamentable news came today of the death at sea near Sierra Leone, Gold Coast of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Battenberg”.  The following day, “Drove to Balmoral & went to Craig Gowan House in the hope of getting some news about Prince Henry, vainly hoping he might be still alive but no”.  A stone monolith was raised to Prince Henry’s memory almost a year after his passing.  Princess Beatrice asked John Michie “to plant some heather &c about the stone”.  However, the perennial problem with Princess Beatrice’s landscaping ideas emerged for another canter around the Balmoral policies.  “Discussed with Mr Forbes (Commissioner in succession to Dr Profeit) the embellishing of Prince Henry of Battenberg's memorial monolith near Connachat Cottage, but it seems a difficult matter to get at, the difficulty being that the Princess Henry wants planting done but no fencing then deer will not let anything grow so long as they have access to it, more particularly is this the case at a place so much frequented by them in winter as the site of the memorial”.  A month later the matter had not been resolved.  “Have great trouble to get to know what the Princess wants exactly in the way of planting at Prince Henry's monument.  Wednesday 20 January 1897 was the first anniversary of the Prince’s death.  Out of respect for the man for whom he had great regard, John Michie “kept quiet” for the day. 

Prince Henry of Battenberg

Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, died on 13 March 1892, which saddened John Michie, as he knew the Duke well and liked him.  “The Grand Duke was a very frequent visitor at Balmoral the last occasion being during the Queen's stay in May & June of last year when I had the honour of shooting with him several times.  He was much liked by all here with whom he came in contact.  When here last summer he fished in the Dee several times and wore the kilt which dress became him well from his stout manly proportionate build”.  

John Michie wisely also cultivated a relationship with the Prince of Wales.  In September 1890, “Went down to Abergeldie to see the Prince of Wales arrive from the south the Princess of Wales reaching there at the same moment where Her Royal Highness has been staying with the Duke & Duchess of Fife.  The Prince shook hands on his arrival with several (of the rather smaller than usual company assembled to welcome him) - myself among the number and after talking with the gamekeeper about the shooting prospects disappeared with the Princess”.  By 1893, Michie’s relationship with the next in line to the throne was such that the wood forester could give the Royal a cheery wave.  “The Prince of Wales left Mar Lodge for the South taking lunch at Balmoral on his way to Ballater.  I gave him a parting hat (ie raised his hat) at the Police Box”.

Alfred Ernest Albert was Queen Victoria’s fourth child, born in 1844.  Between 1866 and 1893 he held the title Duke of Edinburgh but in the latter year assumed the German title of Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from a paternal uncle.  He was a regular visitor to Upper Deeside and John Michie knew the Duke well.  In November 1893, John Michie organised beaters for a roe deer drive for the Duke.  “Sent from Birkhall 5 men to beat woods of upper Glen Muick for roedeer &c on account of HRH the Duke of Coburg Gotha (late Duke of Edinburgh).  I also went myself and had some conversation with the Duke about the timber supply of this country and the management of plantations.  He informed me that he would get the Queen to allow me to go over to Coburg to see his forests there and inspect their admirable management for which promise I thanked him much.  The Duke spoke very kindly to me which he has always done”.  When he left for London the following day, John Michie made a point of being present to see him off, “I said goodbye to him, having walked down this morning”.  True to his word, the Duke did speak to his mother and in June 1894, while taking tea at the Dantzig, the Queen told the head forester that he was going to Coburg on 3 August.  Shortly before the departure of the Royal party from Balmoral at the end of June 1894, there was another tree planting ceremony.  “The two Princesses of Coburg (Alexandra and Beatrice) planted a tree each near the cherry tree on the lawn tennis green in company with the Princess Beatrice. Of course, I superintended”.  Of course!

 

 

The death of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria habitually spent the Christmas period at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and the year 1900 was no different.  However, her health was poor and during the following January she became progressively weaker, sleepy and confused.  On 21 January John Michie noted with alarm, “I was much shocked to see in the newspaper of today that Our beloved Queen was seriously ill.  We knew that she had been out of her usual for some time back, but matters had got worse on Friday and much more so on Saturday.”  A medical bulletin the following Monday indicated the Queen had had a stroke and Victoria died on the evening of Tuesday 22 January at the age of 81.  The relationship between the Queen and John and Helen Michie thus came to an end.  John, a true monarchist, recorded his thoughts in his diary.  “Reluctantly and painfully, I have to record the demise of our dearly beloved Queen who passed away at Osborne this afternoon at 6.30.  Surrounded by the Royal family, from h.r.h.The Prince of Wales downwards.  The feeling of sorrow is most depressing and altogether most peculiar that it cannot be described”.  John Michie had served the Queen for 21 ½ years and during that time both she and the Balmoral wood forester had grown to like and respect each other.  At least it would have been of some comfort to John Michie that he was able to attend the Queen’s funeral and play a significant part in the ceremonial aspects of the occasion.

The sad telegram reached Mr Forbes, Commissioner about 8p.m. who immediately sent round grooms to inform those on the Estate.  He then wired a message of sympathy to The Prince of Wales, “"The King."  Copy Telegram received - Osborne Jany 22nd 1901.  6.35p.m. - Her Majesty the Queen breathed her last at 6.30p.m. surrounded by her Children and Grandchildren.  (signed) James Reid, R.D. Powell, Thomas Barlow, Bigge”.  The following morning John Michie met with James Forbes and it was agreed to stop all non-essential work on the estate.  That evening a reply to the Commissioner’s telegram was received.  “From Osborne to Mr James Forbes Esq, Balmoral - The Prince of Wales & Royal family desire me to express their sincere thanks for the kind words of sympathy which you conveyed to them from the people of Balmoral.  They know that this overwhelming sorrow in the loss of the beloved Queen will be heartily shared by all in Her Majesty's Highland Home to whom she was attached by ties of true affection.  (signed) Private Secretary."  All that Forbes could do was maintain a dignified calm and await instructions.  The following day, Thursday, John Michie wrote, “Mr Forbes has had no news of the future arrangements and is waiting.”  Friday was similar, “All quiet and depressed over the one topic” and Saturday too, “Drove round by Craig-gowan to find no further news had come from Osborne.”

Instructions were then received on Sunday 27 January 1901, via a wire with the King’s commands.  James Forbes (Commissioner), John Michie (Head Forester), Donald Stewart (Head Keeper), Arthur Grant (Second Keeper), John Laird (Under Keeper) and Charles McIntosh (Under Keeper) were to travel to the Isle of Wight to accompany the late Queen’s body back to Windsor and to represent Balmoral at the funeral.   John and Helen Michie drove to church and then called at Craiggowan where the Commissioner and the Head Forester discussed travel arrangements for the Balmoral party.   The group left Balmoral early on Monday 28 January.  Although Donald Stewart was still employed as head keeper, he was then 75, not in good health and it was necessary for his daughter Helena to accompany him.  John Michie noted that the bus from Braemar which took the contingent to Ballater had to wait some time at The Croft, Donald Stewart’s house, for him to join the party.  Arthur Grant was also accompanied by his wife, who Michie said was there “to look after him”, though it was unclear why the 50-year-old keeper needed such support.  Perhaps she was there as an “accompanying spouse”, who did not want to miss the occasion?  The party of eight arrived at Ballater just in time to catch the morning train to Aberdeen.  (The Aberdeen People’s Journal claimed that another Keeper, Robert Lundie, also travelled, but there is no confirmation of such a happening from any other source, including John Michie’s extensive diary entries and the numbers in the party given by the Head Forester would not then tally.) 

In Aberdeen on Monday, 28 January, the group temporarily separated.  James Forbes, Donald and Helena Stewart took a train to Edinburgh, while John Michie had a frock coat made and bought a new tie before departing for the south with the rest of the party at 7.45pm.  John Michie had done his research on train fares and found that a return excursion fare from Aberdeen to Bournemouth was available at a cheaper price than the regular return ticket from Aberdeen to Southampton and his sub-group of five enjoyed the cheaper fare.  This was a saving of 6/3d on the full fare of £3-18/9d (8%).  Confusing train fares have been around for many decades!  AH Farquharson, Laird of Invercauld, was travelling to London in the same carriage as John Michie and his companions, presumably another invitee to the funeral.  At Waverley Station, all the Balmoral party joined up together again, travelled on and arrived early on Tuesday 29 at King’s Cross, where they breakfasted at the Great Northern Hotel.  At about this stage concerns were expressed about the ability of Donald Stewart to withstand the rigours of the crossing to the Isle of Wight, and it was decided that the Head Keeper would remain in London.  The party appeared to be wearing the Highland dress in which they would carry out their official functions and this concerned John Michie who felt they might be inadequately protected from the weather for the crossing of the Solent from Southampton to West Cowes.  At his suggestion, arrangements were made with a clothing shop in Buckingham Palace Road for the manager to deliver six black waterproof cloaks, at a cost of 3gn each, to Waterloo Station before the start of the journey to the South Coast.  Another sensible arrangement made was to appoint John Michie as purser for the group, though he reckoned that he ended up out of pocket as a result. Michie did not record whether the new cloaks were useful on their winter crossing of the Solent.  After arriving at West Cowes, the group was met by a courier from Osborne, who conducted them to the various houses in which rooms had been arranged for their accommodation.

The procession conveying the late Queen’s body from Osborne to the mainland was arranged for Friday 1 February and the preceding two days were devoted to rehearsals.  At 5.00pm on Wednesday 30 January, the Balmoral servants and the bluejackets (seamen from the Royal yacht) got together for the first rehearsal with an empty coffin weighed down with sandbags.  Teams practised raising, lowering and marching with this dummy sarcophagus.  The coffin was then loaded onto a gun carriage drawn by the horses which would be employed on the actual day.  At 7.30 on Thursday, practice recommenced at the portico to Osborne House, which would be the starting point of the actual procession the following day.  But a problem with the execution of the programme emerged.  The Queen’s coffin was in three parts, an inner oak shell, a lead casing and an outer box of polished and decorated oak.  In total, this composite structure with its human cargo weighed 15 cwt, or 765 Kg.  It required eight fit men of similar height to carry it and even then, each man would be bearing 95 Kg.  The original plan was for the Highlanders alone to carry the heavy coffin from the temporary chapel inside the house, down a corridor to the portico and to deposit the monarch’s kist on a platform attached to a gun carriage.  Two Highlanders had been delegated from the Queen’s immediate staff (identities not presently known) and the Balmoral party could provide five more (John Michie, Arthur Grant, John Laird, Charles Mackintosh and James Forbes), making only seven in total.  It would have been very risky to continue in this way and a decision was taken to nominate a squad of bluejackets from the Royal Yacht, Alberta, for the principal carrying role.  However, probably to save face for the Highlanders and their leader, James Forbes, they were given a subsidiary role assisting the bluejackets with lifting and steadying the coffin.  But then tensions arose between the bluejackets and the Highlanders, or rather the sailors’ officer in charge, one Lieutenant Pelly, towards whom John Michie developed a marked antipathy, “… an Officer of which I have not the very highest opinion.”  It is easy to see how the two separate squad commanders might have found difficulty in seeing eye to eye, bearing in mind the importance of the task and the disparities between the two squads.  Perhaps this embarrassing situation could have been avoided if a younger, fitter ghillie had been included in the party, rather than the 75-year-old Donald Stewart?  But then his seniority made omitting him almost impossible.  It proved to be a no-win situation for the Balmoral Commissioner.      

There was time left on both Wednesday and Thursday, 30 and 31 January, for Michie and Forbes to catch up with friends and contacts at Osborne, including Mr Slater, the Steward at Barton Farm, which was adjacent to Osborne House and which had been bought by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert from Winchester College in 1845, after being rented for a year.  Another long-standing contact was Alexander Thomson, the Osborne Clerk of Works and brother of Margaret Thomson, wife of Donald Stewart.  John Michie also consulted Dr Ellison concerning the health of Victoria, daughter of William Durran, a gardener on the Balmoral estates.  The girl had been ill and was sent to Osborne to try to restore her health.  After the conclusion of Thursday’s practice, Princess Henry (Princess Beatrice) sent for John Michie, who recorded the following comments on their meeting.  “I felt sorry for the princess who however looked sensibly at the dispensation of Providence in that she was resigned to the inevitable stating that the Queen had lived to a good old age, that her short illness was not painful, that there was much to be thankful for.  Remarking how sad it would have been if the Queen had lingered on in a pained state for months.”  The Head Forester also had a meeting with the Duke of Connaught, formerly Prince Arthur, Queen Victoria’s third son, though the content of the conversation was not recorded.

Queen Victoria’s grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm II made a quick dash from Germany to see his rapidly declining relative for the last time.  The journey was accomplished in the Emperor’s steam yacht, the SMY Hohenzollern, which was accompanied across the North Sea by four cruisers of the German Navy.  The flotilla arrived in the Solent on the morning of 21 January and the Kaiser immediately travelled to Osborne House.  He was ushered into the presence of Queen Victoria though, sadly, she could barely recognise her German descendant.  The Kaiser was accompanied by his chief physician, but it was too late for this august medical man to be of any value.  Wilhelm II was present the following day when his grandmother died.  He remained on the island until the funeral and the Hohenzollern anchoring near Cowes.  In order to improve communications between the vessel and Osborne House, a marine telegraph cable was laid from the German ship to East Cowes Post Office.  A Balmoral group, including John Michie, visited the Kaiser’s ship during Thursday morning, 31 January “and was most courteously shown every part of it afterward being invited to partake of wine sandwiches & soup raised the first to the Kaiser's health.”  On Thursday afternoon, John Michie took James Forbes to visit Mr Slater at Barton Farm.  The Head Forester also met Mrs Michie (no relation), the Osborne Housekeeper, who proudly showed him a brooch the new King had given to her.  But these meetings were mere diversions, concocted to fill time until the momentous and historically significant events commenced on the following afternoon.  Friday 1 February was the day that Queen Victoria’s body would leave Osborne House for the last time.

On Friday morning, a final practice was held at the Osborne House portico and by this time the parties seemed happy that the removal of the coffin would be smoothly achieved, leaving several hours before the ceremony was scheduled to commence.  Mr Slater from Barton Farm sought out John Michie, on behalf of both the King and the Duke of Connaught, to give advice on the care of the avenue of trees lining the carriageway to the House, which were now too crowded and some members of which were in poor health.  The avenue was composed of four rows of trees with Quercus ilex (Holm Oak) and Auracaria imbricata (Monkey Puzzle Tree) alternating in the inner avenue, and Cedrus lebani (Cedar of Lebanon) forming the two outer rows.  John Michie’s advice was clear and concise.  “I gave it as my opinion that the Auracarias should be taken away between the oaks (Quercus) as soon as may be, that the oaks may be judiciously pruned in the meantime, that the cedars be encouraged to grow in every possible way and conserved so as to form the permanent and ultimate single line of trees along either side of the carriage way, the oaks in a pruned condition to be left until it becomes evident that the cedars were sufficient.  Otherwise, the oaks being very near the carriage way may be left so as to ultimately over arch the carriage way according to taste but personally I do not believe in this I do not recommend it.”

John Michie recorded events in his dairy, sometimes at great length, from Monday 28 January, when Mr Forbes’ party left Balmoral, to Sunday 3 February, the day before Queen Victoria’s funeral.  But then there is an unexplained gap until 5 March.  Could this gap of about one month represent a period of personal mourning by John Michie, who was very patriotic and deeply affected by the passing of the monarch who had so frequently been a guest in his own home?  For some days and some events that were recorded in the diaries, the clarity of the Head Forester’s account needs little amplification and on these occasions his entries have been reproduced extensively.  But for the gap, it has been necessary to look to other sources of information.

The outline programme of events was for the Queen’s body to be transported to Portsmouth on Friday 1 February.  On the following day it was to be taken by train to Victoria Station, then by gun carriage to Paddington Station for onwards transmission by the Royal train to Windsor and into St George’s Chapel in the Castle for the funeral on Saturday afternoon, 2 February.  The body would then lie in state until Monday 4 February followed immediately by interment at the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore. 

The crucial lifting and carrying operation, jointly with the bluejackets, at Osborne House was described by John Michie.  “Having partaken of an early lunch (12.30) we collected at the portico at 1.30.  At this moment the gun carriage on which the mortal remains of our beloved Queen and Mistress is to be borne to East Cowes arrived as did a Company of Grenadier Guards and some 10 Blue jackets (It was actually 12 “wearing straw hats and their smartest blue suits”).  We, the Highlanders - Mr Forbes, the Queen's Commissioner, myself, Arthur Grant, 2nd keeper, Charles McIntosh, under gamekeeper, and John Laird, under gamekeeper, all from Balmoral, were taken inside the entrance hall.  In the inner entrance hall, the coffin lay on trestles.  The Bishop of Winchester had taken up his position at its head while the King faced him at its foot, the German Emperor at his side.  The Queen that now is with the host of Princess of Royal blood crowded round as did the other members of the Royal family most of whom were dressed in the uniform of some regiment, the princesses being veritable pyramids of black.  The short service was soon over when the Blue jackets who had stood at the door were marched in to be joined by the Highlanders at the coffin then the word "Prepare to lift" was given, followed by "lift'.  Mr. Forbes stood at the left side of the coffin, the three others mixed with the Blue jackets in lifting while I raised the feet onto the men's shoulders, turned right about slowly and at a very slow step led the way to the gun carriage which had been drawn up to its position ¾ way through the portico.  On reaching the descending steps I faced the foot of the coffin allowing it to rest on my chest in order to relieve the strain on the men's shoulders.  When clear of the steps all we had to do was to turn to the left and place the foot on the gun carriage over the axis of which was a neat platform to receive the coffin containing two small rollers - one near either end projecting just a little above the platform level.  Over these the coffin was quickly pushed forward to its position and held there by two strong straps.  On the coffin lid was then placed a board over which the white satin pall hung down and on which were the crown and other regalia.”  A drawing of the event is available which, though rather dark, shows the eight bluejackets carrying the coffin with two Highlanders alongside.  Clearly, the role of the Highlanders was significant and not trivial in this operation, as was portrayed in some of the newspapers.

Michie then described the journey out through the Queen’s Gate at Osborne and down the hill about one mile to East Cowes.  “All being now ready the King and Royal mourners moved out through the portico while the gun carriage was drawn forward a few paces and we Highlanders took up the position allotted to us in the procession immediately in front of the coffin, the two pipers being behind us instead of being in front as on ordinary occasions.  The King, German Emperor, King of Portugal, King of the Belgians, our own Royal family including the Queen & Princesses who were behind the Princes.  Then came the Household &c &c &c.  In front of us the Grenadiers had taken up their position with their band behind them.  The signal being given the mournful cortege moved away toward the main drive on reaching which the two pipers at slowest time began to play "The 42nd Highlanders' Lament" changing into "The Flowers o' the Forest" with the result as we passed along, that every face of the thousands that lined the way was visibly affected.  (The two pipers were James Campbell, who had been the Queen’s piper since 1881 and his cousin, William Campbell, the Queen’s second piper).  On reaching the main entrance from East Cowes the piper stopped and then as a prelude to the Grenadier band the 40 muffled drums began to beat and Chopin's Funeral march sounded from the numerous brass instruments.  Close up behind the military and police lining the way crowded vast numbers of loyal subjects as well as from every point of vantage near.  Cinematographs were grinding on to their ribbands the moving pictures to be shown on screens everywhere while the ordinary camera was conspicuous on every favourable spot.  At last Trinity Pier was reached when from the gun carriage the Blue jackets alone bore the coffin to its place on board one of the late Queen's yachts - The Alberta - with measured and slow steps the solemn silence broken only by the continuous rumble of the muffled drums some 30 or 40 yards away on another pier.”  This was the end of the Highlanders’ formal contribution to the aftermath of the late Queen’s death, until the funeral and interment.

Next came the crossing of the Solent to Portsmouth Harbour, though after some delay until all the ships in the procession were ready to weigh anchor.  “The Alberta lay still waiting till the King got aboard the Victoria & Albert which lay in the offing, the German Emperor to the Hohenzolern &c &c.  The Alberta watched until the Victoria & Albert came the signal - ready - when slowly she slipped her cables and moved gently away from the pier.  And so ended the first and in my humble opinion the most touching act of the whole funeral drama.  No sooner had the Alberta got underway with her head slowly creeping seawards & the Royal Standard drooping at half mast, for the wind was still, than there was a general commotion among the yachts and other craft in the spacious bay of Cowes.  The Alberta glided straight for the first of the long line of British battleships while the procession of Royal yachts gradually fell into their places behind.  The Victoria and Albert following something like a hundred yards, the Osborne following, then the Hohenzolern, next but one coming the little Elfin with the Balmoral Highlanders.  The booming of the great naval guns broke out in a kind of scattered volleys which were occasionally deafening but not disagreeably oppressive.  The length of the single line of British naval ships was said to be ten miles.  From the outside of Cowes Bay they were anchored in the Solent in a perfectly straight line to opposite Portsmouth harbour when the line suddenly broke off at right angles to the pier.  The harbour was swarming with craft of all sizes & shapes from the Victory, Great Nelson's flag ship, to the smallest gig.  Southsea Beach and all available surface in sight at & near Portsmouth was black with humanity there to pay their loyal last respects.”  The coffin was guarded on the Alberta overnight and then unloaded at the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard, Gosport for transport to London by train.

On reaching Portsmouth, John Michie realised that their luggage was missing, and he described his efforts to locate the absent impedimenta.  “Our (the Highlanders') luggage had been left at East Cowes as I suspected, but the Captain of the Elfin believed it to be on board the Alberta, accordingly I set off in search of it in the "gig" pulled by 4 blue jackets but as we gently hailed her the reply was "not an ounce of luggage aboard you'll find it on the Victoria & Albert," rowed across the harbour to that vessel and searched all the heaps of personal baggage above & below but no Balmoral goods could be found.  Back to the Elfin, had the Captain's blessing, hurried ashore, all told and wired East Cowes to forward luggage to Windsor at once.”  However, it would not be until Saturday that they were reunited with their personal belongings. 

The small railway station at Portsmouth Harbour was packed with people travelling back to London.  James Forbes’ group was due to travel to Windsor entirely by rail, without crossing the capital by other means.  John Michie continued his account.  “The crush at both Railway stations was terrific.  Speculation among the crowd was rife as to who we were, some putting the question "Are you the Queen's pipers?" Others "What regiment do you belong to?" &c &c.  At last, we got into a railway carriage which was brought back and attached to an already heavy train which started for Waterloo at 7p.m. but the pace was miserably slow.  There were trains in front & trains behind all of them too heavy to climb the inclines of the chalk downs at more than a snail's pace.  Gradually our train got lighter, but we could not improve our pace much because of other trains in front.  About Woking an evident Londoner entered our compartment just as we had decided to change at Clapham and take the last train from London to Windsor.  Having entered into conversation with him I put the Question "If you wanted to get to Windsor tonight what would you do?"  "Continue up to Waterloo take a tuppeny tube to Paddington with 12-5.  I pointed out to him that it was now nearly midnight and instead of adopting that course which we at first intended we meant to come off at Clapham Junction and catch the last train from Waterloo coming round this way to Windsor, and we did it reaching Windsor at 1-40a.m. after a most tiresome and cold journey, the weather being extremely cold while we had no cloaks or overcoats.  From the Ry. Station we ran up to the White Hart Hotel to find our rooms let, the authority there believing we were not coming that night.  Mr. Forbes who had a room in the Round Tower bolted off and I set to work to get housed somehow.  (The Round Tower presently accommodates the Royal Archives.)  It turned out there was one bed available, and having got Grant, McIntosh and Laird packed into it I got some blankets threw off my tunic and kilt to prostrate myself on a drawing room couch which turned out rather unsatisfactory as the thing was too short, my legs protruding a considerable distance over the drooping end, the blankets hanging over them as if on a towel rail.  I woke up 3 hours later with chilled legs and a crick in my neck but in rare trim for breakfast which we had most satisfactorily in the Castle at 8 of a very hard frosty morning.” 

White Hart Hotel, Windsor

Henry VIII gateway, Windsor Castle

St George's Chapel, Windsor

After breakfast on Saturday, 2 February, James Forbes and John Michie conferred over the next moves for the Balmoral group.  “I went to both stations causing wires to be despatched, came up to the hotel 7 had a good wash up, and studied the programme for the day along with Mr. Forbes.  It is now past 9 o'clock forenoon when the procession for London was to start from Portsmouth by train.  The Balmoral people had no part in the London business.  Our instructions were to meet the cortege at Windsor which should arrive from Paddington at 1-30, but the special train containing all did not arrive for an hour after which necessitated the longest & coldest wait of all.  In an open draughty station on what the inhabitants call the coldest day of the season in the kilt without coat was by no means a comfortable situation.  Those waiting were chiefly (that is for the procession) naval & military Guards of Honour, gun carriage drawn by 8 horses, Gentlemen at Arms, Yeomen of the Guard and Balmoral Highlanders.  As all through the various processions every available space was taken up long before the hour appointed, indeed I saw people taking up position with luncheon baskets as early as 9 a.m.  When the train did arrive, all was bustle at once.  Besides the King & Queen I noticed step onto the platform Lords Roberts & Wolsley, the old Duke of Cambridge and others.  The coffin was solemnly and slowly removed to the gun carriage by a Bearer Party of non-commissioned Officers of the Guards and Household Cavalry on which it was placed the Crown and Cushion, the Regalia and Insignia of the Garter was placed on the pall which was spread out over a framework laid on the coffin lid thus hanging down on all sides so as to cover the coffin while on the gun carriage but when the coffin was being carried on the shoulders of each bearer the polished oaken coffin was bare, the pall frame, Crown, Regalia &c. always being lifted off and borne behind.  Here an unfortunate incident, the only hitch in the intricate & imposing obsequies, the 8 horses in the gun carriage had been standing in the piercingly cold wind for about 2 hours & when they were wanted to move would only plunge and dash from side to side.  After considerable delay the horses were taken off and replaced by a Company of Blue jackets who procured ropes and gently dragged the gun carriage & coffin through Windsor to St. George's Chapel.  The route lay up the hill by the Castle walls, past the White Hart Hotel in front of which in an open place formed by the town entrance to the Castle stands a Jubilee statue of our late Queen which has been ornamented by flowers and plants effectively placed round the base of the pedestal while the whole was tastefully draped in black & purple.  The cortege passed straight on to the nearer part of the long walk where it turned to the left, up towards the Castle and on to St. George's Chapel, at the steps of which the cortege was received by the Dean and Prebendaries & the Choir of Windsor.  The coffin was carried up the steps by the bearer party, along the nave & placed in the centre of the Choir.  His Majesty the King as chief mourner taking up his place at the head of the coffin.  We entered, the Balmoral Highlanders entering by the South door by which our beloved departed Queen so often came & went and took up our position near the centre of the Church.  The service was not long but most impressive and the day's trying ordeal finished up as near as I can think about 4 o'clock.  The evening settled down cold and damp, but the town of Windsor was still in a tumult of people.  We were at last glad to get our luggage from Cowes and got out of our kilts in time for supper.  I retired to my room in the hotel tired and wearied.” 

John Michie only made one further, brief entry in his diary, for Sunday 3 February, the day before the funeral.  “Sunday broke fine and as one left the White Hart and climbed the hill to the Castle there were the thousands of beautiful wreaths which might be said to be the overflow from the Albert Memorial Chapel (the coffin lay in state here until the procession to Frogmore) where the coffin had been placed & surrounded by many floral tributes from members of the Royal family & others of first importance.” 

On Monday 4 February, the Highlanders again took their place in the procession assembled at the Castle to move the Queen’s remains to Frogmore.  The order of procession was Queen’s Company, with arms reversed, the Governor of Windsor Castle (the Duke of Argyll), then the Highlanders and the two pipers, followed by Royal servants, the band of the Grenadier Guards and many others.  The procession moved off, through Windsor Great Park on the journey to the Royal Mausoleum.  The London Daily News described the Highlanders as “marching gallantly with heads thrown back”.  At Frogmore the pipers played the Funeral March of the Black Watch, the oldest Highland Regiment.  The Highlanders were accommodated within the Mausoleum for the committal service. An era had passed. 

Queen Victoria Mausoleum, Frogmore

It is entirely unclear if Donald Stewart, who had been left in London on 29 January, ever rejoined the group at Windsor, or took part in the procession to the Castle, the funeral service or the march to Frogmore.  John Michie was silent on the travels of the venerable Head Keeper.  Nothing has been uncovered about the departure of the Balmoral group from Windsor, or their return to the Northeast of Scotland, but at home, each individual must have reflected upon the events they had recently witnessed and in which they had participated on the Isle of Wight and at Windsor, as being amongst the most memorable of their lives.  Queen Victoria had been the longest serving British monarch at almost 64 years.  She had reigned during one of the most successful eras of the British nation.  Her offspring populated the Royal houses of Europe.  The British economy was the most successful in the world, The British Empire covered about one quarter of the land area of the planet.  Yet she had been personally known to each of them.

 

Alexander Profeit and his relatives

Alexander Profeit was born in 1834 at Nether Towie, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, the son of a farmer.  He was the eldest in a family of six, comprised of four boys and two girls.  His initial education was at Towie Parochial School under Mr Fyfe.  By 1849, Alexander was a pupil at Aberdeen Grammar School where he was awarded a prize in Latin.  At the 1851 Census, he was lodging in the Gallowgate, Aberdeen, where three fellow lodgers were medical students.  Association with these three young medics may have influenced his future career path.  After grammar school Alex Profeit moved on to King’s College, one of Aberdeen’s two universities.  In 1855 he graduated with the degree of MA, having performed competently in a variety of subjects, including Latin, Natural Philosophy (Physics in modern parlance) and Mathematics.  Two years later he became a licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and he began his medical career in his native village of Towie, where he set up a general practice. 

Alexander Profeit

William, the next oldest Profeit boy, also had an academic bent.  He too attending Aberdeen Grammar School followed by King’s College, where he graduated in Classics in 1859.  William Profeit then progressed to the Free Church College to study for the ministry, following which he served as minister of Durris, Kincardineshire and later at Glenbucket, Aberdeenshire.  He was the incumbent in this latter parish for many years, becoming Moderator of the Free Church Synod of Aberdeen and of the Alford Free Presbytery.  William Profeit filled the role both of parish minister and of a responsible village leader, becoming involved in many community activities.  He died in Aberdeen in 1913 leaving a personal estate of £477.

John Riach Profeit was the third brother and he had been born in 1839.  For many years he remained at home in Towie, initially working as a grocer but then taking over the running of the family farm of Nether Towie, which contained 74 acres of arable land and 24 acres of pasture, at least between 1881 and 1891.  He was involved in the community, serving for several years as Clerk to the Towie School Board.  John Michie was a friend of John Profeit and on at least one occasion Michie stayed at Nether Towie overnight.  John Profeit also overnighted at the Dantzig Shiel.  But then about 1891 John Profeit’s farming business failed.  He had to grant a trust deed for behoof of his creditors and relinquish his lease.  His life then took a different turn.  By 1892 John had emerged as the landlord of a small hotel in the mid-Deeside village of Dinnet.  It was heavily advertised as a commercial temperance hotel, “under new management”.  However, as its reputation grew the establishment became generally known as “Profeit’s Hotel” and hosted many village events, such as concerts (including one by J Scott Skinner the prominent fiddler), marriages and presentations.  In 1896 Mr James C Barclay-Harvey became the new proprietor of the 14,000-acre Dinnet Estate and rented the Glen Tana (Glentaner) waters of the Dee from Sir William Cunliffe Brooks, the owner of the neighbouring Glen Tana Estate on the south side of the Dee.  Fishermen then frequently lodged at Profeit’s Hotel when testing their skills on this premier salmon river.  In 1898 the hotel even welcomed Prince and Princess Dolgorouki, members of a Russian aristocratic family, who were occasional dinner guests of Queen Victoria.  John Profeit died at Dinnet in 1912, leaving a personal estate of close to £1000 (about £112,000 in 2018 money), so it appears his earlier financial setback had been redressed.

The fourth Profeit son was James who emigrated to Canada about 1878.  He died in Ontario in 1896.

It was the oldest son, Alexander, who became the most prominent of the four brothers, initially gaining recognition for his work as a country doctor but eventually becoming known throughout the land as Queen Victoria’s Balmoral Estate manager.  In spite of this standing, for the rest of his life, Alexander retained his links to the people and society of Donside, regularly attending Highland games, celebratory dinners, agricultural shows, ploughing matches, Burns’ suppers and the likes in that part of Aberdeenshire.  A competent singer, he was not averse to contributing a song, or two, as part of the entertainment following a good dinner.  He could also play the violin.  The leisure activities of Alexander Profeit included the country pursuit of shooting.  He was skilled with a rifle and became a member of the Kildrummy Corps of the Aberdeenshire Rifle Volunteers.  Being from a farming background he was also interested in cattle and horses and he frequently showed his own horses at the Cromar Summer Show held in the Aberdeenshire village of Tarland.  He was often a prize-winner.  Politically, Alexander was a supporter of the Conservative Party in the Liberal-leaning constituency of West Aberdeenshire.  The village of Towie was firmly in Clan Forbes territory and in 1860 Alexander Profeit marched with the Forbes Highlanders at the Braemar Gathering on Deeside though, more frequently, he was to be found at the Lonach Gathering on Donside, being elected a vice-president of the Lonach Society in 1867.  Later, he would command the Balmoral Highlanders.

Alex Profeit practised medicine at Nether Towie until 1870, when he moved to Tarland, taking over the house and the local practice of Dr Cran.  But it was in 1873, at the age of 39, that he made his fateful move to Deeside.  Dr Lyon, the then medical practitioner at Crathie, left to take up an appointment in Glasgow and Alexander moved to the environs of the Balmoral Estate to take his place.  It is likely that Andrew Robertson, the former Crathie GP but, since 1848, the Queen’s Commissioner on Deeside and Alexander Profeit had known each other for many years.  Indeed, it has been suggested that Robertson recruited Profeit to move his practice to Crathie.  In due course, probably in 1874, Alex Profeit was appointed resident medical practitioner at Balmoral.  He had only been domiciled at Crathie for two years before Andrew Robertson, who had reached the age of 76, resigned his Royal appointment as commissioner. 

The first mention of Dr Profeit in the Queen’s Journals was in August 1874, “Walked afterwards with Beatrice, & called at Dr Profeit's”, so clearly, he was personally well-known to the monarch by this date.  The following month Alexander Profeit was on hand to greet the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh as they arrived at Balmoral, confirming this familiarity.  But it was in October 1875 that rumours first surfaced in the Aberdeen Journal that Dr Profeit would become the next commissioner and the following month Queen Victoria wrote in her journal, “D^r Robertson has resigned, & I signed the Commission appointing D^r Profeit as his successor. For some time, I had been looking about & making enquiries for someone (she had been consulting the Duke of Richmond), but without success, so I thought this would be the best solution & I hope it will answer.”  The Queen gave Andrew Robertson a silver tea set as a parting gift.  Perhaps Andrew Robertson, who was close to Queen Victoria, pressed the case for his medical colleague to succeed him, when she failed to find a replacement commissioner?  Like Robertson, Alex Profeit had no prior experience of estate management, but he also hailed from a farming family and had a good familiarity with the rural economy of Aberdeenshire.  In two short years, Alexander Profeit’s life had been utterly transformed from country GP to manager of the monarch’s Scottish estates.

At the 1861 Census, Alexander Profeit, general practitioner, was living on the family farm at Nether Towie.  It has been claimed that about this year he had a liaison with a local girl, Elizabeth Forbes, resulting in the illegitimate birth of a daughter, Jane Jean.  Seven years later, Alexander married Isabella Anderson, a girl from Logie Coldstone.  She was pregnant at the time.  The Profeits subsequently had a family of nine children, seven boys and two girls.  The first five were born in Logie Coldstone, Towie or Tarland but the last four first saw the light of day at Crathie.  In 1881 the Profeit family was living in the farmhouse of Abergeldie Mains and had possibly been ensconced there since their arrival at Crathie in 1875, but they had moved to the house called Craiggowan by 1882.  Craiggowan was a newly built house on the Balmoral estate, completed in 1877 and which may have been constructed specifically with Alexander Profeit’s needs in mind.

 

The family of Alexander and Isabella Profeit

Of the nine Profeit children, all grew to adulthood except Mary, born in 1869, who died in infancy.  The eight survivors proved to be remarkably talented in a variety of pursuits.  Understanding their achievements and the roles they played on Deeside during their father’s tenure of the Balmoral commissionership, are key to understanding both his successes and his limitations.  They are also relevant to events which occurred after Dr Profeit’s death.  Another significant fact was that Alexander Profeit’s wife, Isabella died suddenly after a heart attack in June 1888.  The previous week Queen Victoria had described her as “very ailing”.  At the time of Isabella Profeit’s demise, her offspring ranged in age from five to 20.  The Profeit children will be dealt with in birth order.

Robert Alexander Profeit (1868 – 1954) proved to be blessed with academic talent, sporting ability, musicality, artistic skill, a superb command of language and organisational and diplomatic acumen.  He was also very self-confident - a true all-rounder.  In 1886 he was an undergraduate at Aberdeen University and it is likely that his secondary schooling had been at Aberdeen Grammar School.  Robert was involved in student politics and in 1888 he served as Treasurer of the Aberdeen University Conservative Association.  He graduated with the degree of MA in 1889 and joined the Consular Service.

Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V 1910 – 1936) married Princess Mary of Teck on 6 July 1893.  There was much celebration on the Queen’s Deeside estates, even though the main action was taking place 500 miles away in London.  A general holiday was declared for the estate workers, flags and bunting were flown and telegrams of congratulation were organised in support of the newly married couple.  As was often the case when a significant Royal wedding took place, a huge bonfire was constructed on Craiggowan, a hill on the Balmoral Estate.  It was fired up at 9.30pm to the sound of bagpipes and the attendees danced reels and pledged toasts enthusiastically with the help of quantities of Royal Lochnagar whisky.  Dr Alexander Profeit was absent from the estate attending the celebrations down south and Robert Alexander Profeit, then aged 25 and on extended leave from his post with the Diplomatic Service, stood in for his absent parent and gave rousing, eloquent, patriotic and rather long toast propositions, first for the Queen and then for the Duke and Duchess of York.  A sample, from his speech for the recently married couple, illustrates the power of Robert Profeit’s oratory.

“Ladies and gentlemen, The marriage which we are met to celebrate - the marriage of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York - has been welcomed throughout the length and breadth of the land with a cordial and spontaneous outburst of national joy and enthusiasm.  In the nuptials now happily consummated, the nation sees the realisation of one of its dearest and most cherished hopes - the union of an English Prince and Princess - a union fraught, as it recognises, with consequences of the utmost moment to the English race and its institutions.  Fortunately, as to Their Royal Highnesses there is but one opinion - that they are both endowed with the grace, virtues and abilities essential to their rank and future position: and that, animated by the noble example of Her Majesty - an example which will be theirs to cherish and perpetuate - they will worthily uphold and adorn the dignity they must one day occupy.  The Duke of York has to a great extent been withdrawn from popular view by the exigencies of his profession and the conscientious fulfilment of its claims; but in this devotion to duty and single interestedness of ambition, we have ample proof that His Royal Highness will bring the best powers of mind and body to grapple with and overcome the difficulties which may beset him in the sphere to which circumstances have called him.”

Proposing toasts on Craiggowan was not the limit of Robert Profeit’s involvement with the celebration of the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of York.  A week after the wedding, a supper, followed by a ball, was given by Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle for the benefit of all those associated with the Royal estates, some 300 – 400 in total.  Robert Profeit was put in overall charge of the arrangements, even though his father was back on Deeside by this date.

Robert Profeit was also involved in other activities at the end of 1893 – early 1894.  He was a member of the platform party at the unveiling of the Queen’s statue in Aberdeen (with brother Alexander), he was responsible for the design and execution of the hall decorations for the Ballater Volunteers’ Ball, and he found time to mount a pantomime for local children in April of the latter year.

In the early 1890s, the austere church at Crathie was deemed to be too small for the needs of the parish, now that many summer visitors sought to attend, and it was proposed to replace it with a new structure.  But that required funds in excess of those the heritors were prepared to contribute.  Princess Beatrice, the Queen’s youngest daughter and, even after her marriage, the close companion of the monarch, suggested holding a bazaar to raise funds, with prominent persons (mostly ladies) of the district taking charge of individual stalls.  The event was held on 4 and 5 September 1894 and total takings over the two days of the event were almost exactly £2,400 (about £293,000 in 2018 money), no mean sum.  During the two days, musical entertainment was provided at intervals by the band of the 92^nd Gordon Highlanders.  Melodic contributions were also provided in the Music Room of the Castle, where Dr Charles Profeit (24) and Mr Leopold Profeit (17) sang songs and Mr Alexander Profeit (22) played a piano solo. 

One idea for an item to sell at the event was a commemorative book with artistic, literary and musical contributions from prominent figures.  Though it is not certain that Robert Profeit originated this scheme, it is likely that he was its creator, and he became the work’s editor.  In this task he may have been helped by his brother Charles, but it was undoubtedly the eldest Profeit son’s drive and imagination which recruited the celebrity contributors and designed the tome’s layout.  Robert also had a role in the organisation of the whole Bazaar, along with his father and the Rev AA Campbell, who acted as secretary.

The end product was a remarkable volume of about 350 pages, titled “Under Lochnagar”.  It was printed in Aberdeen by Taylor and Henderson, on hand-made paper with wide margins, and it was produced in two editions, one a de luxe version with leather binding to the spine and corners.  Only 200 copies were printed, one of which was a special edition created for the Queen.  It was presented to her by Robert Profeit.  The monarch was delighted with the book and she subsequently bestowed both Robert and his next brother, Charles, with a "VRI" scarfpin in pearls surmounted by a crown in rubies and emeralds.    The cultural contributions in the book were placed in the central section, sandwiched between rather more than 100 pages of advertisements.  Many of the latter were paid for by Aberdeen-based Royal Tradesmen and these commercial notices are gems in themselves, being classical examples of the design styles in vogue at the end of the 19^th century.  In persuading the contributors of the literary, artistic and musical items to cooperate, Robert Profeit must have been both diplomatic and, perhaps, also ruthless in plugging the proposed tome’s Royal connection.  Just a few of the contents illustrate well the considerable level of success that Robert achieved. 

A dedicatory hymn, “Accept of our adorning”, with words by the Marquis of Lorne, the Queen’s son-in-law, and with music by Prof JF Bridge, Organist at Westminster Abbey.  The poem “Crathie Church” by prominent poet and journalist Sir Edwin Arnold.  A short story “Black spirits and white” by Sir Henry Irving, the prominent actor.  “Study of a lady’s head” by Sir Frederick Leighton, President of the Royal Academy.  “Loch Avon” by Sir George Reid, President of the Royal Scottish Academy.  “Study of the head of an angel” by Sir Edward Burne Jones, a leading Pre-Raphaelite painter.  “Study of the head of Julia Mannering in Scott’s “Guy Mannering” by Sir J D Linton, President of the Royal Institution.  “Over snow fields” by prominent artist Joseph Farquharson (“Frozen mutton Farquharson”) who lived, from time to time, on his family’s Finzean Estate in nearby Forest of Birse.  Altogether there were 83 separate contributions.

Not only was Robert Profeit the editorial driving force behind the memorial book, he also manned the Art stall at the Bazaar, and he was additionally a multiple contributor to the volume.  Robert wrote the Editorial Notice, a descriptive piece on Balmoral Castle, a history of Knock Castle, a monograph on Angus M’Intosh, the revered Braemar ghillie, “In the trail of fate”, a Highland story and he generated the painting, “On the Dee at Crathie”, which was purchased by the Queen.  A bold set of moves by a young man in august company!  Was there a touch of arrogance in his actions, or did the results justify his self-confidence?

The Crathie Bazaar was held on 4 and 5 September 1894 and on completion of the event, Robert Profeit departed for London and his first diplomatic posting as Vice-Consul at Tunis, on the 28^th of the month.  But when he arrived in North Africa, he found that he was actually Acting Consul, as the new Consul, Mr Haggard, had not yet appeared.  The following year he again stood in room of the absent Consul.  It was the late summer of 1896 before Her Britannic Majesty’s Vice-Consul at Tunis was again on Deeside.  On 8 October he was invited to dine with the Royal household and was received by the Queen afterwards.  The following year Robert Profeit was promoted to Consul at the port of Sulina located at the mouth of the Danube in Rumania.  Though he was clearly a precocious talent with much potential, his familiarity to the Royal family may have done his career progression no harm.

Before his departure for North Africa, Robert Profeit was paid another public compliment, this time by the Aberdeen Association of Royal Tradesmen.  They were very proud of their Royal accolade but also motivated to maintain the trading privilege that accompanied that status.  In August 1894 at a dinner in the Imperial Hotel, Robert Profeit was presented with an inscribed gold watch by this fawning body, perhaps reflecting the influence he wielded, or they suspected he exercised, over commercial decisions at Balmoral.  However, Bob Profeit was not universally popular at Balmoral.  Indeed, he seems to have been resented by the ordinary people of the district.  John Michie recorded on 29 March 1894, “All the people seem to be against making a collection of money to honour Robert Profeit …”.  John’s entry for the following day was more explicit.  “This day a meeting was called by letter signed by Peter Smith, Stragirnoc to consider a proposal to honour Robt A Profeit by presenting him with something.   This proposal was conceived by (William) Strath, Teacher, Girnoc also who pushed Peter to the practical.  It has been decided by the Crathie people that no one attend the meeting, which they say should not be held, the object being uncalled for.”  Perhaps the general populace of the village did not appreciate the talents and efforts of the Commissioner’s senior son, rather seeing him as a privileged young man whom life had already treated over-generously?

Charles William Profeit (1870 – 1937) followed a similar educational route to his older brother, attending Aberdeen Grammar School, followed by Aberdeen University, which he entered in 1888 and where he studied Medicine.  Charles graduated MB CM in 1893.  At the capping ceremony for medical graduates held on 3 March at Marischal College, the noisy student audience burst into “God save the Queen” when he was called forward, pointing up his royal connections.  In similar vein, as his fellow graduate Mr Rajasingham, a Sinhalese, came forward he was serenaded with “India’s coral strand”.  In those days, racial origins could be treated with a touch of levity.   Charles too was athletic and sociable.  He played tennis and sometimes partnered his senior brother in competitions involving summer visitors to Deeside.  He was unafraid to demonstrate his vocal talents.  At a fund-raising concert for the Ballater Company of the 5^th Volunteer Brigade of the Gordon Highlanders in 1893, Charles sang two songs, “The lighthouse keeper” and “The outlaw”.  He contributed the same two ditties at a charity concert in Braemar the following year.

After graduation, Charles Profeit sought a career as a doctor in the Army.  In 1894, after studying in London, he gained 7^th position in the medical examinations for Army entry.  His first military service was at the Royal Victoria Military Hospital at Netley, near Southampton, the construction of which had begun in 1856 in the aftermath of the Crimean War.  By 1895 Charles had been promoted to Surgeon Captain and the following year he stood as a candidate in the elections for the direct representatives for Scotland on the General Medical Council.  Subsequently he served in India at the Royal Army Medical College in the Punjab.  Charles reached the rank of Major by 1911, Lieutenant Colonel by 1915 and Colonel by 1918.  He and his wife lived in London in retirement, and he died there in 1937.

Alexander Profeit (1872 – 1960), unlike his two older brothers, appears not to have been academically inclined.  His talents lay in other directions.  At the age of 15, Alick (as he was commonly addressed) came second in the competition for the McKinnon Cup for Highland dancing at the Braemar Gathering of 1887 and two years later, at the same event, he took part in perhaps the first demonstration of a reel danced by a mixed quartet at Braemar.  Alexander, with John M’Hardy, both from Balmoral, partnered with two girls, Maggie McIntosh from Inverey and Maggie McLaren from Mar Lodge. All had been highly placed as individuals in the boys and girls under 15 Highland dancing.  Alexander was admitted as a member of the Braemar Royal Highland Society in 1890.  His other main practical talent was the game of curling and he was, from an early age, a prominent member of the Ballater club.  As the son of the Royal Commissioner, he also got to fish on the Balmoral waters of the Dee, in 1896 catching a fish of the exceptional weight of 32lbs.

In 1890. when he was 20, Alexander Profeit became the occupier, though not the tenant, of the farm called Dorsincilly, which lay in Lower Glen Muick and was part of the Royal estates.  He must have started an Aberdeen Angus herd, as he bought a cow of that breed from the Marquis of Huntly in the same year.  Other bovine acquisitions soon followed.  It seems likely that Alexander had set his heart on becoming a farmer and he was admitted to the Royal Northern and Agricultural Society in 1893.  Like his father, he also had an interest in horses, both roadsters and draught, and regularly entered his own animals in the Cromar show held at Tarland each summer.  By 1894 he was also sending polled black cattle (Aberdeen Angus) south to the annual Smithfield Show and other shows aimed at the Christmas market, such as those held at Leeds and York.  He also patronised John Duncan’s local cattle show in Aberdeen.  Duncan was the leading cattle dealer in Aberdeen at the time.  On several occasions Alex Profeit junior was a prize winner there.

Alexander was a keen Volunteer and, described as a “gentleman”, he was admitted as a second lieutenant to the 4^th Donside Highland Volunteer Battalion, Gordon Highlanders early in 1893.  Subsequently, in the same year, he moved to the 1^st Company, 5^th Volunteer Batallion, Deeside Highlanders, with the higher rank of lieutenant.  As a Volunteer he was heavily involved in shooting competitions, both locally on Deeside and at the annual Aberdeen Wapinschaw.  At the 1896 event, Alick Profeit’s opening shot was a bit wild and “sent a crowd of crows circling into the air from behind the targets” much to the amusement of the assembled Volunteers.  (The birds were actually rooks but Northeast chiels refer to all big black birds as “craws”!)  Alexander also took part in civilian shooting competitions where he was in contention with the local gamekeepers, all crack shots.

Probably because of his family connections, Alexander Profeit junior was often present at cultural events held at Balmoral Castle and at other big houses on Deeside.  Politically, he was a Conservative voter and at the 1895 General Election he supported Sir Arthur Grant, the unsuccessful candidate for the West Aberdeenshire Parliamentary constituency.  When the Emperor and Empress of Russia visited Balmoral in 1896, Lt Profeit was in joint command of the local Volunteers who mustered to greet the Imperial visitors.

George Walker Profeit (1875 – 1926) entered Aberdeen University about 1892, apparently to read Medicine.  At the end of the session, he seemed to be making good progress, having obtained a first-class merit certificate and a prize for Natural History.  The following session he was elected as a representative for Science on the Students Representative Council.  But there his career at his local university seemed to end, due to ill-health.  In March 1894, he was recuperating at Craiggowan.  George then continued in Higher Education at Edinburgh University where he was studying in 1896 and 1897.  He appears to have graduated with the degree of B Sc in Agriculture.  Did he find the study of Medicine, the subject of his father and his brother Charles, unappealing?

Like his father and several of his brothers, George Profeit was a good shot, winning a local competition at Balmoral at the age of 18.  He also had musical ability being a competent pianist, who was often asked to act as accompanist at concerts.  He could also sing.  For example, at the Crathie Musical Association annual concert in May 1895, George Profeit provided the vocal item, “Flat-footed Jean”, which the Aberdeen Journal deemed to be “worthy of special commendation”.  The fit-out of the new Crathie church provided George with another outlet for his talents.  The front of the Royal pew was formed by five carved oak panels, all generated by members of the wood carving class of the Balmoral School of Art.  One panel was the work of George Profeit.  (In October 1890, John Michie noted, “A wood carver brought from London by the Queen for the purpose of teaching that art gratis is now at work in the iron ballroom with a class of pupils.)

Albert Profeit (1876 – 1942) was another musical talent in the Profeit family, so much so that he attended the Aberdeen Conservatorium of Music for several years.  Albert was a singer with a good bass voice but also an excellent pianist.  He was a frequent contributor to musical events on Deeside, sometimes accompanying a singing brother at the piano.  But he also performed at more serious musical concerts in Aberdeen.  For example, in December 1895 at a concert by senior pupils of the Conservatorium he contributed two pieces, Schubert's Impromptu in A flat major and the Valse in A flat by Chopin.  The Aberdeen Journal described his playing as “impressive” in the first piece and “a dainty and charming interpretation” in the second.  The following year at the Aberdeen Philharmonic Society concert, Albert sang “Toreador” from Carmen by Bizet.  Although he continued his involvement with music and the Aberdeen Conservatorium of Music, the needs of remunerated employment pressed, and he took a position with the North of Scotland Bank at the West End Branch in the Granite City by 1897.  In 1899 he moved to the London Office of the Royal Bank of Scotland but, before moving, he was called upon to accompany the famous contralto, Dame Clara Butt, at an Aberdeen Philharmonic Society concert held in the Music Hall.  (The Aberdeen Journal also claimed that Leopold Profeit was the accompanist but that looks like a case of mistaken identity, since Albert was the more proficient pianist.)

Leopold Profeit (1877 – 1917), who was named, by Royal command, after Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Queen Victoria’s eighth child, graduated with the degree of MA in 1896 from Aberdeen University, having studied Greek, English and Natural Philosophy, amongst other subjects.  It was claimed in the Aberdeen Journal that he was subsequently a medical student at Aberdeen, but no corroborating evidence has been found for this assertion.  Leopold certainly did not graduate in Medicine.  Like his brothers he was a good singer and often performed at local concerts and in both 1894 and the following year he performed at the Students’ Night held at His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen.  He was described by the local newspaper as being “histrionic” (excessively theatrical).  The number he sang in 1895 was entitled, “She wanted something to play with” and his performance was received with “hearty applause”.  It appears that the tone of student theatrics was set many decades ago!  Leopold was elected Secretary to the Aberdeen Students’ Union in 1895.  Humour often characterised his public performances.  In December of the same year, Leopold gave two “comic” songs at the Ballater Mutual Improvement Association annual reunion and the following year at the Aberdeen University Debating Society concert he performed in the sketch, "Painless Dentistry; or the effects of drawing the wrong tooth".  A concert in support of Crathie church funds was held in July 1896 and one item on the programme was a performance of the farce “The Area Belle”.  Leopold was stage manager and took a part in this play, along with his 13-year-old sister, Victoria.  He subsequently became a professional actor, being a member of James Welch’s Company.  Leopold never married and was killed on active service in Salonika in 1917 during WW1.

Erskine Grant Burnett Profeit (1879 – 1913), the 7^th and last son of Alexander and Isabella Profeit, appears not to have undertaken Higher Education.  He lived in the parental home, Craiggowan, Balmoral until 1897, when he was 18.  Politically, Erskine Profeit had strong Conservative and Unionist leanings, and, like the other Profeit men, he was a good singer.  Erskine joined the East Bengal State Railway in 1900, where he had charge of the shipment of goods at Golando, one of the largest stations in India.  Two years later he was promoted to Assistant Traffic Superintendent of the East Bengal State Authority.  His subsequent career is imperfectly known, though he travelled to both the USA and Canada and was a trade assayer.  He died in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1913.

Victoria Helen Profeit (1883 - 1968) was Alexander and Isabella Profeit’s only surviving daughter.  As early as 1893 she was attending cultural events at Balmoral Castle in the company of her parents.  When a bonfire was constructed on the top of Craiggowan to celebrate the marriage of Princess Maud of Wales and Prince Charles in 1896, the lighting of the inflammable pile was performed by the 13-year-old Victoria.  She also acted and sang in company with her brothers from time to time.  Victoria’s early education was in Aberdeen but the establishment she attended has not been identified.  By 1898, she had moved to Dorset with some of her brothers and in 1904 she was a pupil at Woodheath School, Bournemouth.  Occasional visits were made back to Deeside.  Victoria married Harold Phillips, an electrical engineer.  The couple retired to Ballater and Victoria died there in 1968.

 

Alexander Profeit and the establishment of the Abergeldie herd of polled cattle

William McCombie of Tillyfour farm, Tough, Alford was one of the most important developers of the black hornless cattle breed, which came to be known as the Aberdeen Angus. (see William McCombie (1805 – 1880), “creator of a peculiarly excellent sort of bullocks” on this blogsite).  Queen Victoria first came into contact with these cattle and with William McCombie through the major English pre-Christmas cattle shows.  In 1867, McCombie entered an enormous ox called “Black Prince” in the Birmingham and Smithfield shows.  The Queen was so impressed with this bovine giant that she commanded that he be taken to Smithfield via Windsor.  McCombie offered to give her the animal, which she declined, but she did accept a present of the baron of beef from the ox.  On 11 June 1868, on her next visit to Balmoral, she drove to Tillyfour and was shown over the prizes, trophies (including the stuffed head of “Black Prince”), breeding stock and animals being fattened.  She must have decided that she wanted to start an Aberdeen Angus herd of her own, but she did not put her plan into practice until Alexander Profeit was in post as Royal Commissioner in 1875.  Alexander, being from a farming background, had enough stock know-how to select polled cattle, known locally as “Doddies”, for the initiation of the Abergeldie herd.  The first purchases are thought to have been made in 1876 and then at intervals thereafter, for example the Aberdeen Journal noted that Dr Profeit bought a bull for 38gns in early 1878.  Further animals are known to have been bought in 1880, 1881 (both Huntly and Balquharn herds), 1882 (Cortachy Castle herd), 1884 (Greystone herd), 1885 (Waterside of Forbes and Greystone herds), 1886 (Lord Airlie’s herd), 1889 (Waterside herd).  In 1889 at the Perth Bull Sales, Alexander Profeit secured the polled bull, Erica Royal for 41gns.  Probably the most expensive animal bought for the Queen’s Aberdeen Angus herd was a cow called Eurya from the Ballindalloch herd of Sir George McPherson Grant in 1893.  Dr Profeit had to bid 300gns (about £38,000 in 2018 money) to secure her.  Another Ballindalloch animal, a heifer called “Gentian” was acquired the following year. 

Cattle were sent for sale at the Smithfield show in 1883, apparently for the first time and thereafter annually.  Locally, Dr Profeit also sent representatives from the Queen’s herd to the Cromar Show at Tarland in 1886.  Two special prizes were offered for polled cattle, one by the Queen (presumably on the urging of Alexander Profeit) and one by the Marquis of Huntly (another Doddie fancier and a man then in financial difficulties).  Not surprisingly, the Queen won both these awards.  But surely it was not good form to win a prize you had yourself donated?  Perhaps Alexander Profeit realised this afterwards because in subsequent years he gave a prize personally at the Cromar show.  During the 1880s another beef cattle herd, of Shorthorns, was also established at Abergeldie.  Animals from this herd were probably exhibited at Smithfield for the first time in 1887, together with the Doddies.  At the 1889 Cromar Show, Dr Profeit’s donated prize for the best Shorthorn, or cross, stot (bullock) was a barometer.

The Abergeldie herd had been assembled from some of the best breeders of Aberdeen Angus cattle in the North East of Scotland.  It was composed largely of three leading stud book families, the Trojan-Ericas, the Prides of Aberdeen and the Ballindalloch Georginas.  But this was also an expensive process.  An article in the Aberdeen Journal in 1894 suggested that the Abergeldie herd was getting so large that more attention was being paid to winning prizes than to raising fat cattle for sale as a commercial operation.  In October 1894, John Michie visited the herd in the company of his father and remarked that “The 220-guinea bull stirk is a poor affair to appearance for that money in the present time.”  This was typical of the trophy herds assembled by the aristocracy, in contrast to the strategies followed by the most famous breeders and feeders of polled cattle, Hugh Watson of Keillor, Angus and William McCombie of Tillyfour, Aberdeenshire.  They relentlessly applied a hard-nosed, commercial approach to their cattle operations.

 

The involvement of Alexander Profeit in the Deeside and North East Scotland communities

Being the Queen’s Commissioner at Balmoral carried great prestige and influence locally, with the Aberdeenshire population and in the city of Aberdeen for Alexander Profeit.  But that status also brought an expectation that the Commissioner would fulfil the role of civic leader, in addition to his obligations to the monarch.  Alex Profeit sought to satisfy those expectations, though he probably regretted the extent of his outside commitments, especially towards the end of his tenure.

Local schools in Crathie and Braemar progressively exercised more of the Commissioner’s attention.  He first became a member of the parish school board soon after his arrival on Deeside, probably at the 1876 triennial election.   In that year the Lochnagar school, which had been established by the monarch and her spouse, required a female teacher and Alexander Profeit was given the job of receiving the applications for this post.  (The other Crathie area schools were at Girnoc, Aberarder and Crathie). The Queen’s Commissioner was re-elected to the parish school board in 1879 and 1882.  Following the latter election there was a contested vote for the role of chairman between Alex Profeit and Gordon Foggo, the factor on the Invercauld Estate.  Dr Profeit prevailed.  At the subsequent election in 1885 eight candidates put their names forward for five seats.  Profeit and Foggo were joined by John Michie throwing his hat in the ring for the first time but he just failed in the attempt.  Dr Profeit sailed on as chairman. John Michie did not come forward in 1888 but he tried for election again in 1891.  This time both Balmoral men were successful.  Eighteen ninety-four, when six candidates vied for five places, produced a similar result in that John Michie and Alex Profeit were both admitted to the School Board but this time Michie gained the second highest number of votes with Profeit some way behind in popularity.  John Michie’s diaries are revealing in that Alexander Profeit had tried, quite openly, to fix the election, which in those days was not an unusual action by an estate factor, but typically under instruction from his laird.  Michie wrote on 16 April 1894, “This morning drove to Balmoral saw workmen and Dr Profeit who says his son George had made some mistake in arranging what the voters on the Balmoral & Abergeldie Estates were to do.  George, however, had given instructions to the people in such a manner that 195 votes should have been recorded for him (the Dr) and the modest number of 93 for me.  The people had availed themselves of the Ballot and did as they thought.”  The actual votes were not as John Michie was informed, there being 197 ballots cast for him and 164 for Dr Profeit.  At least 16 employees had not followed instructions, which suggests that Profeit’s authority was waning by this year.  However, he remained as chairman, being elected unanimously, such was his power at the time of this election, and he was again elected after the next one.  He died in early 1897.   

The Parochial Board was the governing authority within the parish of Crathie and Braemar and Alexander Profeit had been elevated to this body by 1879, becoming its chairman by 1892.  He remained chairman of the Parochial Board until 1895, when this structure was dismantled and replaced by a parish council.

Commissioners of Supply were originally established in 1667 as tax collectors and they later took on many of the functions of local government until the establishment of county councils in Scotland in 1890, when many of their functions transferred to the new bodies.  Commissioners of Supply were finally abolished in 1930.  Alexander Profeit was appointed a Commissioner of Supply for Aberdeenshire in 1882, though it does not appear to have been a very onerous role. 

The first elections to Aberdeen County Council were held in 1890 and two candidates put their names forward to represent Crathie and Braemar, Alexander Profeit and Gordon Foggo.  At the election on 4 February, the Balmoral Commissioner prevailed.  The first meeting of Aberdeen County Council took place in May, but Alexander Profeit was not present, due to the recent arrival of the Queen on Deeside.  Despite his absence he was appointed as a member of the Executive Committee under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts.  At a meeting of the Deeside District Committee in December 1890 the representatives were required to answer to accusations by Aberdeen Town Council that sewage was being released into the Dee upstream from where the city abstracted its drinking water supply.  Dr Profeit answered for Balmoral by letter claiming that the release did not result in any unnatural vegetable growth in the river and that action was being taken “to make some alterations to the disposal of sewage”.  However, this matter dragged on for several years.  The next County Council elections were held in 1892, when Alexander Profeit was returned unopposed, Mr Foggo having removed his candidacy to Ballater.  Subsequently Commissioner Profeit was added to the membership of the Public Health Committee.  By 1895 he was also a member of the County Valuation Committee and the Executive Committee.  At the County Council elections of 1896, Dr Profeit was again returned unopposed. 

The state of the roads on Deeside, alongside the issue of river pollution, was a constant irritant for the public representatives.  The responsible body was the Kincardine O’Neil Road Trust and Dr Profeit had become a trustee by 1881.  He was also a trustee of the Aberdeen County Road Board by 1885.  After 1890, road and bridge maintenance became the responsibility of the Deeside District Roads Sub-committee of which Alexander Profeit was also a member.  On occasions, the Queen, through Dr Profeit, offered payment, or partial payment for improvements to the South Deeside Road between Ballater and Crathie.

Agriculture was a major interest of Alexander Profeit, deriving both from his position as Commissioner of the Deeside Royal estates and from his farming origins.  He was admitted as a member of the Royal Northern Agricultural Society in 1881 and became a regular attender at their general meetings and at the annual show, which was usually held in July at Aberdeen.  In 1886 he won first prize in the class for a two-year-old polled ox called “Abergeldie”, from the Queen’s herd.  By 1892 Alex Profeit had been appointed to the General Committee of Management of the Society and placed on its Showyard Committee for that year.  He was also a representative of the Society at the National Agricultural Conference held in London on 7 December 1892.  The major national society concerned with agriculture in Scotland was the Highland and Agricultural Society, which held an annual show that moved around the Scottish regions.  Alexander Profeit was elected a member of the Highland and Agricultural and in 1894, when their show was held in Aberdeen, he was appointed as a judge of Shorthorns.  The same year Dr Profeit was elected a Vice-President of the Society.  Attendance at, and representation on, the governing bodies of these two major agricultural societies was a mixture of duty and pleasure for Alexander Profeit, but similar involvement in the agricultural societies from his home area of Aberdeenshire was certainly biased towards fun.  The Leochel-Cushnie Agricultural Association and the Cromar, Upper Deeside and Donside Agricultural Association shows were where he donated prizes, exhibited his own horses and generally enjoyed a day out amongst friends and acquaintances.

There were many other bodies which sought to be associated with the Queen’s Commissioner and which he attended from time to time but from which he sometimes excused himself.  One body for whom close association was a matter of commercial advantage was the Aberdeen Association of Royal Tradesmen.  It still exists under the title of “The Aberdeen Association of Royal Warrant Holders”.  These firms were the suppliers of goods and services to the Royal family, and they were allowed to advertise this association with the monarch, or with members of her family.  The Royal tradesmen held an annual dinner in Aberdeen in May each year about the time of the monarch’s birthday (24 May) to which the Queen sent a haunch of venison and the Commissioner was invited as a most important guest.  On the occasion of the 1896 dinner, Dr Profeit excused himself and in his absence a toast was proposed to “Her Majesty’s Commissioner”, when he was described in the following, gushing terms.  “Dr Profeit is the very ideal of what Her Majesty's Commissioner on Deeside should be and from his courteous manner, his genial disposition and his handsome, commanding presence he is probably the most conspicuous figure amongst HM's Scottish officials.”  Representatives of the Association were also summoned to events at Balmoral, for example a celebration of a marriage in the Royal Family.  Such occasions were the dinner held in the Iron Ballroom to mark the marriage of the Duke of Connaught in 1879 and a similar event on the marriage of Princess Beatrice in 1885.  Such occasions were normally presided over by the Queen’s Commissioner.  When an opportunity arose to entertain John Michie, the Royal Tradesmen were quickly to the fore.  In June 1894, John Michie was conducting two Royal servants to Aberdeen railway station, en route for Windsor but before they left, the three were entertained to dinner in the Grand Hotel “by 7 of the Queens trades men”.  The Aberdeen Royal Tradesmen also sought to demonstrate their loyalty and devotion by commissioning a statue of the monarch, a bronze casting by Charles Bell Birch, which is currently sited at Queen’s Cross, Aberdeen, though it was originally located in the city centre.  Both Dr Profeit and his eldest son, Robert, attended the unveiling of the statue.  The final mark of respect for Dr Profeit by the Royal Tradesmen was their attendance at his funeral at the end of January 1897, even though the roads along Deeside were partially blocked on the day from heavy snow falls and drifting.

A number of other organisations enjoyed the benefit of an association with Alexander Profeit.  The Shetland Pony Stud Book Society was one.  Alexander was appointed to the Council of this organisation in 1892 and by 1896 he was its chairman.  When the displenish sale of Profeit family stock occurred after his death, five Shetlands were on the sale schedule.  The National Independent Order of Oddfellows was a fraternal organisation based on reciprocity and charity.  In 1892 Dr Profeit was initiated as an honorary member of the Order.   

In 1896 a new Mutual Improvement Association was formed at Crathie.  Dr Profeit became the Honorary President and his son Erskine was appointed as Treasurer and Secretary. The Crathie Musical Association also employed Alexander as its figurehead Honorary President.  Is it possible with both of these neophytes that the Profeit sons were instrumental in their genesis?

Alexander Profeit was a religious man and quickly became a senior lay member of Crathie church.  In 1877, the Queen and Princess Beatrice participated in Sacrament Sunday and the communion elements were handed to them by Dr Profeit in his role as an elder.  The construction of a new church at Crathie was begun in 1894 and the following year there was a dedication service.  Dr Profeit headed the elders of the church as they entered for the ceremony.  He also served as a representative of the Presbytery of Kincardine O’Neil at the General Assembly in 1894.  Alexander Profeit was invited to represent the Presbytery again in 1896.

One major benefit of working on the Deeside estates for the ghillies, keepers and senior servants was the opportunity to avail themselves of the sporting facilities, especially when there was no member of the Royal Family in residence.  Fishing was one of Alexander Profeit’s main sporting preoccupations and he was frequently recorded in the local press as having caught fine salmon, which often exceeded 20lbs in those days, on the Balmoral waters of the Dee.  He would often cast his rod with friends and acquaintances or invite a party to join him in this pursuit, including his sons, John Michie and the keepers.  The first salmon of the season, taken in February or March were, by tradition, despatched to Her Majesty the Queen, who was in residence elsewhere at that time of the year.  Alexander Profeit also participated in curling and was a member of the Braemar club, where he was the winner of a gold cup presented by Colonel Farquharson in 1875.  The other leisure activity which was a constant theme of his life was involvement in the agricultural shows in and around his native Donside.

 

The Queen and Alexander Profeit

Throughout his time at Balmoral (1873 – 1897), Alexander Profeit provided medical services to the local community, including the staff on the Balmoral Estate.  He was known to Queen Victoria before his appointment as Queen’s Commissioner, probably because of this caring role.  It was November 1875 when Profeit was appointed as Queen Victoria’s resident representative on Deeside.  Unlike his predecessor, Andrew Robertson, Alex Profeit continued to provide medical cover for the village and estate residents, while managing the Royal estates.

Accidents and other medical emergencies were a regular feature of rural life in the late 19^th Century and Alexander Profeit was often the first doctor to reach the victims of such mishaps.  A typical incident of this nature occurred at the Braemar Gathering in late August 1878 when a local man was felled by a heavy blow from a stray hammer which hit him on his left side under the armpit.  Dr Profeit, who was accompanying the Queen, was quickly on hand but the victim, whose name was Coutts, was found to have escaped with heavy bruising.  Another, much more serious, occasion on which Alex Profeit’s medical skills were employed was to attend on Sir Thomas Biddulph, Keeper of the Privy Purse, who was occupying Abergeldie Mains during the Queen’s autumn visit in 1878.  He became seriously ill and died.  During his last week of life, Alex Profeit was in almost constant attendance on Sir Thomas.

Country life was inherently dangerous, and accidents were remarkably common.  In 1883, 72-year-old Mary Eggo of Wester Micras, a farm in Glen Muick, was crushed to death by a bull.  It fell to Dr Profeit to examine her body and he found that the bull had struck the old lady so hard on her left side that all her ribs were knocked into the lungs.  The right side of the chest was heavily bruised, and death must have been almost instantaneous.  Another gruesome task fell to Alexander Profeit’s lot the same year when William Morris, a carpenter who was, at the time, lodging with James Brown, the Balmoral shepherd and brother of John Brown, climbed Lochnagar, the highest “Munro” on the Balmoral Estate.  This was not a particularly dangerous pursuit, provided the adventurer stayed away from the steep-sided corrie on the north-eastern aspect of the mountain.  Unfortunately, Morris, after reaching the summit, was tempted to look over the cliff edge, lost his footing and fell about 1,000 feet to his death.  The body was recovered and carried to the castle where it was examined by Alex Profeit.  He found the corpse to be remarkably undamaged considering the height of its fall, apart from severe cuts to the head and face.  Perhaps the most famous incident that the Balmoral practitioner had to handle was the accident to the Ballochbuie keeper, James Bowman, in 1885 when he got entangled in a deer fence and suffered severe exposure before expiring.  This tragedy, and John Michie’s involvement in it, is described in detail above.

Day to day management of the Deeside estates staff was exercised by Alexander Profeit through the senior servants in charge of different functions, the clerk of works, the head forester, the head groom, the head keeper, the head gardener, the Abergeldie grieve and the Balmoral housekeeper.  The most detailed knowledge of these interactions comes from John Michie’s diaries which, especially towards the end of Alexander Profeit’s period of office, Michie found frustrating due to unkept appointments and lack of direction.  Apart from these routine managerial duties, the Commissioner had to respond to many specific commands of the monarch.

When the Queen was in residence at Balmoral, she frequently attended Crathie church on Sunday mornings.  If the Queen was to be at church so would her Commissioner and he would be dressed in full Highland costume, which the Queen looked upon as “Sunday best” attire for natives.  In 1893, a ceremony was held at Crathie on the site of the new church (the old one had been demolished) for the Queen to lay the foundation stone of the nascent structure.  This was a typical ceremony where the attendance of Dr Profeit would be required.  Another and connected function was the bazaar, mounted in September 1894, to raise funds for the new Crathie kirk.  Dr Profeit was in overall charge of the occasion.

Ceremonial surrounded many of the monarch’s public appearances and events such as the arrival of dignitaries at Balmoral.  These occasions would normally be under the control and command of the Commissioner.  One such annual occasion was the Braemar Gathering.  A full account of this event and Queen Victoria’s involvement with it can be found under “Queen Victoria and the Braemar Gathering” on this blogsite.  During the period 1848 – 1886, the Gathering was almost always held in front of Braemar Castle but in 1887, the year of the Queen’s Jubilee, it was held for the first time at Balmoral.  One of the most impressive features of the Gathering, recalled in the name, was the march of the massed clans, when the clansmen supporting the Gathering’s main sponsors (the Earl of Fife, Farquharson of Invercauld and the Forbes clan, members of the Lonach Society, from Donside) paraded in full Highland garb with weapons and led by pipers.  Up to 1887, the only opportunity that Highlanders from Balmoral had to march with the clans was as members of the Deeside Volunteers, who were present on some occasions.  But in 1887 a contingent of so-called Balmoral Highlanders was dressed, armed and assembled for the first time under the command of Pipe Major Ross, the Queen’s piper.  In subsequent years command of the Balmoral men passed to Dr Profeit and John Michie was recruited as the standard bearer.  The year 1895 was probably the last year that Alexander Profeit fulfilled this leadership role.

The arrival of important visitors at Balmoral was another occurrence which required ceremonial treatment.  One example will suffice to illustrate the ostentation and pomp involved.  In November 1894 Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, the Queen’s granddaughter, married Czar Nicholas II of Russia at St Petersburg.  Celebrations were held at Balmoral, where a bonfire was lit on the top of Craiggowan.  Dr Profeit led the toast-making, pledged as usual in large quantities of Royal Lochnagar whisky, to the Queen, to the Prince and Princess of Wales, and to the Czar and Czarina, by the assembled crowd.  John Michie pointed out in his diary, a touch cynically, that the first bonfire on the top of this hill had been held to celebrate the fall of Sebastopol in 1855 which marked the end of the Crimean War and the defeat of Russia by Britain, France and Turkey! Two years after the nuptials, in September 1896, the Russian Emperor and his wife visited Scotland and travelled to Balmoral, where they were accorded, as the Dundee Courier noted, “a true Highland welcome”.  It was an evening arrival for the Russian guests, but the weather was unhelpfully gloomy, with low cloud and driving rain.  However, yet another bonfire on Craiggowan lighted up the scene at the castle, once the conflagration took hold.  Just before 8pm the ringing of the Crathie church bell announced the imminent appearance of the Imperial visitors and their retinue.  They crossed the Balmoral bridge and approached the castle entrance to the cheers of the crowd and the skirl of the pipes.  A guard of honour was drawn up consisting of about 100 Deeside Highland Volunteers, one of whose officers was Alexander Profeit, the Commissioner’s third son, and about 50 Balmoral Highlanders under the command of Alexander Profeit senior.  At the head of the Balmoral men was John Michie, bearing the Royal standard and Donald Stewart, the Head Keeper and the longest serving member of staff on the Deeside estates.  The Highlanders were carrying torches manufactured from split pine wood and they conducted the visiting party through the gloom of the castle approach to the building’s entrance.  The Queen, attended by her Indian servants in their exotic, oriental costumes, moved outside to greet her relatives from the east.  She was accompanied by Princess Henry of Battenburg (Princess Beatrice) and her lady-in-waiting, Colonel Sir Arthur Bigge, the Queen’s Private Secretary, Dr Profeit and other courtiers.  The Highlanders now formed themselves into a crescent, ranged across the lawns and facing the entrance and cheered as the carriages drew up, still holding their crackling torches aloft.  Czar Nicholas was the first to descend from the leading vehicle and assisted his Czarina to alight.  They saluted Queen Victoria, ascended the steps and, greetings quickly over, visitors and hosts passed into the interior of the imposing building.  Their task for the evening complete, the Highlanders marched away to the square in front of the stables where they were rewarded for their services with copious amounts of Royal Lochnagar. 

Representing the monarch at funerals was a remarkably demanding assignment for Alexander Profeit.  If the funeral was at Crathie, Ballater or Braemar, then perhaps only two or three hours would be taken out of his working day, but if the location were more distant, then the loss was more significant.  Some of the funereal representations were as follows.  The Earl of Fife (1879), Dr Andrew Robertson (1881), John Begg, the Lochnagar distiller (1882), Principal Tulloch of St Andrews University (1886), H Burgoyne, a Royal servant who died while staying at Balmoral (1886), Colonel James Farquharson of Invercauld (1888), Sir John Mackenzie of Glenmuick (1890), Miss M’Hardy, former Balmoral housekeeper (1891), the Earl of Errol (1891) and John Beaton, former Balmoral Clerk of Works (1892).  Even on occasions when the Queen herself attended a funeral, Alexander Profeit still had to turn out, as the monarch’s “attendance” often amounted to no more than driving out in her carriage and observing the cortege without dismounting.  In 1896 Dr Profeit, along with Munshi Hafez Abdul Karim travelled to the Isle of Wight, by command, to be present at the funeral of Prince Henry of Battenberg, the husband of Princess Beatrice, who had died of malaria off the coast of West Africa. 

However, the most demanding funeral of all was that of John Brown who died at Windsor in 1883 but who was buried at Crathie.  Alexander Profeit had to travel to Windsor to accompany the body to Deeside.  He was given personal charge of the funeral arrangements, with clear instructions from the monarch, who was not present, as to how the event was to be conducted, including a requirement to telegraph back to Windsor at intervals to report on progress.  A full account of this unique event can be found in the article, “Queen Victoria and her favourite Scottish servants” on this blogsite.  Even when John Brown was safely secured beneath slate slabs in Crathie churchyard, that was not the end of the matter.  Dr Profeit was appointed an executor of John Brown’s will.  It must have been galling for Alexander Profeit to have to devote so much effort to a person with whom he did not get along.  In 1875 when Alexander Profeit was appointed as Commissioner, Brown was at the height of his arrogance, secure in the unwavering protection of the Queen.  But Alexander Profeit had to exert his authority at Balmoral, if he was to fulfil his role.  It was inevitable that the two would clash.  An early example arose in 1877 when Alexander Profeit was sent to Strathdon by the monarch to recruit a boy piper to learn the ropes under Pipe Major William Ross, the Queen’s Piper.  Jamie M’Hardy was appointed and served the Queen from 1877 to 1882.  However, because John Brown was not consulted over the selection of this new entrant to Royal service, he treated M’Hardy badly.  Eventually the two fell out and, inevitably, M’Hardy was dismissed.  John Brown’s testimonial for the Strathdon loon was a masterclass in damning by faint praise, “James M’Hardy left.  Gave no offence”. 

Many charitable organisations sought the financial support of the monarch and Alexander Profeit was the usual conduit by which Royal donations reached these benevolent foundations.  With favourite charities, the same donation was often presented annually.  Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) was one such repeating beneficiary, receiving £25 each year.  In 1883 the Queen learned through Alexander Profeit that the ARI had a deficit of £100 and, generously, she cleared that debt.  By 1885, Queen Victoria had donated £800 to this vital Aberdeenshire medical institution.  Dr Profeit was several times nominated as a Manager of ARI, an honorary position lasting a year, which was bestowed upon generous charitable funders.  Other causes favoured by the monarch, through the agency of Dr Profeit, included the Aberdeen Female School of Industry and an appeal fronted by Sir Arthur Grant of Monymusk in 1894 for the dependants of fishermen from Aberdeen lost in a recent storm.  Curiously, the Queen also awarded a bounty of £3 to women who bore triplets, there being at least one Aberdeenshire mother whose multiple birth was blessed financially from this source!

It was an exceptional honour to be commanded to take dinner with the Queen, and Dr Profeit received that accolade on at least ten occasions.  A lesser honour was to be invited into the drawing room after the Royal circle had dined together, which was a much more prevalent event for the Commissioner, at least 24 such invitations having been fulfilled.  Queen Victoria was often entertained in the evening by theatrical performances, musical events, tableaux vivants and the like.  Sometimes this entertainment was provided by artists of national standing, such as Mademoiselle Janotha, Signor Tosti or, especially, Madame Albani Gye.  On other occasions purely amateur productions were mounted, involving the Queen’s relatives, members of the Court and even the children of the Commissioner.  The monarch usually mixed with the performers afterwards, occasionally dining with them, if they were of sufficient status, or receiving them.  Dr Profeit was an invitee to such evening amusements on several occasions.

In his official capacity, Alexander Profeit often presided at dinners and balls laid on for the tenantry, servants and sometimes the Royal tradesmen in celebration of important events, such as a marriage in the Royal Family.  In 1882, on the joining of Prince Leopold to Princess Helena Frederica Augusta of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Dr Profeit chaired a dinner in the Iron Ballroom in celebration.  A similar event was held in 1884 to mark the nuptials of Princess Victoria to Prince Louis of Battenberg.  On the coming of age of Prince Albert Victor in 1885, there was a servants’ dinner at the castle followed by a bonfire at the top of Craiggowan.  All the attendees trooped to the top of this nearby hill and drank the Prince’s health with the usual alcoholic beverage. Later the same year dinners were held to mark Princess Beatrice’s marriage and again on the arrival of the married pair at the castle there was a bonfire, a torchlight procession, dancing in front of the building and yet more toasting in the “water of life”.  And so, the Royal circus went on, often with eating, torchlight processions, bonfires, pipes and dancing.  Always with the copious consumption of the national drink. 

 

The relationship between Alexander Profeit, Queen’s Commissioner, and John Michie, Wood Forester

John Michie’s diaries afford a unique opportunity to investigate his relationship with the Queen’s second Commissioner and, through the interactions of the two men, to gain an insight into the deterioration and final collapse of Dr Profeit’s health in 1897.  Unfortunately, the diaries for the period 1880 – 1883 and 1887 - 1889 have not survived, which might have revealed interesting aspects of the early relationship between Profeit and Michie, and also with other people, such as John Brown.

Alexander Profeit was John Michie’s boss, the person to whom he reported every few days, who approved his plans and judged his performance.  Under John Michie were several gangs of men, each led by a foreman.  Michie’s labourers were responsible for forest operations such as felling and carting trees, sawmill operations, preparing ground, planting and transplanting seedlings, road repairs, bridge repairs and landscaping around estate buildings.  Some tasks were carried out by sub-contractors and by casual labour.  The Queen and other members of the Royal Family often sent out directives, especially concerning planting of exotic species about the Balmoral grounds, which required a considered response for their sensible implementation.  One such command was to form a step with a flagstone at the door of John Michie’s house, the Dantzig Shiel, as Queen Victoria, who often visited to take tea or lunch, found it difficult to step up from the existing gravelled path, as she had a troublesome knee.

Over and above strictly work issues, Alexander Profeit and John Michie were also thrown together by geography and the special circumstances of a Royal property in social interactions, whether shooting, fishing, other sporting activities such as curling, cultural events and representational roles in the local community.  Further, Alexander Profeit was the man providing medical services to Balmoral employees.  The two men and their families needed to get along together and, by and large, they did so.

Some interactions between Commissioner and Head Forester occurred on a routine, repeating basis such as the annual preparation of accounts by John Michie for his operations and the checking and signing off of these financial statements in the first days of January by Alexander Profeit.  A typical example, taken from 7 January 1884 read, “Went to Craig-gowan (Dr Profeit's) house and squared books for the year.” It appeared that John Michie kept exemplary accounts.  At the annual examination in January 1892, he wrote, “drove to Dr Profeit's to receive approval which on examination was freely given as usual”.

Another task was for John Michie to deliver monthly accounts in order to draw money to pay the gangs of men under his direction.  For example, on Thursday 29 January 1885, “Dr Profeit called and gave a cheque for £83.10.6 being my monthly labour account.”  And the following Monday, “Went down to Invergelder and paid men not having been able to do it on Saturday in consequence of Peter Coutts’ funeral.   Went to Craig Gowan and saw Dr Profeit who paid me & paid me a pound toward a subscription for the widow & children of poor Peter.”  Michie’s own remuneration was half-yearly in arrears through Dr Profeit.  Cheques were issued which were drawn on the North of Scotland Bank branch in Ballater, though cash was often delivered to John Michie through the Postal service.  John Michie was responsible for the collection of monies due on the wood account.  On occasion, he employed James Brown, John Brown’s brother and a sort of odd-job man on the estate, for this task. In December 1885, John Michie – “Collected wood money from James Brown who has been travelling the district collecting”.  The Head Forester also had to carry out an annual check on the tool inventory, which was then signed off by the Commissioner.

Between 1881 and 1892, John and Helen Michie had six children, all born at Crathie, with the last four entering the world at the Dantzig Shiel.  It is likely that some of these children were delivered by Alexander Profeit (the last one, Alexandrina certainly was) and, on several occasions, he had to deal with their childhood ailments, for example in 1891 David Michie suffered an attack of ringworm on his arm which Profeit treated and in 1894 he attended the whole family during a measles outbreak.  In August 1886, a year after the birth of the Michie’s fifth child, Henry Maurice, Dr Profeit visited the Dantzig Shiel to examine Helen Michie, who had been unwell for some time.  He found nothing wrong and attributed her malaise to “over-sucking”.  Helen Michie also suffered rather vague medical symptoms over many years and in November 1890 she was visited by Dr Profeit and Dr James Reid, the Queen’s physician.  They diagnosed “indigestion” and Profeit prescribed some medicine which John Michie collected from the castle, but it did not prove to be a miracle cure.  In June 1891, John Michie himself suffered an accident, when his horse took a tumble, pitching him to the ground, tearing the attachment of his ear from the side of his head.  Alexander Profeit reattached the ear with a stitch.  John Michie dismissed the injury as “a few more scars of little account”.  By 1893, it appears that the Michies were getting some medical services from Dr Noble, a friend of John and a GP in Braemar.  The Michie’s baby, Alexandrina had been vaccinated, presumably with cow pox and Dr Noble hoped to take “matter” (pus) from the pocks, it is assumed, for further vaccinations, though he was unsuccessful in his objective.

The role of alcohol in the culture of the Highlands was dominant.  Toasts to peoples’ long life and health, frequently and liberally proposed, were inevitably pledged in the “water of life”, though it endowed neither of those two aspirations.  The belief in the health-giving properties of alcohol even extended to the medical profession which often prescribed wine as a pick-me-up.  In the middle of February 1893, John Michie bought two bottles of wine for medicinal purposes, one for old Mrs McKenzie at the Bridge of Dee, who was ill, and the other for his wife, Helen, who was having another recurrence of her chronic, but poorly defined, “condition”.  

From at least the start of 1884, John Michie often found dealing with Alexander Profeit frustrating.  Michie’s diaries refer to many exasperating incidents.  Profeit was often away from Balmoral, typically travelling locally to Aberdeen (usually involving an overnight absence) or further afield, frequently to Windsor, which could last for one week or, indeed, several.  Dr Profeit was not good at keeping his senior Balmoral colleagues informed of his movements.  As a result, John Michie would often turn up at the Doctor’s house, or at his room in the castle, expecting to speak to him, only to find he was absent.  Similarly, the doctor would make an appointment and then fail to keep it.  On 16 December 1884, John Michie wrote, “Expected Dr Profeit all day he promised to come up yesterday but has not turned up yet.”  Another typical Profeit absence occurred in 1890.  “Remained at home expecting Dr Profeit up but he did not come.”

Another source of frustration was the Commissioner’s propensity to be told of a problem but then fail to deal with it, for example by not responding to a remedial plan proposed by John Michie.  In February 1884 John reported to the Commissioner that “… the Corrie Buie Westwood road was in an impassable condition, but he did not consent to have it repaired in a suitable manner.  Indeed, have not settled on temporary.”   Fuel was cut each year for use both in the castle and generally on the estate, usually consisting of birch logs.  In 1886 John Michie was employing sub-contractors to drag wood from the Corrie Buie but it was problematical as Michie explained.  “Large boulders of granite closely scattered over a very irregular surface and deep peat bog alternate”.  He proposed a solution to the Commissioner, “I have advocated the reconstruction of an old wood service road constructed temporarily about 100 years ago to take out the then heavy timber for an English coy. of wood merchants who had all the timber at that time in this tract.  The carrying out of my suggestion has not as yet been sanctioned.”  Dr Profeit’s prevarications sometimes had serious consequences.  One Monday in early June 1886, “Dr Profeit came to Danzig in the afternoon about a bridge over the Glassalt near the Shiel which it appears had collapsed with the Princess Beatrice yesterday.  I knew this bridge was shaky and had duly warned those in authority last autumn not to allow any person over it till repaired, but I got no leave to repair it.”    The preparation of a chalet for the Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition (see above) created a tension between the two men which was summed up by John Michie.  “I am not pleased how Dr Profeit directs in this matter.  He neither gives one charge nor takes it himself.”  Sometimes, Dr Profeit exhibited ill-humour, for example towards the end of November 1886, “Walked to Balmoral calling at Dr Profeit's house saw him at the stables in anything but good temper as I thought.  He asserted that I was doing wrong in trenching ground between the walks immediately west of the Chalet.  The very work that he himself proposed should be done two years”.  However, the two men did often agree with each other on solutions to estate problems.  In October 1886, “Met Dr Profeit and walked with him over a piece of ground west of Dorsincilly Farm which was planted some two years ago but has turned out next to a failure.  We have settled to replant it.  Walked over a part of the Knocks proposed to be planted and settled to go on with at least part of it the coming spring.”

A further, oft-repeated, theme in the Michie diaries is that he met with the Commissioner, but his boss had nothing of significance to impart.  “Saw Dr Profeit but did no business in particular”, was the record for 1 August 1885.  “Nothing of importance” and “Nothing transpired” were Michie’s comments on further meetings the same year.  In 1891, “Saw Dr Profeit with whom there is no business really …”.  In August 1894, John Michie’s observation was, “Saw Dr Profeit who has nothing to say of any consequence.”

John Michie was a thoroughly trained wood forester when he arrived at Balmoral and he was clearly confident in his job and proud of his abilities.  Alexander Profeit, though clearly a very bright man, had no such training or experience of forestry operations and economics but that did not prevent him disagreeing with John Michie on such matters.  In October 1886, there was a difference of opinion between Commissioner and Head Forester over the latter’s plans.  “Walked on to the Castle where saw Dr Profeit who offered objection to my expressed intention to set about removing the dead branches from the stems of young firs on the Glen Gelder side of Craig Gowan; on the ground that it would not pay, even ultimately, and that it was the opinion now that they should be left to clear themselves, which I uncompromisingly deny, that any rational man who knows anything of the subject can say.  The former objection is not so easily disposed of as the profit or loss cannot be accounted for until 30 to 50 years have passed, and it will then entirely depend on the state of the wood market, and the quality of timber sought.  Should a fair market be the order of that future day, and good clean timber preferred, then it will pay even with 50 years interest on the capital sum required to extend this work.”  Michie did not record which opinion prevailed.

Another example of Dr Profeit ignoring the professional advice of John Michie occurred in November 1890.  On the 5^th of the month, Michie wrote, “Walked to Balmoral, saw Commissioner and advised him strongly to have the timber for buildings at the Knocks from Ballochbuie instead of from the Birkhall woods on account of the former being so much superior in its lasting qualities whereas in the open market the one will command as high price as the other quantity for quality.”  However, a few days later John Michie recorded that his advice had been ignored.  “Drove to Invergelder then on to the Castle and had some conversation with the Commissioner who says he has decided to have the timber for construction of farm building at the Knocks from Birkhall estate instead of Ballochbuie as recommended by me.”  This obtuse decision-making in turn frustrated another timber deal that Michie was negotiating, and he was not pleased.  “Wrote Mr Geo. Duthie, Ewan Place Banchory, refusing an application of his for 100 to 200 larch trees which, however, in my private opinion ought to be entertained from the fact that many of the Birkhall larch is losing in value from wrought but it is urged on me that the commercial economic view must be sacrificed to keeping up appearance which means to let useful wood rot on its roots - so much for the advance of true forestry by those who ought to lead.”

In September 1891, John Michie relayed an account of a meeting he had had with Alexander Profeit, where the Commissioner was totally confused as to the identity of the writer of a letter.  “To the Castle saw the Commissioner who tells me he has received an "important" letter from Professor Balfour (Botany, Edinburgh) which he thought, until I explained, was from the Rt. Hon A G Balfour, Secretary for Ireland, asking that the Queen would grant leave to send specimens to the Conference of Conifers to be held at Chiswick Gardens, London on the 7th & 8th October next and if this was acceded to that he had left the matter in the hands of Mr Malcolm Dunn, Dalkeith Gardens who would communicate with me on the subject.”  It did not seem to dawn on Alexander Profeit that the Secretary for Ireland would be unlikely to have anything to do with a conference on Conifers!

Alexander Profeit often ailed something.  From as early as 1885, when Alexander Profeit was 51, he started travelling to Strathpeffer in Ross-shire, famous in Victorian times for the supposed health-giving properties of its mineral waters, to take a cure for some unspecified condition.  These absences typically lasted for about five days and also occurred in 1890, 1892 and 1893.  The Commissioner’s absence from Balmoral was frequently accompanied by some ailment on his return.  In December 1886, having been to Windsor, he was suffering from a bad cold contracted on the journey.  During late February 1890, Dr Profeit was seriously ill, with pains in his back and side, sufficiently troubling for him to consult Dr Alexander Ogston (see above), who pronounced him “improving fast”.  John Michie called at Craiggowan House and found Alexander Profeit’s condition had eased, though he was not yet able to walk downstairs.  By June of the same year the Commissioner was ill again.  “Dr Profeit, sorry to learn, has had a bad night again.”  Alexander Profeit was once more in the wars in 1892 when he sprained his foot, and this led to John Michie discovering that the Commissioner had previously suffered from gout in a foot.  In June 1893 he complained of having a stiff neck and on his return to Balmoral from the Royal wedding in early July 1893 he appeared to be suffering from eczema.  In March 1894 Dr Profeit was absent for a week in Windsor but, yet again, returned to Balmoral with a severe cold.  The following year the Commissioner again made his usual spring journey to Windsor, but the state of his health was compromised on his return north.  “Proceeded to the Castle and met George Profeit who informed me that his father had come home last night from Windsor, via the Spring Show but was ill in bed with, he was afraid, influenza.”  He was still in bed three days later.  Profeit senior had been seen by Dr James Reid before he left Windsor, but the Commissioner refused to allow Reid to take his temperature. 

There was a constant tension on the Royal Deeside estates between, on the one hand, senior servants, such as the Head Keeper, Donald Stewart, allied with male members of the Royal family who enjoyed shooting deer, and John Michie on the other, concerning the state of the forests.  Natural, open forests carried more deer and were easier to drive and shoot, whereas planted forests with trees protected from the predation of rabbits, the main destroyer of young trees, were not popular with the hunters.  In 1890, John Michie called the Commissioner’s attention, rather speculatively, to an opportunity for afforestation.  “I called the Dr's attention to the Fiendallacher moors remarking that if relieved of the browsing deer & planted they would soon be an excellent pine forest.”  The retort was rather curious, “cadgers are aye speaking o' crook saddles”, which seemed to indicate Profeit’s lack of enthusiasm for growing more trees.

John Michie was often frustrated that orders to kill down rabbit populations were honoured by the keepers more in the breach than the observance.  In 1891, Michie noted a particularly severe case of damage in plantations at Dalyfour by the “nibblers” and reported the matter to Dr Profeit, “who has promised to get the keepers to destroy the vermin at once, and should they not set about it at once, allow me to get men for that purpose”.  This was a curious response, since the Commissioner’s word should have been law on the estate.  Three weeks later, no action had been taken and John Michie repeated his complaint.  Dr Profeit “promised to give gamekeeper final order to do this immediately”.  John Michie probably thought that the Commissioner was covertly siding with the shooters, perhaps because of his own interest in hunting, or his wish not to antagonise the Royal hunters. 

Queen Victoria had originally leased, then bought, the Ballochbuie to protect it from over-exploitation for timber.  The area proved to be very popular with the shooters in her family, since it carried a lot of deer.  But they created their own damage to young trees.  In 1889, John Michie had proposed enclosing replanted areas of the forest to protect the saplings from deer, but his plan was ignored.  However, three years later an edict came down from the Queen concerning fencing and John Michie met with Dr Profeit to walk the ground and to formulate a plan.  John Michie’s thoughts, expressed in his diary, were rather cynical about the value of this exercise.  “To all appearance however the interests of deer which militated against enclosing formerly is like to prevent anything approaching the extent of reaforesting being done which I have recommended and ardently wish to be done in the interests of the Queen, the Estates and the country.”  He ended on an apocalyptic note.  “Unless enclosing from the over stock of deer is largely gone in for ‘ere many years pass, 50 winters hence the Ballochbuie forest will be gone and the snows drifting over a bleak moor.”  John, presently secure in his lair at Maryculter churchyard, would be happy to know that regeneration of the Ballochbuie today, more than120 winters hence, is a prominent feature of its management plan!  When the Queen arrived at Balmoral on 22 May 1894, having opened the Manchester Ship Canal on her way north, she visited John Michie in the evening at the Dantzig Shiel.  “Her Majesty lamented the destruction to the Ballochbuie and said there should be planting done, which I agreed, if the forest were to be preserved.”  The following October the Queen again expressed her alarm at the loss of trees in the Ballochbuie due to wind and commanded that there should be some replanting in compensation.  The Head Forester consulted the Commissioner on the way forward and his advice was interesting.  “He advised me to write up the reasons why planting should be done, submit it to V.R.I. and get that impression on the paper and then defy opposition which would be likely to come from those interested in matter of keeping as much ground open for deer as possible.”  About a week later Michie presented his proposal to Dr Profeit in the form of a report.  Ten days later the report was back with John Michie having been signed off by the monarch.  John Michie commented, “This is satisfactory in view of the opposition offered by the Head Keeper (Donald Stewart) who has done his best to influence the Princes against my proposals.” The rabbit problem continued, causing John Michie increasing frustration in trying to carry out the Queen’s directions on tree protection and he finally felt absolved of responsibility for the matter, following an ambiguous response to a further request for resolute action to the Commissioner in February 1895.  “I have already been most emphatic to Dr P on the necessity for killing them down being aware that the Queen wishes it for protection of trees &c asking his leave to put on men to have it done, his reply was that "Lundie did his duty as well as you or me".  Lundie is the keeper on the place, and I consider the Dr's reply transferred any responsibility resting with me to himself.  Dr Profeit's sons are fond of shooting rabbits.  I consider however that this should not weigh against protection of the plantations on the estate.”  By mid-May the rabbit problem had still not been significantly addressed.  Michie’s workmen were busy clearing seedlings and even “biggish” trees which had been so badly damaged by the hungry lagomorphs that they were valueless.  So, John Michie changed his approach.  “I advocated with Dr Profeit leaving of the damaged trees to show the great ruin brought about by the nibblers which the Queen gave imperative instructions to have killed but which were neglected by the keepers and I fear winked at by Dr Profeit whose sons find sport in shooting at them, while his larder is kept supplied by them.”  Profeit objected to this approach.  “He is now most anxious that all marks of rabbits be dispensed with.”  Ironically, in March 1892, John Michie found 61 of Dr Profeit’s sheep feeding in the centre of the Knocks plantation and damaging the young trees!

Prince Henry of Battenberg, the husband of Princess Beatrice was clearly one of the Royal shooters intent on frustrating John Michie’s protectionist instincts.  However, he and the Head Forester were on good personal terms.  In October 1895, John Michie’s friend, the watercolourist Benjamin Ottewell (see “Benjamin John Ottewell (1847 – 1937) watercolourist - Queen Victoria and Upper Deeside on this blogsite) painted a picture for the Prince of a dead stag in forest scenery which Michie took down to the castle and presented to him.  Prince Henry started taking a more direct involvement in the forest maintenance strategy and instructed John Michie to remove the fence which had enclosed a deer park at the Dantzig haugh and this work was accomplished within a few days.  At the end of the following week, Prince Henry took John Michie in his carriage on a visit to the enclosed plantation on the Aberdeen haugh and expressed a wish to have the fence removed, suggesting that the deer would not much damage the trees, which ranged from 3ft to 9ft in height.  But Michie felt confident enough to demur. “My argument is that they will spoil it considerably - more especially the stags which will tear the trees with their horns during the cleaning, rutting & winter seasons.”  Prince Henry then attempted a compromise.  “That is to say he wishes me to take down the fence say next June which will give practically another year to the plants at the same time having the ground clear for the shooting season next year, and the stags being out on the hills generally will get accustomed to the ground gradually at a time when they will not feel disposed to debark the trees.”  John Michie had to accept this position but did not say if he was convinced by Prince Henry’s argument.  Before he departed for the South, Prince Henry “bade me goodbye & in shaking hands presented me with a handsome spirit flask, of which I feel proud under the circumstances of my having had to argue out with him the subject of deer versus young plantations.”  The encounter certainly demonstrated the significant status and confidence that John Michie had acquired in his years at Balmoral. 

John Michie and Alexander Profeit often cooperated well in executing celebrations and ceremonies containing the Queen’s favourite Highland elements.  The first visit of Prince and Princess Henry (Beatrice) of Battenberg to Balmoral after their marriage in 1885 was one such occasion.  “went up to Dr Profeit's and heard him on the subject of demonstration at the coming of their Royal Highnesses the Prince & Princess of Battenberg - an arch (a simple one) at the entrance gate, no speechifying or health-drinks either at gate or Castle (that was unusual!).  Bonfire on Craig Gowan in evening, from whence there is to be a torchlight procession to the Castle front where there is to be some dancing - here the programme ends, at least as the Queen has given it.  The Dr read her letter to me.” 

Another event, which demonstrated John Michie’s generally benevolent feelings towards his boss was the first Aberdeenshire County Council election held in 1890.  The joint parish of Crathie and Braemar was allocated one place on the County Council but there were two candidates, the factors respectively of Invercauld (Gordon Foggo) and Balmoral (Alexander Profeit).  Each factor was determined to stand and so a contested election was inevitable.  John Michie was working to promote the Commissioner’s candidacy and Michie described one election meeting he attended as “stormy”.  Many of John Michie’s friends and business contacts lived at Braemar and John was active in canvassing his boss’ candidature amongst them, and they even formed a committee to support that aim.  John Michie was smart enough to read the regulations surrounding the election for this novel governmental structure and realised that he needed authority in the form of a signed secrecy declaration, endorsed by a sheriff (“judge” in England) in order to gain admission to the polling room as Profeit’s agent.  John took his declaration to Aberdeen and it was duly given the imprimatur of Sheriff Dove Wilson.  On polling day, John Michie was the only agent allowed to enter the polling station, the other being forced to hover outside the door.  The weather was fine for the election and there was a large turnout at the only polling station, the schoolhouse at Crathie.  Out of a register of 309 eligible voters, 250 actually cast their ballots.  The result was a resounding win for Alexander Profeit, 147 : 96, with seven spoiled papers.  On hearing the result “with joyful satisfaction”, John Michie, “Wired congratulations and proceeded home, well pleased and fully rewarded for exertions in the matter”.  A few days after the result was announced, Michie and Profeit visited Braemar, home territory of Gordon Foggo.  They found mixed feelings about the result, “but probably ¾th admitting that Mr Foggo should be as he is - out.”  At the time Gordon Foggo was a powerful, but not a popular person in Braemar (see “Benjamin John Ottewell (1847 – 1937) watercolourist – Queen Victoria and Upper Deeside” on this blogsite).  But the loyalty of John Michie to his boss proved later to be one-sided.  At the 1894 election to the Crathie and Braemar School Board, where both Profeit and Michie were candidates, Profeit tried to knobble the voters to John Michie’s disadvantage.

For all his frustrations in dealing with Alexander Profeit, John Michie did not allow work disagreements to sour his social interactions with the Commissioner and his family.  At the start of the salmon season in February 1884, John wrote, “Met Dr. Profeit and D Stewart and John Morgan went with them to the fishing for some time.  They caught 4 salmon.”  Commissioner and Head Forester also shared an interest in shooting.  In September 1886, “Had an hour's shooting competition with air gun with Dr Profeit, Dr Andrew Grant, Ar. Grant, and Mr Anderson of Wester Coul.”  Alexander Profeit usually held a roe drive early in the New Year, to which he invited his friends and senior colleagues.  John Michie was usually an attendee.  At the event held in 1890, the participants, in addition to the Commissioner were his sons, Charles and Alick, John Smith, the farmer at Dorsincilly, John Michie, the estate keepers and Dr Alexander Ogston, the prominent Aberdeen surgeon, with tenants and their servants acting as beaters.  The bag was eight roe deer (three felled by John Michie) and five hares.  Another New Year shooting event which was held early in January, unless cancelled as a mark of respect following a recent Royal death, was a series of rifle competitions, followed by an evening dinner.  John Michie recounted what happened at the 1891 event.  “The weather was frosty and just a powdering of snow which did not interfere in the least with the proceedings which were pleasant to all concerned. The chief rifle competition of the day, which is a medal to be won 3 times was gained for one year by Robert Lundie Gamekeeper at Birkhall who beat Arthur Grant Keeper at Balmoral in a tie of 18 points out of a possible score of 20 points.  Dr Profeit had 17 points and I 16 all the others being below these figures.  To me fell the chief winning at the glassball competitions.  The dinner was held in the evening in the servants' hall within the Castle as was wont.  Toasts and songs following.”

The Prince Consort, Prince Albert, died in 1861 and an obelisk was raised in 1862 to his memory, subscribed by the tenants and servants of the Royal Deeside estates.  It is located a short distance south of the East Lodge at Balmoral.  Ever since that time, during Queen Victoria’s reign, a ritual was followed on the Prince’s birthday, 26^th August.  John Michie described the scene in 1892, 31 years after the death of Prince Albert.  “Friday 26 August.  In the morning instructed workmen, & at noon attended with other people at the Obelisk to observe that strange custom of drinking to the memory of the Great and Good Prince Consort of this 26th day of August being his birthday.  Dr Profeit, the Queen's Commissioner here said, "Drink with me, gentlemen, to the memory of the Prince Consort", then after 2 minutes interval "Drink to the health of the Queen”. Then 5 minutes later, after the possibility of having swallowed 2 glasses of whisky, each of the 50 or so went about his own business.”  John Michie appeared to find this ceremony faintly ridiculous. 

 

Alexander Ogston (1845 – 1929)

Before continuing with an account of the interactions between John Michie and Alexander Profeit, it is necessary to take a detour to introduce Alexander Ogston.  Born in Aberdeen, the eldest son of Francis Ogston, Professor of Medical Logic and Medical Jurisprudence in the University of Aberdeen and grandson of Alexander Ogston, founder of a successful soap manufacturing company, Alexander junior became the most outstanding surgeon of his generation in the North East of Scotland.  He was frequently a visitor to the Balmoral Estate, both socially and to provide medical services and was well-known to both Dr Alexander Profeit and to John Michie. 

Alexander Ogston

Alexander Ogston entered Marischal College, Aberdeen where he studied Classics before embarking on medical studies, graduating MB, CM in 1865 and MD, remarkably, only one year later.  This was followed by a one-year study tour of leading medical schools on Continental Europe, including Prague, Vienna, Berlin and Paris, becoming fluent in both French and German along the way, before returning to Aberdeen.  Alexander was assistant to his father, Francis, between 1865 and 1873.  He had an outstanding intellect and was additionally a skilled surgeon.  In 1865, Joseph Lister invented sterile surgery by disinfecting wounds with carbolic acid (phenol) solution, which drastically reduced the mortality rate then associated with suppuration following major surgery.  Alexander Ogston was convinced by Lister’s methods and introduced “Listerism” to Aberdeen. 

The surgical career of Alexander Ogston advanced rapidly.  He was appointed Ophthalmic Surgeon at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in 1868, Fourth Surgeon in 1870, Third Surgeon in 1874, Second Surgeon in 1876 and Senior Surgeon in 1880.  Two years later he was appointed to the Regius Chair of Surgery in the University of Aberdeen.  Though such an appointment required the formal approval of the Queen, it is unlikely that she did more than give her agreement to the University’s nomination.   Alexander Ogston wished to understand the cause of surgical mortality and between 1878 and 1883 carried out bacteriological experiments in a shed in his own garden, set up with the aid of a £50 grant from the British Medical Association.  He was familiar with the work of Robert Koch, the pioneering German bacteriologist and Ogston acquired both a Zeiss microscope and dyes derived from aniline for staining and visualising bacteria extracted from the pus associated with surgical wounds.  He was the first person to name and grow staphylococci (staphyle – bunch of grapes in Greek) on artificial media and to produce infections experimentally in laboratory animals with this group of bacteria.  Ogston also observed that staphylococci were normally present on the skin and largely harmless in that location. He had to withstand much scorn from the medical establishment when he published his work.  One paper was accepted by the British Medical Journal, but further works by Ogston were rejected.  The editor of the magazine said, witheringly, “Can anything good come out of Aberdeen?”.

Alexander Ogston was also involved in many roles in the University, the city and national life.  He was ever a reformer and an iconoclast.  When he opened his Surgery class in 1883, he declined to give an introductory address, as was customary.  “The man who would write the first good introductory address has yet to burst upon the public”, he said.  Ogston convened the committee charged with bringing forward plans for the extension of Marischal College, he reformed the organisation of local medical societies in Aberdeen, he was deeply involved in military surgery and served in the Soudan campaign in 1885, the Second Boer War and World War 1.  In Aberdeen, Ogston was also active in the organisation of student medical volunteers to aid the military.  This leading medical man additionally made proposals for the reform of military medical services.

In 1887 Professor Francis Ogston died and his son, Alexander, inherited approximately 1/3 of his father’s net personal estate of £5,545 (almost £700,000 in 2018 money).  He probably used part of the money to buy the estate of Glendavan from the Earl of Aberdeen the following year.  This estate was located near the village of Logie-Coldstone, between Deeside and Donside and lay about 14 miles from Balmoral.  Alexander Marshall McKenzie, the architect responsible for many of Aberdeen’s striking granite buildings, was then engaged to design a house, Glendavan House, on a site overlooking Loch Davan.  Ogston lived there for part of each year.

It is not clear how Alexander Ogston first became a familiar face at Balmoral but there were several routes by which this may have come about.  As a result of his involvement in treating the wounded for over two months in the Soudan in 1885, he made a strong impression on the military with his surgical and leadership skills, and he received much publicity on his return.  Ogston was rewarded with two medals one, the bronze star bestowed by the Khedive and the other, the Egypt medal.  He was the only civilian to be recognised in this way.  Alexander Ogston’s reputation was such that members of the aristocracy started to call for him to treat them.  For example, in 1887 Lady Tweedmouth was seriously ill and called the august surgeon from Aberdeen to Beauly for a consultation.  Alexander Profeit may have made Ogston’s acquaintance through one of the medical representative bodies, such as the Aberdeen, Banff and Kincardineshire branch of the British Medical Association, a body in which Ogston was particularly active.  Another possibility was through charitable functions on behalf of the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI), the monarch having been a donor to the hospital throughout Profeit’s time as commissioner.

In 1888, the Marquis of Lorne, husband of Princess Louise visited Aberdeen to open the Industrial and Art Exhibition but before carrying out this duty he visited nearby Marischal College, where he was shown around by Professors Ogston and Stevenson.  Once Alexander Ogston’s house at Glendavan was complete he would have been likely to receive invitations to partake in events at Balmoral.  At Dr Profeit’s 1890 New Year roe drive, Alexander Ogston was a guest, as was John Michie.  (Ogston and Michie were also present at the drives in the following two years.)  The same year, Dr Profeit started to consult Alexander Ogston concerning his own back problems and the two men later became fishing partners on the Dee.  In October 1890, John Michie visited Glendavan House to advise on planting on the east side of the loch.

But a dispute arose in Alexander Ogston’s professional life which pushed him to drastic action.  In a letter dated 12 April 1892, he wrote to the Board of Directors of the ARI, resigning from his post as Senior Surgeon at that institution after 24 years as a member of staff.  He said his reason for tendering his resignation was that he was overwhelmed with work at the hospital, in the University and in his private practice.  This was a bombshell for the ARI, where Ogston was such an important figure who added lustre to its medical status.  Mr David Littlejohn, the Chairman of the Board replied quickly expressing surprise, hoping that the decision was not final and suggesting that “after a week or two’s rest” he would be able to continue.  The news spread quickly and alarmed both Ogston’s medical colleagues and his students and the two groups took action in an attempt to reverse his decision.  A delegation of students met with Ogston and asked him to reconsider.  Interestingly, he indicated that if “certain obstacles” to his work at the hospital were removed he would reconsider.  A resolution from the student body was then passed to the ARI Board of Directors. 

Senior medical colleagues of Dr Ogston met and decided to send a delegation to the next meeting of the Board, which was dominated by non-medical members.  Alexander Profeit was one of the delegates, clearly nominated because of his Royal connection and the influence that link might exert on the recalcitrant Board.  He spoke at the meeting in general terms, but his importance clearly lay in his connections, not his eloquence.  The Chairman agreed with the sentiments expressed by the senior doctors.  However, the Board was bound by the rules governing the institution and it had already bent those rules as much as it could to help Dr Ogston.  After the departure of the delegates, the Board decided to offer Ogston six months’ leave of absence, with the resignation left on the table in the hope he would reconsider his position.  Apparently, in his reply to the Board’s offer, Alexander Ogston indicated that he did not need a holiday and that until he got the essential facilities that he desired, his resignation stood.  Overwork, while probably true, was obviously a simplified statement of a more complex bone of contention.

There the matter stood for some weeks, but the ARI directors found themselves in a bind.  A new wing of the Infirmary was due to be opened by Princess Louise in early October and in September it was announced that Alexander Ogston had been appointed Surgeon-in-Ordinary to the Queen in Scotland.  The dispute would have to be settled quickly and Dr Ogston secured in post before October.  Professor Hay appeared to act as a mediator.  He and Mr Littlejohn met with Ogston, who then withdrew his resignation.  Some settlement had clearly been reached behind closed doors and no public announcement of its terms was made.  Princess Louise opened the new wing at the ARI and Dr Ogston was presented to her to loud cheers from those present.  Mr Littlejohn and his Board must have been greatly relieved but also a bit peeved.  They had had their tails twisted by a man of high status and with influential connections.  Dr J Scott Riddell, assistant surgeon was immediately attached to Ogston’s team.  Alexander Ogston had got the extra man that he had been seeking.       

Alexander Ogston’s first wife, Mary Jane, died in 1873 at the early age of 25.  He remarried in 1877 to Isabella Matthews, daughter of James Matthews, a prominent Aberdeen architect and from 1883 to 1886 Lord Provost of Aberdeen.  In 1891, the Ogstons, together with two friends were invited by Dr Profeit to join a day’s boating and netting for trout on Loch Muick.  John Michie was present too.  Dr Ogston also enjoyed this event the following year.  By the early 1890s, Alexander Profeit and Alexander Ogston had clearly become good friends.  Ogston was invited to a performance at Balmoral by the singers, Madame Albani Gye and Mademoiselle La Jeunesse in 1892.  After the performance Ogston was presented to the Queen.  Four days later his medical services were required to deal with Prince Arthur after he suffered an accident and again the surgeon was seen by the Queen. Throughout the rest of the year and into early 1893, Ogston was a regular member of shooting parties on Deeside, in the company of Dr Profeit and sometimes John Michie too.  He was also invited, with his wife, to other events such as the supper and ball held in celebration of the wedding of the Duke of York and the Princess May.  The next year, 1894, saw another Royal marriage of the Grand Duke of Hesse to Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg.  The Ogstons were again invited to the grand ball at Balmoral Castle.

In early June 1894, John Michie encountered Alex Ogston heading for the castle “to set his name in the visitors’ book “.  Professor Ogston had truly arrived in Royal circles and was regularly consulted for a wide variety of medical conditions, not just by members of the Royal family but also to deal with affictions in Balmoral servants and their families.  John Michie would later be glad that he both knew and liked Alexander Ogston, when serious illness struck in his own family.

 

The decline and fall of Alexander Profeit

From at least 1892 and possibly earlier, there were signs that Dr Profeit’s mental abilities were becoming impaired.  Although forgetfulness may not have indicated anything more than a general regression with age, other instances were more worrying.  An example of simple forgetfulness from 1884 was “Went down to Balmoral and saw Dr. Profeit who could not remember something he had to tell me.”  However, from 1892, John Michie probably started to question if there was something seriously amiss with the Commissioner.

Alexander Profeit developed the annoying habit of changing his mind after agreeing a position or proposition.  John Michie then had to be cautious in striking deals without the express approval of the Commissioner.  In 1892, he agreed with John Michie that they should sell some larch trees from the Linn Wood, part of the Birkhall Estate.  John Michie invited the wood merchant, Richard Grove to visit the site to view for a viewing and a price of £50 was concluded for 250 trees.  John Michie took the precaution of saying the deal was “provisional”, which proved to be wise since the following day, “I found he (Dr Profeit) had entirely shifted his position and wished to go in for advertising”.  It was as though Alexander Profeit had no memory of recently having consented to sell the trees by private bargain.  Arbitrary and insensitive actions also started to characterise the Commissioner’s behaviour.  A dancing school was taking place in the Iron Ballroom on the Balmoral estate during early 1892 but was stopped in mid-January as a mark of respect for the Duke of Clarence who died on the 14^th of that month.  The session was restarted about eight weeks later and, in order to complete the programme, plans were made to hold two sessions in one week.  The pupils and teachers assembled but, before the class could begin, Dr Profeit sent a note forbidding the use of the venue for dancing.  Worse was to follow.  John Michie was entertaining a group of personal visitors by showing them around the Balmoral estate in August 1892 at a time before the monarch’s arrival in Aberdeenshire.  Prior to taking them into the castle, he sought the permission of Dr Profeit to do so.  However, he was not at home, though his eldest son, Bob was there.  He gave permission on behalf of his father but, on Michie’s party entering the castle, a very unpleasant scene unfolded.  John Michie wrote.  “Profeit, his father the Doctor being absent at the time, took them through the Castle where I met the Doctor who made a few nasty remarks such as doubting my statement of having called for a permit before my friends and carrying himself with air of supreme authority.  I felt this attitude of pompous bluster very cutting, knowing how I have supported him, & done more for him in a hundred ways than I had any occasion to do.”  So, Robert Profeit was present while his father was haranguing John Michie!  Perhaps, even more amazing than Alexander Profeit’s behaviour in the castle was his demeanour the following day, when he invited John Michie to join him on an annual expedition to Loch Muick to net trout, in the company of Dr Ogston and Mr Garden of Chalmers (a prominent firm of Aberdeen advocates).  Again, it was as though Dr Profeit had no memory of his angry words on the previous day.

The first day of the calendar month was payday for the Balmoral workmen but on 1 October 1892, John Michie could not remunerate them for their labour because, “the Doctor, having omitted to send to the Bank last evening for cash to discharge monthly acts., I could not pay”.  The same slip-up would be made at the end of December 1893 and again in March 1894.  The doctor’s memory continued to decline.  On 19 November 1892, John Michie recorded, “Did not see Dr Profeit, he having gone to Birkhall to shoot against his appointment to meet me today.”  Further instances of forgetful, bizarre or even potentially dishonest behaviour by the Commissioner continued.  In 1890, the farm of Dorsincilly had become vacant and Alexander Profeit took the lease, installing his son Alexander junior as the working farmer.  On 28 December 1892, John Michie drove to Birkhall to instruct his work gang there, but he was surprised to find his labourers had been commandeered by Dr Profeit to thrash his barley.  There seemed to have been no concern amongst the Queen’s senior courtiers that, by allowing Alexander Profeit to become the tenant of a Balmoral farm, they would create a potential conflict of interest.  It is unknown if Profeit senior paid for the Queen’s labour.  The end of December also brought forth the annual process of examining the accounts but this year, instead of passing them through with little comment, Dr Profeit made some odd remarks.  John Michie explained.  “… drove to Dr Profeit's house and had my accounts for the year gone over and paid a small balance.  Altered the accounts of wood "supplied to different departments" to suit the Dr's peculiarity of shift - they were stated exactly as he wanted them last year.  He thought my account of travelling expenditure was heavy.”  Inconsistency, forgetfulness and lack of balance had become Dr Profeit’s almost constant companions.  The comments on travelling expenses must have been particularly galling to John Michie, given the Commissioner’s absences, especially in Aberdeen and the South of England, which regularly burned significant quantities of both his time and the estate’s money.

Eighteen ninety-three continued as the previous year had ended, as far as Dr Profeit’s behaviour was concerned.  When John Michie presented his January accounts at Craiggowan House, the Commissioner passed on a rumour that Gordon Foggo, the Invercauld factor, had been given notice to quit.  “This I scarcely credit”, was John Michie’s response.  Michie was right, Foggo, a well-established and loyal figure at Invercauld, had not been dismissed.  The Commissioner soon traded more tittle-tattle with John Michie, telling him of a rumoured scandal “in which Baillie Crombie of Aberdeen was the chief actor”, though the nature of the impropriety was not revealed by Michie.  The next person to be the butt of Alexander Profeit’s ill-chosen words was not John Michie but his wife, Helen.  There was a ball at Balmoral sometime towards the end of January 1893, which was attended by the Michies and probably other servants and tenants.  Dr Profeit called at the Dantzig Shiel soon afterwards and asked Helen how she had liked the event.  What he did not realise was that he had severely embarrassed Mrs Michie at the castle by making a remark which, to her, appeared to be an accusation, "Do you refuse to drink the Queen's health".  This question may have been posed in jest, but Helen did not take it that way.  She was deeply upset that the words had been spoken in public and in front of other people.  Her emotions overcame any deference she may have felt for the Commissioner’s position and she accused Alexander Profeit of insulting her.  John Michie did not record the outcome of the exchange.  However, he had to get on with his job and his life.  The day following the outburst by Helen, John Michie dined with the two Alexander Profeits, senior and junior, at Dorsincilly farm.  Again, relations were quickly reset to normal with the Commissioner.  As if to confirm the Jekyl and Hyde character that he had become, Dr Profeit turned on the charm at the Braemar Curling Club.  “Saturday 25 February.  Dr Profeit called on his way to Braemar where he had presented a pair of curling stones to be played for.  He asked me to go with him which I did and spent the afternoon curling.  Alex. McDonald won the prize with 28 points.  Had a friendly game and lunch at Dr Profeit's expense.”

It would have been anticipated that on occasions when Alexander Profeit was absent from Balmoral and some formal representational role needed to be fulfilled, he would have nominated another of the senior servants to stand in for him.  On only one occasion has such a substitution been uncovered.  Princess Beatrice married Prince Henry of Battenberg on 23 July 1885 at Whippingham church, next to Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight.  By Royal command, Dr Profeit travelled south for the celebrations.  Back at Balmoral, all the estate servants were given a day’s holiday and asked to foregather at Dr Profeit’s house, Craiggowan, to toast the married couple.  James Anderson, the Clerk of Works, led the toasts, firstly to the Queen and then, preceded by a speech, to Princess Beatrice and her husband.  

However, from as early as 1893 (when Robert Profeit was 25), Alexander Profeit’s children, but especially the older ones, started to substitute for him in his official duties.  On 3 July of that year, John Michie met with the Commissioner who, with Donald Stewart, was about to leave Balmoral (with full Highland garb) to attend the marriage of Prince George of Wales with Princess Victoria Mary of Teck.  Profeit delivered instructions for the conduct of the celebrations to be held on home territory.  He nominated his son Bob to deputise for himself in leading the toasts and charged John Michie with organising a bonfire on Craiggowan.  Bob Profeit was a very bright and confident young man and this delegation by his father was not mis-placed in terms of capability.  But was it wise for the Commissioner to open himself up to a charge of nepotism and, in any case was it appropriate to allow his senior son to assume both his status and his authority, Bob having no formal locus on the Balmoral Estate?  John Michie succinctly encapsulated the proceedings at the Craiggowan bonfire.  In addition to the toasts and speeches by Bob Profeit, the evening consisted of “drinking whisky, playing pipes & dancing concluded at midnight”.  In the latter half of 1896, two further examples of Profeit children substituting for their father occurred.  By this time, the reason for Dr Profeit transferring his duties to his offspring was clearly in transit from being a proud parent showing off, to a mentally compromised functionary struggling to cope.  In July, in the absence of his father, Leopold Profeit gave the toasts to "The Queen", "The Prince and Princess of Wales" and "The Bride and Groom" at a celebratory bonfire on Craiggowan for the wedding of Princess Maud of Wales and Prince Charles.  At the time Leopold was 21.  In December, brother Erskine was tasked with making a presentation of a gold watch, preceded by a speech, to Mr Ogg, late Precentor at Crathie Church.  Although Erskine, who was 17 at the time, performed competently he prefaced his remarks with the comment that he could have wished that the task had fallen upon someone older and more experienced than he.

In April 1894, Princess Victoria Melita, second daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, married Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and at Balmoral a ball was held in celebration.  Dr Profeit sent a message to John Michie to give all the workmen a holiday, but he did not issue an invitation to the men to attend the ball, as would have been usual.  John Michie noted that the “the laboring class think much of a thing of the kind”.  Mr and Mrs Michie attended the ball and John’s opinion was that it came off with great eclat, though he thought the decoration was “overdone”.  He was also dismayed to find that, “many of Dr P's friends were there in number at the expense of the workmen on the Queen's workmen's expense.”  It looked like another example of Dr Profeit’s declining ability to make a fair and balanced judgement.  The first meeting of the new School Board was held on 23 April 1894.  Dr Profeit managed to miss the meeting due to his mistaken belief that the meeting was being held at Inver.  Even so, in his absence he was deferentially appointed as chairman.  A further mental lapse was noted the following month when John Michie only found out by chance and at the last minute that half-yearly wages (including his own) would be paid by the Doctor that day.  Naturally, John Michie was a bit miffed.  Worse was to follow.  The newly ennobled Duke of Coburg (formerly the Duke of Edinburgh), who admired John Michie’s wood forester skills, sought the Queen’s permission in the autumn of 1893 to invite Michie to visit Coburg in Germany.  The Queen approved the request and agreed he could visit in April 1894, instructing Dr Profeit to inform the Head Forester.  In June 1894, the Commissioner asked John Michie when he was leaving for Germany, claiming he had spoken to the Queen “the other day”.  This was Dr Profeit trying to cover his tracks.  The arrangements for John Michie’s journey to the Continent were quickly reordered for his departure on 1 August and in the last few days before leaving John Michie had many things he needed to discuss with the Commissioner.  However, the Doctor was away for three days at the Highland and Agricultural Show and even when he returned, he was “indisposed having had a hard week”.  It would not be difficult to speculate on the immediate cause of Dr Profeit’s “indisposition”.

In early 1894, John Michie became aware that a bridge over the River Muick at the Mill of Sterin required new planking and warned Dr Profeit of the situation.  He, however, denied that the structure was the responsibility of the Birkhall estate.  In September of the same year the Commissioner found that his earlier assertion was untrue, that the upkeep of the bridge was a joint responsibility with the Glen Muick Estate and that the Prince of Wales was due to cross over it in a few days’ time.  John Michie then had to carry out emergency patching of the structure, until wood for the complete resurfacing could be sawn.  On two other occasions at the end of 1894, Dr Profeit did not even involve John Michie in getting tasks fulfilled.  In late November one of Michie’s men was told by the Commissioner directly to rebuild a dyke in Glen Muick, something that Michie had advocated some years previously.  Even more irritating for the Head Forester was a discovery in mid-December when he found three of his four woodmen pulling turnips for Dr Profeit.

At the beginning of 1895, the Commissioner held his traditional hunt for roe deer, but this year John Michie was not invited, ostensibly because, due to bad weather, a message could not be got to him in time.  A similar episode occurred a few days later when John Michie, a skilled practitioner of the “roaring game”, was omitted by Dr Profeit from a Braemar team of two rinks of curlers he had chosen to answer a challenge by the Marquis of Breadalbane.  John Michie suspected that he was being deliberately overlooked, though perhaps he was being overly suspicious, having been sensitised by the Commissioner’s increasingly bizarre behaviour.  While Alexander Profeit was absent in Aberfeldy on 24 January, John McKenzie, gatekeeper at the Bridge of Dee, who had been ill for some time, died.  This required the Queen to be telegraphed with the news immediately and George Profeit took it upon himself to send off a wire to the monarch under his father’s name, rather than his own.  A week later, the two Braemar rinks, again captained by Dr Profeit, travelled to Ballater to answer another challenge, John Michie once more being overlooked.  As if to prove his competence, on 14 February John Michie won a silver butter cooler in a morning competition at the Braemar Club and enjoyed further success in the afternoon games.  Following the competitions, John maintained normal relations with Alexander Profeit by remaining at the Fife Arms Hotel overnight to play billiards and cards with John’s friend Dr Noble, the Commissioner and his son George. 

On 17 January 1895 John Michie was trying to meet with Alexander Profeit. “Drove down to Crathie afternoon and delivered same (monthly accounts) at Commissioner's without seeing him however.  I seldom get him at home these times.”   The next month was equally unsatisfactory. John Michie met with Alexander Profeit, by appointment, to go over Michie’s monthly accounts, “but he was unprepared having been under the impression that today was yesterday”! 

Although John Michie maintained an outward calm in his dealings with Alexander Profeit, the latter’s odd behaviour was clearly playing on Michie’s mind and this showed in his private and slightly paranoid musings in his diary.  When John Michie met with the Commissioner after his return to Balmoral from Windsor, suffering from influenza, in mid-March 1895, he told Michie that he no longer wished to be a candidate for the Parish Council.  The Rev Campbell subsequently pressed John Michie to pick up the baton, but he was initially reluctant.  “My impression is that I will be beaten in the Parish Council Election on account of Dr Profeit's underhand opposition which I believe exists.  If this is so I cannot understand how he opposes me except it be a matter of jealousy on account of my having polled higher than him at the School Board Election last April.  I have always supported him, & had he asked me to withdraw in his favour I would have done so but have almost made up my mind to go to the poll & be beaten rather than be induced to give in by stealth and conspiracy by his contaminating one in power at Braemar.”  Michie eventually allowed his name to go forward, and he found that Dr Profeit had had a change of mind and that he too was on the list of 21 aspirants for nine places.  Both Michie and Profeit were elected, the latter polling the joint highest number of votes.  Gordon Foggo was one of the unsuccessful candidates.  The position of factor on the Queen’s estates was sufficient to ensure this result for a man performing well below his best.  Alexander Profeit was again elected as chairman, with John Michie dutifully seconding the motion nominating him.

John Michie’s mood did not improve, and he penned another rant in his diary on 17 April 1895, sadly without fingering those of whom he was complaining.  “At Birkhall suffering, I believe, from a mild attack of influenza and from disgust caused by double mindedness in some I have to do with.  Truth & honesty are at discount for the present, so far as I can see.  The boasted civilisation of the present does not counteract this in my humble opinion but rather encourages depth of duplicity, while what is essentially good & honest they incline to make weak & of less effect.  Stratagem of the puniest effeminate kind is the successful wicked device of the times and that from the most idiotic class of society upwards.”  Something was making the Head Forester very angry but what was it?  Could it have been the rabbit problem, which had been a running sore for years (see above), or some other duplicitous action by the Commissioner?

Through May 1895, the Doctor continued to be unhelpful in his dealings with John Michie.  “Dr Profeit on my suggesting to get the matter of plant erected at Garmaddie for cutting up the blown timber which he & I had decided upon said that he had little hope of being permitted to spend the necessary money as Sir Fleetwood had instructed him to curtail expenditure in every way.  I explained that this was an ex. (expense) which would be recovered by the sale of wood.”  It was not recorded if the Commissioner bowed to the Head Forester’s economic logic.

In early June 1895, Alexander Profeit suffered significant injury when he was thrown from his dogcart while passing Baile-na-Coile, the house built by Queen Victoria for John Brown and then still occupied by the Brown family.  Profeit spent several days in bed and even a month later was still unwell, as John Michie recorded when the Doctor visited the Dantzig Shiel on 4 July.  He was looking “fagged, ill, & peculiar.”  At the end of the month, John Michie was again unable to pay his men because the Commissioner had omitted to obtain money from the bank.  Another example of the circumvention of John Michie’s line of command and more potentially dishonest behaviour came to light at the time of the harvest in September.  Alexander Profeit junior, who cultivated both Dorsincilly and Knocks farms on behalf of his father, had taken workmen from the Birkhall Estate to work on the hairst at Knocks.

At the start of 1896 Dr Profeit organised his annual roe hunt but this time with John Michie’s participation.  The Head Wood Forester shot two of the ten animals secured.  But normal life had not been resumed.  At the end of February Dr Profeit did not fulfil the necessary actions to obtain money from the bank and John Michie’s labourers again went unpaid on the due date.  The Commissioner made his routine visit to Windsor in March and this time did not return to the North East trailing an illness.  However, the day after his return, John Michie visited Craiggowan at 11.30 am but found the Commissioner still abed.  Exhaustion seemed to follow any exertion that he made.  It must have been obvious by this date, not only to those who had dealings with Dr Profeit on a frequent basis, like John Michie, but also those with fewer interactions but more responsibility, such as the leading courtiers, that the Commissioner was increasingly failing in the performance of his duties and due for replacement.  By the end of November 1896, the deficiencies of Alexander Profeit had reached the ears of Queen Victoria.   She wrote in her journal, “Saw Sir F. Edwards after tea, who had been in London & had seen the Duke of Richmond about a successor to D^r Profeit, about which the Duke is kindly trying to help.”  It is not clear for how long it was publicly known that Alexander Profeit was ill.  The newspapers suggested a period of two years.  Similarly, it is unclear if Dr Profeit formally resigned from the position of commissioner, though he certainly resigned from the post of medical attendant at Balmoral in early November 1896.  This news was passed to John Michie by Sir James Reid and also that John Michie’s friend Dr Noble was taking over the provision of medical services at Balmoral.  Michie and Noble later discussed the appointment.  “Dr. Noble called in the evening when we discussed his new addition to his medical practice viz the attendance of the Queens servants &c on the Estates of Balmoral, Abergeldie and Birkhall in which he agrees to keep an efficient assistant domiciled at Crathie.”  On the day of Alexander Profeit’s death, Queen Victoria wrote in her journal, “Heard the sad news of D^r Profeit's death. He had been ill for a long time & latterly there was no hope of recovery. He had been my Commissioner at Balmoral since 75 & resigned on account of his failing health.”  However, the Court Circular which announced his death still referred to him as the Commissioner, not the former Commissioner, at Balmoral.

Alexander Profeit nominally continued in post through to mid-December 1896, even though he wrote to the Parish Council telling its members that he did not wish to be considered for the role of chairman, on account of his health.  John Michie completed his accounts for 1896 and they were signed off by the Commissioner on 2 January 1897.  At that time, John Michie seemed unaware of Dr Profeit’s impending removal from post.  On 7 January Alexander Profeit was in bed and “indisposed” when John Michie called.  A week later, the Commissioner was said to be “much worse” and it was then known to both John Michie and to Profeit himself that the Queen was to dispense with his services, which he found upsetting.  Now in a weakened and impotent state, gossip about the Commissioner became rife in the district.  This, John Michie found contemptible.  “The district gossip calculates all manner of evil against Dr Profeit showing how cruel the lower public are - when a man, whom, in his ordinary standing they dare not point the finger of malignity at, is down they bespatter him with the foulest of mud.  What a fickle possession is popular favour!”

There was still no replacement for Dr Profeit in the offing and, in the meantime the running of the estate had to continue.  This vacuum was filled by Dr Profeit’s home-domiciled children, who had become used to substituting for their father over recent years.  It is not clear if any formal authority was given to the Profeit boys by the Queen’s courtiers at this juncture.  On Saturday 16 January, John Michie called at Craiggowan seeking cash to pay his workmen but was informed by Leopold Profeit that Mr Coutts the manager of the Town and County Bank branch in Ballater had refused to release cash without a signed cheque, which action their father was quite unable to perform.  Leopold promised money on the following Monday, though it was unclear how he would gain access to cash.  The money was not forthcoming by the following Tuesday when John Michie spoke to Alexander Profeit junior.  He proposed to write to Mr Walter Gibson of the Privy Purse Office in London and Michie urged him to take this course of action.  The money finally arrived on 29 January and was paid to John Michie by Leopold Profeit.

By 15 January, Alexander Profeit senior was seriously ill and was attended on Saturday, the following day, by Professor Ogston.  John Michie called at the house on Sunday and spoke to the Profeits’ housekeeper who relayed a sad state of affairs, “... the Dr refuses food, is unable to turn himself in bed, is quite childish &c”.  On Tuesday 19 January, John Michie conversed with Albert, Leopold and Victoria Profeit who thought their father slightly improved, but it was a false hope.  On leaving the house, Michie encountered Professor Ogston who gave a frank assessment of the situation.  “He said that the Dr was no better that his stomach, & liver was much out of order, and that it wd. not surprise him should the Dr become very ill.  "He is a strong man and averse to doing what he was desired but we got a nurse last night who would assert her authority while Professor Findlay was coming today to see him, to whom some other treatment of advantage might occur."  By the following day, Wednesday, Alexander Profeit’s family was resigned to his imminent death.  Various doctors were popping in and out but with no hope of making a significant impact on the Commissioner’s condition.  The only therapy at this late period seemed to be an hourly glass of champagne, which it was claimed was keeping him alive.  By this time, all the Profeit children were at home, except for Robert, who was on his way to Britain from Sulina, Rumania, but who did not reach Balmoral in time to see his father alive.  Dr Profeit lingered on for a few days, gradually declining until he died on the afternoon of Wednesday 27 January 1897.  He had been the Queen’s Commissioner on Royal Deeside for 22 years.

The day after Alexander Profeit’s death, John Michie went to Craiggowan, in company with his son Victor, to commiserate with the family and to view the doctor’s remains.  The journey was difficult due to deep drifts of snow and they travelled by sleigh, at one stage having to take to the fields to avoid wreaths (local term for snow drifts).  Dr Charles Profeit took John Michie to see the remains.  “Altho. only 18 hours dead the corpse was very much discoloured but the shape & form of the features not a bit altered.”  The younger Profeits were very distressed, particularly Erskine, then aged 18.  Their mother, Isabella, had died in June 1888 and they were now all orphans.  The family were clearly grateful for the Head Forester’s friendship and condolences.  When Robert Profeit arrived, the day after his father’s death, he set about organising the funeral, which was settled for Monday 1 February.

The appalling winter weather continued with more heavy snow.  Alexander Profeit junior commandeered four horses from Abergeldie and sent a snow plough down the South Deeside Road to Ballater and up the north side on Saturday 30 January.  He told John Michie’s men that he wanted this track to be repeated on Monday morning.  Alexander junior also gave an instruction to John Michie’s foreman to “cast some drifts” below Strath Girnoc.  In the circumstances, John Michie, whose home was located more than six miles away, was understanding of this assumption of his authority.  More snow fell on Saturday night and John Michie, with his son David, barely managed to return home from church at Crathie the following day, due to the strong winds and drifting.  Early on Monday morning the Commissioner’s body was moved from Craiggowan to the church and the funeral service started there at 1.30pm.  Remarkably, given the condition of the roads, many of the Royal tradesmen from Aberdeen managed to struggle through to Crathie, such was the status that Alexander Profeit senior had enjoyed.  Major Malcolm Drummond, Groom in Waiting to the Queen, represented her at the service and brought wreaths from the monarch and Princess Beatrice.  Despite the road conditions, about 200 people turned up for the funeral.  Lessons were read by Rev Middleton of Ballater, and a prayer was offered by Rev Gordon of Braemar (it was an interregnum at Crathie between the departure of Rev Campbell and the arrival of Rev Sibbald – see above).  The hymn “Now the labourer’s task is o’er” was sung and the service ended with the playing of the Dead March.  Relays of tenants and servants then carried the coffin to the churchyard, which lies about half a mile south of Crathie Kirk.  All Dr Profeit’s children were present, as were his brothers, John and the Rev. William.  Alexander Profeit was interred next to his late wife, Isabella.  After the funeral, Robert Profeit asked John Michie to come round to Craiggowan for lunch with their family, relations and friends, which he did.  The next day, John Michie called round to check on the Profeit children and was relieved to find them, “wonderfully well”.  John felt some responsibility for the welfare of the Profeit family and they looked on him as a friend to whom they could turn at times of need.  Soon afterwards, Bob Profeit promised to support John Michie “in any changes which may come about in consequence of his father's death”, though this could not have referred to the succession as commissioner, as James Forbes had already been chosen by this time (see below).  

Alexander Profeit grave

Almost every aspect of Dr Profeit’s life, official and private, at Balmoral or away from home territory, had involved eating substantial meals, which at agricultural events would always have been meat-heavy, accompanied by whisky, whisky and more uisge beatha.  It was a way of life which would now be considered to be unhealthy.  On the registration of Alexander Profeit’s death, the cause was given, by Alexander Ogston, as valvular heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver and kidneys of six months’ standing.  Dr Profeit’s health problems seem clearly to have been lifestyle related.  Although not an immediate cause of death, his mental capacity had also been deteriorating and that too should have been obvious to the Queen’s advisors who accompanied her to Scotland.  The whole episode of the progressive deterioration of Alexander Profeit’s health, certainly over three but likely more years, raises questions about the attention that the senior courtiers were paying to the Balmoral Estate.  Why was Alexander Profeit allowed to continue in post when it was clear he was struggling with serious ill-health, which must certainly have been known to the inner circle by July 1896?  Why was a plan involving the temporary hand-over of authority, possibly to John Michie or to James Anderson, not hatched earlier to achieve a smooth transition of control?  Even without such a plan, why was action not taken to give some immediate authority to one of the Profeit boys, so that the essential financial functions of the Estate could be maintained?  It was not until after the death of the Commissioner that there was evidence that such a move was made.  On 11 February 1897, John Michie gave his monthly accounts to George Profeit (aged 22), who told him that “he has been asked to carry on his father's (late) work in the meantime”, but by whom was not stated.  Sir Fleetwood Edwards was certainly sending telegrams to the Profeit boys about this time.  However, the money had not arrived by 22 March and the men remained unpaid.  This was clearly not the finest hour for Queen Victoria’s courtiers.

With the death of their father, the younger Profeit offspring (plus Robert who was still on leave before returning to Rumania.  Charles was working away from home.) had two immediate accommodation problems.  They would have to give up Craiggowan House and they would have to vacate Dorsincilly and Knocks farms.  John Michie saw Alexander Profeit junior, the farmer, on 16 February 1897, who told him that Dorsincilly would be vacated “as soon as he can get clear”.  On 11 March John Michie again dined at Craiggowan with the Profeits (minus George Profeit who was away at Edinburgh University taking examinations), when he was told that the house would be vacated “within a fortnight”.  Shortly before leaving for Rumania, Robert Profeit wanted to attach labels to two trees that the family had planted in the garden of Craiggowan and asked for John Michie’s help.  His father had planted one tree in 1875, which was slightly curious since the house, which was designed by George Shae Aitken, was not completed until 1877.  Robert had planted the other tree in 1880.  He departed for London on 6 April, leaving only George Profeit at Craiggowan.  The farms of Dorsincilly and Knocks having been vacated.  George Profeit then moved to a house in Ballater, which would become a base for the family for a while and John Michie gave him some advice on manging the small area of attached land.  In mid-May, the Profeits held a displenish sale over two days at Dorsincilly farm.  There appeared to be little warmth towards the departing Profeits from the local community, as John Michie recorded in his diary.  “The Profeits complain that the Crathie have done little to help their sale which I must admit is correct.  Most of them would have disjointed their noses to serve the old Doctor when he was in power so late as a few months ago & now many of them will not make one track to help his family by even purchasing an article at their sale.  Such is the spurious nature of the blood running in the veins of the most of mankind.”  James Forbes, the new Commissioner was now in post (see below) and John Michie took him to the sale.  “Picked up Mr Forbes at Craig Gowan and proceeded to Birkhall & Dorsincilly sale where met the farmer people from far & near.  Farm & other implements went very dear also some of the horses especially 2 work mares from Knocks £50 & £55.  I bought a three-year-old colt for £28.”  The conclusion of the sale brought the end of the era for the Profeit family at Balmoral but as will be seen, they later made an interesting and controversial return to Royal affairs after the end of Queen Victoria’s reign.

 

Donald Stewart (1826 – 1909) and his interactions with John Michie

Donald Stewart, like his father before him, was born on the farm of Bualtchach on the Abergeldie Estate in 1826 and twenty years later he entered the service of Sir Robert Gordon as a stable-helper and assistant keeper.  When the Queen and the Prince Consort came to Deeside in 1848, Donald was engaged as under-forester (under-keeper) and assistant to head keeper, John Grant.  Donald Stewart’s particular responsibility was to manage the deer hounds, which were used to track injured animals on the hill.  He was one of the ghillies who particularly came to the notice of the monarch and her spouse through his hard work and dedication.  Donald Stewart remained in this role until 1875, when John Grant retired, and the understudy took over as head keeper.  By this time Donald, his wife. Margaret, and children had become particular favourites of the Royal Family, with the Queen developing a habit of visiting the Stewart home frequently to give presents, take tea and eat scones and jam.  Donald Stewart’s Royal service extended throughout Queen Victoria’s reign and at its end, he was the only servant who had been recruited in 1848 who was still working for the monarch.  The Royal family and the senior courtiers particularly valued dedication, loyalty and long service and thus Donald progressively assumed a position on the Balmoral estates of revered senior retainer, who was treated with great consideration and, on ceremonial occasions towards the end of the Queen’s life, was given a prominent public role, for example when the Czar and the Czarina visited in 1896 and when the Queen arrived at her Highland home at the end of May 1899.  This situation continued into the reign of Edward VII, who was also fond of this long-serving ghillie.  A detained account of the Stewart family’s interactions with the monarch will be found in “Queen Victoria and her favourite Scottish Servants” on this blogsite. 

Victoria, Donald and Margaret Stewart

When John Michie arrived at Balmoral in 1880 as Wood Forester, he would quickly have appreciated the powerful position that the Head Keeper, then aged 54 and with 32 years of Royal service behind him, occupied.  John Michie was an agreeable person who generally created good interpersonal relationships.  His diary entries indicate that the two men rubbed along well, at least in the early years of their joint service on Deeside. On several occasions, John Michie supplied timber to Donald Stewart for repairs to sheds at his house, Crofts.  Socially, they occasionally fished together, practised rifle shooting or hunted for roe deer.  Sometimes John Michie would direct men from his wood squad to help Donald Stewart by acting as beaters on roe drives.  The wives of the two men were also on good terms and John Michie recorded a number of occasions on which visits were made to the Crofts to take tea, for example, in March 1885 he wrote, “Took Mrs down and met her in evening at Donald Stewart's where we had tea”.

The Head Keeper and his wife had a family of six, born between 1854 and 1868 but the fates of four of these children constituted a string of tragedies.  The eldest, Mary and the youngest, Victoria were the only ones to achieve what in those days would have been considered a normal life span, dying aged 68 and 72 respectively.  Of the others, Charles died aged 20 of a brain haemorrhage in 1876, while a student at Aberdeen University, Lizzie died at home of tuberculosis in 1904 and Helena died of scarlet fever and meningitis aged 45 in 1909.  The remaining son, Albert was described in the 1881 Census as being a taxidermist, in the common parlance of Upper Deeside, a “stuffer”.  He was probably making a living by mounting the heads of game shot on the Balmoral Estate by wealthy visitors, who wanted to take home a trophy from their sojourn on the Royal property.  Albert followed pursuits which were unexceptional for a young man on Deeside, for example being a member of the I Company, 5^th Volunteer Brigade, Gordon Highlanders.  He appeared to have been well-built since he was also a prize winner at heavy events in local Highland games competitions such as putting the stone and throwing the hammer.  In April 1887 he got a local girl, Catherine Pringle pregnant and eventually married her the following December, again, a not unusual occurrence at the time.

But tensions started to creep into the relationship between Wood Forester and Head Keeper.  One contentious matter, which dragged on for years, related to John Michie’s desire to kill down rabbits damaging young trees and his need to shoot roe deer which managed to gain entry to protected plantations.  Donald Stewart, possibly backed covertly by some male members of the Royal Family, who were keen shooters, and the Commissioner were at least ambivalent on this issue of pest control.  In February 1892, John Michie recorded his suspicions in his diary.  “Rabbits continue to damage young trees.  The gamekeepers have been killing them for some time back, but as is generally the case, their depredations were well advanced before start was made, now Donald Stewart, the head gamekeeper admits that damage has been done, as he says, "in spite of fate" I say from negligence on his part.”  This matter has been discussed in detail above.

The second issue which brought stress to the relationship was the employment of Albert Stewart, at the time the only surviving son of Donald and Margaret, who had probably been named “Albert” after the Prince Consort at the insistence of Her Majesty.  It was not unusual for the children of favoured servants to be taken into Royal service, either on Deeside or at other Royal residences.  At the beginning of 1886, Albert Stewart, then aged 26, was given the job of foreman of John Michie’s squad of workmen at Birkhall, apparently without reference to Michie himself.  He wrote, “Took Albert Stewart, son of the head keeper, noted is now appointed to be my foreman at Birkhall so far as keeping the workmen's time and seeing that nothing goes out of gear is concerned as for taking a practical leading part in the work, he cannot, not having been accustomed to it.”  John Michie thought this was an inappropriate appointment, perhaps made to please his father.  John soon had evidence that the appointment of Albert Stewart had not been beneficial from a work point of view.  On 13 February he wrote, “… Albert Stewart was too much fagged after the Ball at Braemar last night to proceed to Birkhall”.  The following month, when Michie was visiting his squad at Birkhall of which Albert Stewart was the foreman, he  “Found Albert Stewart had gone to a shooting at Ballater or Monaltrie House”.  Had Albert not been a scion of the Head Keeper, he would likely have been fired but his familial link protected him from such a fate.  In August of the same year, Albert again absented himself from work to attend a shooting party at Glenmuick House.

Albert Stewart must have been aware of John Michie’s unhappiness with his performance and sought to strike back at the Wood Forester.  On 29 November 1886, John Michie recorded, “Albert Stewart came up making some indefinite charges about false reports having been given Dr Profeit as to his proceedings at Birkhall under me.”  Possibly, Michie had been reporting unfavourably on Albert’s performance to the Commissioner?  John Michie’s diaries for 1887 – 1889 are unavailable, so it has not been possible to track John Michie’s side of the evolving confrontation in this interval. 

Albert Stewart died suddenly in November 1889 at The Croft, the house of his parents.  The cause of death, certified by James Noble, MD, was given as “alcoholism 1 month, exhaustion and uraemic coma 2 days”.  Uraemic coma is a consequence of kidney failure, which in turn, is often caused by alcoholism.  Albert must have been a heavy drinker to die in this way at such a young age.  His death would have been a heavy blow to Donald Stewart and his wife, being the demise of their only surviving son.  Is it possible that Albert had been indulged by doting parents during his brief life?  To add to the tragedy, Albert’s wife was pregnant at the time of his death and gave birth to a son named, almost inevitably, “Albert Donald”, in April 1990.  The birth registrations of both the children of Albert and Catherine Stewart give the calling of the father as “Under Forester”, the term usually used to describe the next most senior keeper below the Head Keeper.  It seems likely that Albert Stewart was moved from his role as foreman of John Michie’s Birkhall gang to being his father’s understudy before January 1888, though on his death registration he was described as “Overseer of Labourers”.  A move to become under keeper would be strong evidence for the powerful influence that Donald Stewart wielded at Balmoral.  If Albert Stewart was ill-equipped to be foreman of John Michie’s gang, he was equally unqualified to be his father’s deputy.

It has not been possible to continue tracking the progress of John Michie’s interactions with Donald Stewart until 1890, for which year, the Michie diary is available.  In March, at least the wives of the men appeared to be on good terms.  “Loaded my wife at Donald Stewart's …”, and in January of the following year, “Drove up to Invergelder and Mrs M & I had tea at the Crofts with Donald Stewart his wife & daughter”.  But it did not take long for other contentious matters to appear.  In September of 1891, John Michie reported a failure of Donald Stewart to consult with him over a staffing issue.  “Had some conversation with Dr Profeit and Donald Stewart over a man to fill James McGregor's place as a ghillie who was discharged at the instance of the former for getting helplessly drunk on Thursday.  Donald, without having informed me set his choice on R Esson, one of my men, whom I had previously engaged to go to Abergeldie created a difficulty.  Dr Profeit however decided that the engagement previously made should be adhered to.”  This point of tension was followed in mid-October 1891 by a rather cryptic but alarming report from John Michie, “Down to the Castle.  DS attacked me.  Saw Commissioner on the subject.”  Was this a physical or a verbal attack?  Whichever, the relationship between the two men was clearly at a low ebb at that time. 

There were other reports, too, which perhaps hinted that while Margaret Stewart was friendly towards the Michies. Her husband was not of the same mind.  On 21 October 1892, the Michies’ youngest child, a daughter, was baptised “Alexandrina”. The guests present were, “Revd. Mr & Mrs Campbell; Mr & Mrs Hugh Brown; Mrs Donald Stewart, the Crofts; Mr & Mrs John Thomson, Garmaddie; Mrs McLaren, Clagganghual; Mr John McKenzie, the Lodge at Old Bridge, as well as Mrs M, myself, the servants (Annabella Duthie & Sarah Thomson) and all the other 6 children except John who bolted as the ceremony commenced.”  Was it significant that Margaret Stewart was present at this intimate family moment for the Michies, but Donald Stewart was elsewhere?

As had happened before, small difficulties in the relationship between John Michie and Donald Stewart appeared to blow over.  One day after church in late December 1893, the Stewarts invited the Michies back to lunch at the Crofts.  The few references to Donald Stewart in 1894 and early 1895 suggest that calm was being maintained.  But then the contentious issue of rabbit damage again reared its head.  On 27 February 1895, Michie and Stewart had a tense exchange concerning the rampant coneys.  “Met Donald Stewart the head keeper who instead of showing to me disappointment over damage done to trees by rabbits found fault with my having put on men to kill them which I consider an insult, as he had instructions to have them killed last November which he neglected.  I have made up my mind to petition the Queen to give me control of them knowing as I do that it is Her Majesty's express wish that they be killed down to the vanishing point for the protection of young trees and other plants.”  This was yet another example of a problem not confronted being unlikely to dissipate spontaneously.  Meanwhile the two wives continued to visit each other.  On one occasion in 1896, John Michie joined Helen at the Crofts.

Open warfare broke out between the two men in 1897, this time over a serious accusation of impropriety.  On 27 February, John Michie received a rather peremptory message from the Head Keeper, delivered not in person or by letter but through his underling, Charles McIntosh, the Ballochbuie keeper who lived close to the Dantzig Shiel.  “Received a message from Donald Stewart through Charles McIntosh not to fish meantime except on Saturdays, which I do not mean to comply with & also that two salmon boxes had been seen leaving by Post Car from me, which is without foundation.  D Stewart's message had it that these boxes were seen by Mr Leopold Profeit and Reid the Balmoral policeman.”  The implication was that John Michie was taking salmon from the Dee for sale.  The message had been delivered on Saturday, 27 February and the following Monday John sought out Donald Stewart, presumably to refute the implications of his message, but he did not find him at home.  The next day he caught up with the Head Keeper near his house.  “Saw Donald Stewart at the boat pool after having called at his house and informed him that I would fish as before and threatened to raise an action against him for defamation of character”.  This latest falling out would not easily or quickly be overcome or forgotten.

John Michie was now very angry at the slurs cast at his character and he pursued his investigation of the basis of the accusations which had been made.  “Went to Balmoral and having seen Chas. McIntosh regarding the message Donald Stewart gave him for me, Charles now says that John Thomson told him of the salmon box story which D Stewart denies, after I have found from both Mr Leopold Profeit & Reid that they saw nothing of the kind & could not have done as they had not seen the Post passing down for months.”  The factual basis of the accusations was starting to unravel.  Leopold Profeit too was unhappy and he, with John Michie, confronted Donald Stewart on 19 March.  “Met Leopold Profeit there who had a call from Donald Stewart in answer to a letter charging Stewart for defaming him.  The result of Stewart having sent a message to me by McIntosh that Leopold had seen two fish boxes in transit from me by Post Car, which was not the case, and is just a trumped-up lie.  I went with Leopold at his wish to Stewart's, but nothing was arrived at now we have demanded McIntosh's presence at 10 am tomorrow.”  The following day the conflagration reached its peak.  “met Mr Leopold Profeit at Donald Stewart's, McIntosh having been there before.  Had some unpleasant argument in which Stewart and McIntosh denied their words.  Instead of clearing up the matter it became more complicated and I left in disgust, Leopold following, convinced that they would perjure themselves anywhere as they had done then.”

There the matter seemed to lie, without resolution.  The accusation had not been withdrawn by Donald Stewart, but he was not sufficiently confident of his position to complain to a higher authority.  Simmering hostility prevailed.  When the two men were present at the same rifle competition in early August 1897, words were apparently not spoken but John Michie was, “Very much disgusted with the insolent bearing of Donald Stewart and McKenzie his son-in-law”.  Although John Michie and Donald Stewart would later appear to repair their relationship, Donald Stewart harboured a dark secret, which has only recently come to light.  It will be revealed in the second part of this biography of John Michie.

 

James Forbes, the third Balmoral Commissioner

By the middle of November 1896, Queen Victoria knew that Alexander Profeit, her second Balmoral Commissioner, was seriously ill and would have to be replaced and she sought the advice of the Duke of Richmond about a successor.  At the start of 1897, John Michie was unaware that Dr Profeit was about to be displaced but, by the middle of February, the position had been offered to Mr James Forbes and he had accepted it.  The Queen met her third Balmoral Commissioner for the first time on the 19^th of the month.  She thought he seemed “a sensible nice man”.  It is unclear if John Michie aspired to succeed Dr Profeit as the Balmoral Commissioner at that juncture.  He gave no hint of such hopes of personal advancement in his diary.  Perhaps he was so preoccupied in dealing with Dr Profeit’s deficiencies that he did not see the regime change coming until it was too late to express an interest in the role? 

At the time of his appointment as Queen’s Commissioner at Balmoral, James Forbes was 34.  He had been born in 1862 in Edinburgh, the son of a farmer and coach proprietor.  James entered estate management before 1881, firstly as an apprentice estate clerk and, from 1882, as assistant chamberlain, under Mr John Dickson, to the Duke of Buccleugh on his estate at Thornhill, Dumfriesshire.  James Forbes served in that capacity for 13 years.  At that time, he was also active in the local community being a member of the School Board, a member of the District Committee of the county and a captain in the Volunteers.  In 1895 he was appointed factor on the substantial estate of Mr Charles Morrison on Islay.  In addition to his estate duties, he became a Commissioner of Supply, a Commissioner of Income Tax, a Justice of the Peace, a County Councillor, the Chairman of the Islay District Committee and Captain of Uisguintuie Golf Club.  In 1887, James Forbes married Barbara Jackson, a local girl, in Annan, Dumfriesshire.  When James and Barbara Forbes arrived on Deeside, they had a family of three, two boys and a girl.  They followed the Profeit family in occupying Craiggowan House.  James Forbes was clearly well qualified for the Balmoral position.

John Michie first met with the new commissioner on 18 March 1897, when Sir Fleetwood Edwards, Keeper of the Privy Purse, with James Forbes in tow, visited Balmoral.  John’s reaction to his new boss was highly positive.  “He is an open-faced handsome man with an agreeable easy manner.  I met him by chance while he strolled about prior to Sir Fleetwood's arrival when we mutually introduced and met Sir F on his arrival at the tower door.”  In the middle of April, an election for the Crathie and Braemar School Board was due.  It must have seemed to John Michie that the new commissioner should be a member of that body and he wrote to Forbes asking him to allow his name to go forward.  Forbes agreed but asked Michie to make sure that the nomination form was correctly completed.  Nine candidates were vying for five places.  The result was that both John Michie and James Forbes were elected, a remarkable result given that James Forbes was almost unknown in the wider parish, except, of course, that the electorate was well aware of the clout he carried as Balmoral Commissioner.  John Michie then conspired with Cannon Paul, the Roman Catholic priest at Braemar, to have James Forbes nominated for the role of chairman of the School Board and this manoeuvre was successful. 

On his next visit to the Royal estates, the Michies invited James Forbes to take lunch at the Dantzig Shiel, which he did.  At the time he was lodging at the Inver Inn but soon afterwards he moved into Craiggowan House.  Sunday 18 April 1897 saw Forbes attend Crathie Church for the first time, John Michie accompanying him and showing him to his seat.  That afternoon, James Forbes walked to John Michie’s house and John Michie drove the Commissioner home at the end of his visit.  Mrs Barbara Forbes appeared at Crathie Church for the first time on 2 May.  The Queen first met her later the same month, when she described Barbara Forbes as “a nice, pretty, young woman”.  The following week John Michie accompanied the Forbeses from Craiggowan to the church. There is no doubt that John Michie was seeking to establish a good relationship with James Forbes by easing his entry into life on Upper Deeside.  The strategy continued with a trip to Alltnaguibhsaich and Glasallt organised by John Michie with both James and Barbara Forbes in attendance.  Perhaps John Michie would have pointed out Queen Victoria’s favourite remote cottages to the newcomers?  (See “Queen Victoria: Death and her Wild Abodes on the Balmoral Estates” on this blogsite.)

John Michie continued to make himself available to the new Commissioner so that he could familiarise himself with the many geographically dispersed parts of the three Royal estates. For example, he took the new commissioner to the displenish sale held by the Profeits at Dorsincilly, “where met the farmer people from far & near”.  Victor Michie, then aged 15, took the two Forbes boys, Bruce (9) and Donald (4), fishing with his siblings. In mid-May 1897 James Forbes was able to return a favour, informing John Michie that his application for an increase in salary had been successful.  There was no sign of disappointment in John Michie’s behaviour towards the new commissioner. 

The 22 June 1897 was Jubilee Commemoration Day.  James Forbes left for the celebrations in London on 18 June and appears to have, in effect, left John Michie to act in his absence.  The local celebrations on Upper Deeside included a children’s picnic held at Inver and organised by Mr Farquharson of Invercauld and a workman’s dinner, paid for by the Queen, which was held in the Servants’ Hall at Balmoral.  John Michie was in charge of the arrangements, the meal being catered by Mr James Hay of the Aberdeen Athenaeum, a well-known hotelier of some culinary distinction.  To support the chairman on the evening, John Michie appointed John Reid, the Castle Upholsterer and John Thomson, the Roadman as his croupiers.  The Head Keeper was not asked to help!  Rev Sibbald sat on Michie’s right and John Troup, Head Gardener on his left.  Bonfires had been built on three local hills, Craig Gowan, Craiglourighan and the Coyles of Muick.  The dinner extended from 6.30pm to 9.30pm during which time, the Chairman proposed toasts to the Queen and then to the Prince and Princess of Wales, with other members of the Royal Family.  His proposal for the Queen’s health ended as follows.  “I am sure your hearts are filled with every genuine wish that the Queen might be spared to see many happy days, that her reign might be much longer.  It has already been the longest, the wisest, the most prosperous and the best”.  There followed a dance in the courtyard and at 10.00pm a procession, headed by a piper, started for Craiggowan.  The bonfires were lit at 10.30, in time for the arrival of the revellers on the summit of the nearby hill.  John Michie had earlier ordered 10 gallons of whisky for the celebration around the bonfire on Craiggowan.  This was roughly enough for 400 shots, in modern parlance.  According to the Aberdeen Journal, “… the Queen’s health was drunk with great enthusiasm”.

Once James Forbes had returned from London, there was another event to organise, a ball and supper for estate tenants, neighbours and Royal tradesmen, to be held on Friday 23 July 1897.  The previous day, Forbes and Michie met to discuss the arrangements.  James Forbes read his draft speech, proposing a toast to the Queen, to John Michie, who made one suggestion for change.  Mr Sibbald was asked to introduce the toast to the Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the Royal Family.  John Michie also suggested to Mr Forbes that a reference should be made to him personally, which earned Michie the job of fulfilling that proposition.  John Michie was also tasked with engaging a piper for the occasion and he found his man in the person of Mr McIntosh, who was employed at Mar Lodge by the Duke of Fife.  During Friday morning John Michie supervised the completion of the arrangements for the ball, which was being held in a large, floored marquee in the courtyard of the castle.  The event, which catered for 294 guests, was a great success and John Michie’s contribution was praised in the Aberdeen Journal, whose reporter had been present.  “The excellent impression which Mr Forbes has already made on all sides was clearly demonstrated by the very admirable speech of Mr Michie, who showed that the encomiums so heartily bestowed on Mr Forbes in the west of Scotland have already been earned on Upper Deeside.”  Over the first few months of the new regime at Balmoral, James Forbes and John Michie had struck up a good understanding, with Michie now being looked upon as the person who was expected to act in place of the Commissioner when he was absent.

Because of John Michie’s long association with the Royal estates on Deeside, James Forbes often used him as a source of information about how events had been conducted in the past.  One such ritual was drinking to the memory of the late Prince Consort each 26 August, which had been his birthday.  Balmoral workmen were required to troop to the top of Craiggowan and stand around the obelisk commemorating the Prince, whilst drinking whisky.  John Michie had attended this event many times.  In 1897 for the first time, it fell to James Forbes to lead the ceremony and propose the toasts and he sought John Michie’s advice beforehand.  Forbes then followed the pattern set by his predecessor, toasting first the memory of the Prince and then the health of the Queen.  James Forbes clearly recognised John Michie’s expertise and started to give him a free hand in deciding how to tackle repairs around the estate, for example to roads, bridges and bulwarks.  Michie introduced Macademized road surfaces to the Balmoral estate in 1897, which involved using a binding material to hold together crushed, compacted, small, angular stones.

The wives of the Commissioner and of the Head Forester, Barbara Forbes and Helen Michie, visited each other from time to time and appeared to have a good relationship, as was the case with their husbands.  Usually, their meetings seemed to have only a social aspect but, in mid-November 1897, there was an important and delicate issue to discuss.  Queen Victoria had probably first observed spinning when she visited John Brown’s mother at the Brown family farm, The Bush.  Subsequently, the monarch took up spinning as a hobby but felt that it was important to keep this old craft alive.  She encouraged the wives of her servants to take up the practice, but the wives had other views, believing that “the time for home spinning is gone for ever”.  However, spinning classes continued at Balmoral, in spite of their unpopularity with the senior wives.  No one dared to go against Her Majesty’s views!  

Two occurrences during James Forbes’ tenure suggested that he may have been warned of the status of Donald Stewart with Queen Victoria and her eldest son, and of the need to keep Stewart onside.  Forbes may also have been made aware of the past disagreements between the Head Wood Forester and the Head Keeper.  The year 1897 marked 60 years since the monarch ascended to the throne and a meeting of the tenants and servants on the three Royal estates was held to discuss what actions should be taken to celebrate this signal event.  It had been hinted from a source close to the Queen that reading rooms for the use of Crathie residents and an illuminated address would be acceptable.  (The celebratory offerings in the end turned out to be the illuminated address, a fountain at Abergeldie and a window in Crathie Church).  A committee was formed to implement celebratory ideas, with two representatives for Abergeldie, the same number from Birkhall, but with three chosen from Balmoral, James Forbes, Ramsay Sibbald, the new minister and Donald Stewart.  It seems that the revered Head Keeper, who was chosen by Mr Forbes, was there not because he was active in local good works (he wasn’t) but because of his age and length of service to the monarch.  There was thus no room for John Michie who, on ability and civic involvement, would have been the obvious choice.  Donald Stewart also attended the presentation of the address to the monarch in the following September.  There was a similar outcome engineered by James Forbes in 1901 after the death of Queen Victoria, when a committee was created to formulate ideas for a memorial to the late monarch.  Donald Stewart was again included but John Michie was passed over.

Barbara Forbes’ services were called on in May 1898 to inaugurate the fountain celebrating the diamond jubilee of the Queen, the structure was manufactured from a variety of different coloured granites and installed at the roadside near Abergeldie.  The fountain was served by a nearby spring and bringing it into use involved the Commissioner’s wife simply turning on a tap.  It was inscribed, “1837 – VRI – 1897 / Erected / By the / Tenants and Servants / On the estates of / Balmoral, Abergeldie and Birkhall / To commemorate the 60^th Year of the Reign of / Queen Victoria”.  James Forbes then gave a speech in which he acknowledged the role of John Michie in landscaping the fountain’s surrounds and he brought the proceedings to a close in the following manner.  “I have been asked to call upon you to give a hearty vote of thanks to the committee who have had charge of our jubilee rejoicings and who have carried them out so well.  (Cheers).  The committee have brought their work to a satisfactory conclusion so far as the fountain is concerned and I have no doubt that their labours in connection with the window will be as successful.  (Cheers).  With regard to the fountain, I hope it will give a perennial supply of water in times of winter frost and summer suns and tell to ages to come of the loyalty and devotion of a contented tenantry and faithful servants to their beloved sovereign.  (Cheers).”  The relationship between Commissioner and Head Wood Forester continued to function smoothly.

But the Head Keeper and the Head Forester could not for ever be kept apart.  The year 1899 was another annus mirabilis for Queen Victoria, having been born on 24 May 1819, she reached 80 years of age.  At the end of May, her arrival at Balmoral was an occasion for a special show of loyalty and devotion by tenants, servants and courtiers, of course with a Highland flavour, which received extensive coverage in the Aberdeen Journal.  “At Balmoral a large number of the tenantry and their families were waiting to greet the Queen.  They gathered in the square opposite the lodge near Balmoral bridge.  Mr and Mrs Forbes were present and there was a large turnout of the Balmoral Highlanders in kilt and bonnet and carrying their Lochaber axes.  Also present were pipers John and William Campbell and John Michie as standard bearer.  The Queen’s carriage stopped in front of the lodge and Mr Forbes stepped forward to welcome HM.  Forbes: “May it please Your Majesty, in the name of Your Majesty’s tenants and servants at Balmoral, I humbly beg to offer you their welcome on your return to your Highland home – a welcome which has grown ever the more enthusiastic as the years have rolled by.  Words fail to utter all we feel.  We can only say – God bless you and again God bless you.”  The Queen responded to the formal welcome and the loud cheers of the crowd.  “I thank you very much for the hearty welcome, and I am pleased to be amongst you again in my Highland home.”  The carriage then proceeded up the avenue to the castle, the Balmoral Highlanders walking on either side with the piper and the standard bearer (John Michie) walking in front.  Mr Forbes was on the immediate right of the carriage and Mr Donald Stewart head stalker on the left. If there was any froideur between Head Stalker and Head Forester, it was probably invisible to the loyal and enthusiastic crowd.

In mid-June 1897, Barbara Forbes became pregnant with her fourth child.  The boy was born at Craiggowan in April 1898.  His birth was initially registered under the name “James”, after his father but then this registration was altered to “Albert Victor”.  This change required the authority both of the Sheriff and the Rev Sibbald and can only have happened due to the intervention of Queen Victoria, the new given names being those of her dead consort and the masculine version of her own first given name.  A similar demand by Queen Victoria was made of John and Helen Michie when their daughter Beatrice was born in 1883.  Her name was initially registered as “Margaret Shiach” but changed by command of the monarch.  Queen Victoria’s practice of commanding the naming of servants’ children seems to have been remarkably frequent.  (See “Queen Victoria and her favourite Scottish Servants” on this blogsite).  There was a further, tragic parallel between the lives of these two children.  Both died prematurely, Albert Victor Forbes of measles and croup in 1910 and Beatrice Michie of a thyroid tumour in 1905.

As his predecessor Dr Profeit had done, James Forbes arranged a roe hunt for early January 1901.  The attendees, in addition to the Commissioner, were the keepers, Dr Corbett and John Michie, who was “disappointed” to find that Alexander Ogston, though he had intended to be there, could not come.  The bag was rather sparse though James Forbes, Robert Lundie and John Michie each got a roe.  A further drive for hinds was held two days later, which included Donald Stewart.  On this occasion Dr Corbett downed one hind and Michie got two animals.  Another New Year task was the approval of John Michie’s annual accounts, and this was achieved in the relaxed circumstances of supper together for the two families at Craiggowan on 19 January.  After the meal, “had my book for 1900 audited by Mr F. satisfactorily”.  But this new year, 1901, was to see dramatic changes in the lives and careers of the two men and a shock both to the denizens on the Balmoral Estate and to the country at large.

 

James Forbes demits office

Queen Victoria’s death and funeral profoundly affected the senior servants at Balmoral, as has been detailed above.  But once back at Balmoral, the funeral participants soon returned to the routine of life on the Royal estates.  John Michie had School Board business to execute, bad weather to contend with, forest and sawmill operations to supervise, men to be paid, bills to be settled.  The relationship with Donald Stewart seemed to be back, at least superficially, on a civilised footing too.  In early April 1901, the old man and his daughter, Helena, called on the Michies while travelling home from Braemar.

John Michie’s relationship with James Forbes remained strong, both on the work and social fronts.  Typical examples of shared leisure occurred on Saturday 27 April 1901.  “In the afternoon Mr & Mrs Forbes with their friends Mr & Mrs Yule and Mrs Forbes' brother Mr McIntosh Jackson recently home from South Africa where he has been as a member of the Imperial Yeomanry, came up on Mrs Michie's invitation when we had several foursomes at golf and a hand of whist in the evening.” And on Saturday 18 May – “Played a game of golf with Messrs Forbes, Dadge & Ottewell and dined at Craig-gowan in the evening.” 

Sometime near the beginning of July 1901, James Forbes told John Michie privately that he was moving on to a new position.  It is likely that Michie was also told that Forbes was going to be factor at the Duke of Atholl’s estates and, more significantly, that he was recommending John Michie as his successor.  Unlike at the time of Dr Profeit demitting office, John Michie immediately made clear to Sir Dighton Probyn, Keeper of the Privy Purse, that he wanted to be considered for the post of Commissioner.  On 17 July, when he attended the Highland and Agricultural Show in Inverness, he had a conversation with Mr Campbell the factor at Cullen House, who told him that James Forbes was leaving and going to Blair Atholl, “the first I have heard of this outside a very narrow circle”.  At that date there had been no public announcement of the impending change.  On Sunday 21 July, instead of going to church, John Michie met with James Forbes at Craiggowan, “with whom went over a good deal of ground preparatory to his leaving for London today (Monday 22 July when the diary entry was written).”   The following Thursday, John Michie received a “private letter” from James Forbes who was staying at the Grand Hotel, London.  Michie was remarkably coy about the contents of the letter but did reveal that James Forbes had met the King on Tuesday.  It is likely that Forbes had then asked the King’s permission to resign his position.  Did he also put forward John Michie’s candidature as his successor?

A public announcement was made on Tuesday 30 July that King Edward VII had indeed accepted the resignation of James Forbes from the commissionership at Balmoral and that Forbes had been appointed as commissioner for the Duke of Atholl’s estates in Perthshire.  John Michie spotted the announcement in that day’s Aberdeen evening papers.  James Forbes was taking over from John Robertson who had been factor on the Blair Atholl estates for the past 38 years.  At their maximum size, the Blair Atholl estates covered 350,000 acres, much of the estate consisting of mountains and moors, though the Duke’s land was geographically fragmented, unlike the Deeside estates.  If James Forbes was looking for a new challenge, he had surely found it at Blair Atholl.  Long before he took up his new post, arrangements were being put in place for the role he was expected to play in Perthshire society.  In the middle of October his predecessor at Blair Atholl, John Robertson, a Vice-President at the Blair Division of the Dunkeld Curling Club took the chair at the AGM, intimated his resignation and proposed James Forbes as his replacement.  This was “unanimously agreed to”.  On 20 November 1901, the Perthshire Advertiser reported on a Unionist gathering at Struan, where office-bearers were elected for the coming year.  John Robertson, Old Blair, became an Honorary Vice-President and “The new Commissioner to His Grace the Duke of Atholl was proposed and unanimously elected to a Vice Presidentship”, even though the newspaper appeared not to know his name!  The factor of one of the most important estates in Scotland carried a lot of prestige and influence.  James Forbes’ occupancy of the factorship at Blair Atholl appeared to proceed according to plan in the first few years after leaving Balmoral.  In addition to his substantial estate duties, James, as expected, became very active in civic and community affairs becoming a member of the Dunkeld School Board, a JP, Chairman of the Logierait Combination Poorhouse and a Commissioner of Supply for Perthshire.  He was also active in party political circles on behalf of the Conservative Party and a keen participant in golf, curling and local agricultural shows.  But curiously, he left the role of Factor to the Duke of Atholl in 1910 to return to the position he had previously held as factor to Mr Charles Morrison on Islay, a much lesser position than the office he demitted.  No explanation has been found for this surprising move, though James Forbes seemed to leave Blair Atholl on good terms with his ex-employer.  James Forbes died on Islay, of cancer of the rectum, at the relatively young age of 56, in 1919.

There was little speculation in the newspapers about the identity of the successor to James Forbes at Balmoral, apart from in “Truth”, an organ dedicated to gossip and speculation, which merely noted that the King was looking for a new man to fill the Balmoral post.  The first indication that anything was afoot was the premature arrival of Sir Dighton Probyn at Birkhall from the south on 16 August.  “Mr. Forbes having met him called for me on his way to Braemar with the message that he & Sir Dighton had arranged that the latter receive me at Birkhall tomorrow forenoon. On his way back from Braemar Mr. Forbes had tea, Mrs. F &c having come earlier, and played a game of golf when we discussed my meeting with Sir D.M.P. tomorrow.”  On the morrow, Sir Dighton did not beat about the bush.  “Was officially informed by Sir D.M.Probyn G.C.V.O.&c &c. Keeper of H.M. Privy Purse that the King had been graciously pleased to appoint me successor to James Forbes Esquire M.V.O. Commissioner at Balmoral. My title to be Factor instead of Commissioner.  Sir D. to get the matter announced in the Aberdeen papers on Monday through Mr Forbes who he was to call for him on his way up to the Danzig to see me &c.  Sir D. reached the Danzig in steady rain accompanied by his niece, was very kind, had tea and returned.”  John Michie must have been extremely pleased with this elevation, perhaps so chuffed that he did not reflect upon the change of title from commissioner to factor.  What did the change signify?  Was it a downgrading of the status of the job?  Some estates used the term “factor and commissioner” for the estate manager, perhaps implying that there was a difference between the two terms?  Dictionary definitions do not help, as both words seem to imply someone who is in charge of a department or property.  Subsequent events did not clarify the situation, for John Michie’s role appeared to be identical to that of his predecessor.  The announcement of John Michie’s appointment reached the Scottish evening papers on 19 August, almost exactly 21 years since his arrival on Deeside and the news was repeated in the subsequent dailies.  About 100 letters and wires of congratulation were quickly received at the Dantzig Shiel, perhaps reflecting both the popularity of the appointment and the significant authority soon to be exercised by the new holder.  John Michie found the magnitude of this response “very gratifying”.  At that stage, no formal handover date had been agreed but it was expected to be “towards the end of the year”.

Despite the euphoria he must have been experiencing, John Michie, together with Commissioner Forbes, had important business to pursue.  King Edward and Queen Alexandra were due to pay their first visit to Balmoral since the monarch’s accession to the throne and there were many ceremonial and practical matters to be arranged.  The Balmoral Highlanders were to be mustered for the arrival of the Royal couple and John Michie prepared a list of available men, precisely 30 in total and including Donald Stewart, for James Forbes.  John Michie was fitted for a new kilt and jacket prior to the Royal visit.  The Royal train left Euston station on the evening of 30 September 1901 and travelled north overnight, reaching Aberdeen about 9.00am, where there was a substantial reception party of local dignitaries.  A new engine was then coupled to the train for the journey up Deeside to Ballater and onwards by coach to Balmoral.  It had been the wish of King Edward that the reception should be semi-private and only involve the Highlanders and tenants on the Royal estates.  The Balmoral men mustered at 8.00am at the castle where they took breakfast, followed by drill at 10.00am.  They marched to the Balmoral bridge at 11.00am, ready for the Royal arrival about 12.00 noon.  They were under the command of James Forbes, wearing a sword and John Michie carried the Royal standard.  The Highlanders were kitted out in Royal Stuart tartan, with Glengarry bonnets bearing an oak leaf and a thistle and they were armed with Lochaber axes.  James Campbell, now the piper to King Edward VII, was out in front of the Highlanders playing his instrument. 

The King’s open carriage arrived shortly before noon and drove between the two ranks of Highlanders.  His Majesty was attired in similar fashion to his Highland retainers and when the coach drew up, he called forward Donald Stewart whom he had known since his first visit to Balmoral in 1848 and with whom he had developed a close relationship over the intervening decades and shook his hand.  James Forbes then stepped forward and “addressed a few words of sympathy and welcome to their Majesties on behalf of the tenants & servants to which His Majesty graciously replied.  Then, having asked the King's permission Mr. F. called for three cheers for their Majesties and one cheer more for Princess Victoria.”  The party then moved off along the drive to the castle, the two ranks of Highlanders flanking the Royal carriage.  The King then called Donald Stewart forward again and asked him to “Walk with us”, which he did on the left-hand side of the coach for the 400 yards march to the castle.  King Edward was certainly making clear that Donald Stewart was a very important servant in his eyes.  Interestingly, John Michie did not mention the involvement of Donald Stewart in his account of the day, though he must have realised that, when he took over the role of estate manager, he would have to handle Donald Stewart with great care.  Similar thoughts must also have gone through the minds of James Forbes and Sir Dighton Probyn.

As the cavalcade passed up the avenue, James Campbell played “Highland Laddie”, a favourite for greeting royalty, followed by “The White Cockade” and “The lads with the kilts”.  John Michie’s role was as follows.  “The Royal Standard was carried by me on the lead of the left line.  On arrival at the Castle the Highlanders formed line (single line) on the grass verge in front of the portico while I lowered the Standard in front of the line on the gravel.”  “Refreshments” were brought out of the castle, actually “the wine of the country” – yet another euphemism for whisky.  “Mr. Forbes proposed the health of their Majesties which was pledged in silence by the Highlanders - The King thanking all in a word”.  Actually, the King, while brief, said more than one word, “I thank you for your kind sentiments and I drink to all your healths”, before retreating with his Queen into the castle interior.  The Highlanders were then marched away, dismissed and rewarded with dinner no doubt accompanied by more whisky.  Many things would change during the reign of King Edward VII, including a reduction in the whisky allowance but, at least on this occasion, the Highlanders got to drink copious amounts of Royal Lochnagar.

King Edward VII conducted his reign in a completely different way to his mother, moving the focus of the Court from Windsor to Buckingham Palace, rearranging furniture and paintings, which the late Queen had carefully placed, in the Royal palaces and reintroducing colour and ceremony into national life after Victoria’s rather drab years of monarchy.  He also had some grievances to settle, and he wasted no time in gaining redress.  The Munshi and the other Indian servants were sent back to India and the letters that Abdul Karim had received from Queen Victoria were demanded and unceremoniously burned outside Frogmore Cottage, the Indian’s Windsor residence.  At Balmoral, the life-sized bronze statue of John Brown in full Highland garb, by Edgar Boehm, which had originally stood near the Garden Cottage, was unceremoniously removed. It was sent to an obscured location in the woods behind Baile na Coile at the north-east foot of Craiggowan hill. Given his dislike of John Brown, it is perhaps fortunate that Edward did not have this fine effigy of the uncouth Highlander, who had risen above his station, melted down and obliterated.  Karim Cottage at Balmoral, which became vacant with the banishment of the Munshi, was allotted to Dr Corbett, the local GP who was planning to marry Helena Stuart, daughter of Head Stalker,h Donald.  The building was renamed the “Doctor’s House”.  Although John Michie and James Forbes were given instructions from King Edward regarding changes to be made on the Balmoral estate, Michie made no mention of the removal of the Brown statue.  Indeed, John Michie was discrete to the point of being coy about all the matters discussed between himself, King Edward, James Forbes and Sir Dighton Probyn during the period between Michie being appointed as factor and him actually assuming responsibility for the estate.  A typical example of Michie’s discretion occurred on 21 October 1901.  “By Command of the King went to the Castle at 11a.m. and along with Sir D. Probyn, Major Fredericks, Mr. Forbes, Mr. James Anderson & Mr John Reid went through certain portions of the Castle with the King who decided on a number of alterations.  H.M. afterwards went round the grounds with me”.

  Karim Cottage, Balmoral 

John Brown statue, Balmoral, by Bohm

Edward VII attended Crathie church for the first time since his ascent to the throne on 29 September 1901.  He donned his Royal Stuart kilt for the occasion.  Rev Sibbald conducted the service.  James Forbes, John Michie and “a few of the gamekeepers present” also wore Highland dress.  King Edward was a stickler for wearing the correct attire for the circumstances, as those in contact with the new King would discover.  Two weeks later, just before their departure for the south, the King and Queen again attended divine worship at Crathie.  It happened to be Communion Sunday and John Michie and his family “partook of Sacrament” but the King, unlike his mother, did not do so.  The following day, “The King presented me with the Victorian Medal for services to the late Queen as Forester.”  John Michie would have been relieved that his efforts over two decades had received this recognition.

The major changes that were occurring during 1901 – the accession of King Edward, the appointment of James Michie as factor and the retiral, at last, of Donald Stewart – required a new plan for the allocation of living accommodation on the Balmoral estate.  Initially, John Michie was told that he would be moving into Craiggowan House, which was being vacated by the outgoing commissioner and his family, but then King Edward decided that the new factor would instead get the house of Abergeldie Mains, Craiggowan  House being retained for the use of the Royal Family.  The Michie family would, in turn, vacate the Dantzig Shiel, which would be made available to Donald Stewart in his retirement and The Croft, traditionally occupied by the Head Keeper would go to the newly promoted Arthur Grant, son of John Grant, the Head Keeper under Queen Victoria from 1848 to 1875.  King Edward visited the Dantzig Shiel on 11 October and “had a look through the house”.  “Afterwards H.M., Mr Forbes. D. Stewart and me had some conversation in front of the house.”  The purpose of the visit seems to have been for King Edward to check if the Dantzig would be suitable for, or even acceptable to, Donald Stewart.  Edward would become known as the monarch who insisted on dealing with every detail, rather than delegating authority.  Today he would be labelled a “micromanager”.  The Michies moved from the Dantzig Shiel to Abergeldie Mains on 22 November, though John was also granted an office in the former Sanatorium, located between Bridge Lodge and the Balmoral Bridge.  This accommodation plan had the great merit of keeping John Michie and Donald Stewart about eight miles apart.

Arrangements were put in hand to give Mr and Mrs Forbes a respectful and enthusiastic send-off.  At the end of October 1901, John Michie attended a private meeting with “a few representative men” at The Croft.  Did this imply that Donald Stewart, who was still in residence there, called this meeting to consider the options available?  It was decided to hold a cake and wine banquet in the Ballroom at Abergeldie Castle on 7 January 1902.  This was the day that John Michie formally succeeded James Forbes as the manager of the Balmoral estates.  Subscriptions were solicited from Royal tenants, retainers, Royal tradesmen and others and a silver reproduction Monteith rose bowl, mounted on an ebony plinth on which was engraved in facsimile the signatures of the Committee of Subscribers and silver candelabra was purchased, along with a brooch for Mrs Barbra Forbes, the latter item costing over £109 (more than £12,640 in 2018 money), according to John Michie.  The bowl was engraved with the following inscription.  “Presented along with candelabra to James Forbes, Esquire, MVO, Commissioner to the late Queen Victoria and subsequently to King Edward VII on the Balmoral estates when retiring to take up a similar position on the Atholl properties, also a diamond brooch to Mrs Forbes by the tenants, servants, Royal Tradesmen and others as a mark of respect and esteem – 7^th January 1902.”

About 150 well-wishers turned up to the event in the wildly decorated Abergeldie Ballroom.  The top table, at which John Michie, accompanied by his wife, Helen, presided, was populated by James and Barbara Forbes, Donald and Margaret Stewart, James Anderson, Balmoral Clerk of Works, Andrew Smith, the new Factor at Invercauld, Muir Corbett, the Balmoral GP and a bevvy of Royal tradesmen from Aberdeen.  This was a telling list of those who, at that time, carried influence on Upper Deeside.  The event opened, as such occasions almost always did with the loyal toast, proposed by John Michie, the singing of the National Anthem and then a canter through a long list of other interests, with replies and much consumption of whisky.  This was followed by the presentation of the gifts, John Michie offering the bowl and candelabra to James Forbes with a brief and rather formal statement, clearly affected by the nervousness he felt at this, his first public appearance as the man in charge at Balmoral.  “I have much pleasure in presenting to you these beautiful gifts and I hope you will long be spared to look upon them.”  This was followed by the presentation of the brooch to Barbara Forbes, inevitably by Donald Stewart, who made full use of his moment in the limelight with a couthie and informal jaunt.  “I come second but I come with the best class.  (Laughter and applause).  You will have metal here that will stand a long time, but I have something that will outlive metal – diamonds – and I am sure you will all be pleased to present Mrs Forbes with this nice diamond brooch. (Loud applause).  Long may she wear it and when she wears it, it will ring home to her the memory of many a happy stroll she has had along the banks of the Dee with her Jamie. (Loud applause and laughter).  It is a pretty brooch, and it is to be put on a pretty stand – (applause and laughter) – both good and bonnie and when she looks on it, she will remember the banks of the Dee. (Applause).  I hope it will go down from one generation to another.” (Loud applause).  Donald Stewart’s offering clearly went down well with the audience, not least Barbara Forbes herself.

John Michie then proposed the health of the departing couple, which was honoured in the usual Highland style, after which James Forbes rose to reply.  His speech was full of the platitudes usual to such occasions but did offer an explanation for his departure.  “Yet when the prospect of making the change turned up there were considerations which seemed to me so important as to justify my leaving Balmoral, provided His Majesty permitted me to do so. This permission His Majesty graciously, yet reluctantly gave.  The most important of these considerations which thus weighed with me was the natural desire on my part for advancement in my profession to the wider scope presented for my energies in the practical management of such a large estate as the Atholl estate at a time when I was in the prime of life.”  But the speech also seems to have been curiously unbalanced making roughly equal reference to both John Michie and to Donald Stewart.  His reference to Michie was, “It has made me blush to hear the very flattering and kind terms in which Mr Michie has referred to me and to observe the very hearty reception which you in your goodness have been kind enough to give to his remarks.  On the other hand, his Donald Stewart reference was, if anything, more fulsome. “My wife is deeply gratified at your having been so thoughtful and kind as to permit her to participate in this presentation and the more gratified that the presentation has been made to her by her old, much-esteemed friend Mr Donald Stewart”.  The reader will notice that James Forbes used Donald Stewart’s given name but employed the more formal “Mr Michie” when referring to John. 

It was left to Mr H Lumsden to offer congratulations to John Michie on his new appointment.  “Mr H Lumsden, Aberdeen in proposing the “Health of Mr Michie” said they must congratulate him on the high and important office to which he had been appointed as successor to Mr Forbes and from his experience of the estate they had no doubt it would be a pleasing and agreeable appointment to all. (Applause).  The community in the Balmoral district he (Mr Lumsden) thought should feel highly honoured that one had been found in their number who could receive such an important appointment.  That was a proof of the appreciation of Mr Michie’s former services the more so because he understood the appointment had been bestowed on Mr Michie by His Majesty the King. (Applause).  They would join in wishing Mr Michie long life, health and happiness in his new position. (Applause).  Perhaps realising his omission, James Forbes then rose again.  “Mr Forbes said he wished to add a word or two to what Mr Lumsden had said regarding Mr Michie.  He was sure that Mr Michie in the discharge of the duties of his position had his (Mr Forbes’) best wishes for his success and if he found the post as comfortable as he (Mr Forbes) had found it during the past five years he would be a happy man.  Mr Michie had the advantage in this respect that he started with a perfect knowledge of the estate its marches and surroundings in every way and also with a perfect knowledge of the people and their ways so that there was no doubt he would get on very successfully. (Applause).  In the course of a few years when they met again, he had no doubt they would find Mr Michie would be getting on as well as they all wished him to do. (Loud applause).”  To the last, James Forbes seemed to be struggling to be even-handed towards the revered Head Keeper and the Factor-elect. 

“The proceedings terminated with the company joining in singing “Auld Lang Syne”.”  It was the start of a new, important and demanding chapter in John Michie’s life.  John had worked hard and effectively as Head Wood Forester for almost 22 years and made a significant impact on the Balmoral environment in a job whose scope extended well beyond that suggested by its title.  He had impressed his Royal employers with his skill, loyalty and dedication and he had successfully negotiated the shoals of Donald Stewart’s hostility.  Now he was finally the man in charge at Balmoral, with all the responsibilities that that very public position carried.

 

Don Fox

20210501

donaldpfox@gmail.com

Acknowledgement.  I am deeply grateful to Alison Innes (nee Kitchin) for her sustained efforts in creating digital copies of the John Michie diaries and in granting me access to them.  Without Alison’s years of toil, this biography could not easily have been written.