John Begg (1804 – 1882), the Lochnagar Distillery and Queen Victoria

 

The origins of Scotch whisky

Alcohol, distilled from the product of the fermentation of sugars by yeast, was known in Latin as aqua vitae, literally “water of life” and in Scottish Gaelic this became uisge beatha, abbreviated to uisge and Anglicised to “whisky” (or “whiskey”).  This alcoholic beverage has been produced in Scotland for well over 500 years, the first known, written record having been made in the Exchequer Rolls for 1494.  A Royal seal of approval for the drink was bestowed by James IV of Scotland, who reigned between 1488 and 1513.  But, like most pleasures in life, a charge was soon attached to whisky production.  In 1644 an Excise Act was passed in Scotland which taxed aqua vitae at 2/8d per Scotch pint.  Following the Acts of Union of 1706 and 1707, by which the United Kingdom of Great Britain was created, the tax on malt rose steeply (in 1725) and this made much legal whisky production in Scotland uneconomic.  The result, since demand for this product from ordinary people was substantial, was to encourage illegal distillation on a massive scale.  Harmful over-indulgence in this illicit product was rife.  Other events in Scottish history in the 18^th century also had a significant impact on illegal whisky production.  After the last Jacobite rebellion, which ended in 1746, there was a progressive breakdown of the clan structure in the Highlands and the transformation of feudal clan chiefs into commercial landlords seeking the best financial returns from their land holdings.  The payment of rents, in kind and through servitude, declined in favour of cash, and illegal whisky production for many rural families was the main means of generating enough money to continue occupancy of their holdings.  At the height of illegal distillation perhaps as much as 50% of whisky production in Scotland was not formally declared.

The methods of Scotch whisky production were essentially an adaptation of the techniques of wine and beer making to employ ingredients which were available locally.  An abundant supply of clean water for production and sometimes also to provide power, peats to supply heat for terminating germination of the barley seeds and for heating the stills, barley as a source of sugars and yeast to ferment the sugars to alcohol are the essential components of the process.  The grain variety was often bere (pronounced “bear”), a six-row barley of some antiquity.  Bere, along with oats, was one of the few cereals which could be cultivated successfully in the challenging climatic conditions of the Highlands and Islands.  It is particularly adapted to cope with the short growing season but long daylength of a northern Scottish summer and is known as the “90-day barley”.  Raw spirit produced by distillation often had its flavour improved by the big legal distillers through maturation for a number of years in oak barrels, often ones which had previously been used to transport sherry, or by blending with other sources of spirit.  Such refinements were not practised by the small-scale illegal producers, whose product was harsh, cheap and often consumed to excess.

 

Moonshine and the gaugers   

The Government did its utmost to shut down illicit distilling and thus end the evasion of tax.  English revenue staff were used to hunt down and confiscate illegal stills and a prolonged game of cat and mouse resulted between the excisemen and the Scottish rural, mostly Highland, population, but illegal production continued to flourish.  Distillation was often carried out at night to avoid the distant detection of smoke from the peat fires, earning the spirit the sobriquet of “moonshine”.  Much of the illicit spirit produced in the Highlands was smuggled over the mountain passes to the Lowlands and sold on to middlemen.  Most of the large tax-paying whisky distillers were located in the Lowlands and this importation from the North threatened their viability.  In 1782 over 1,000 illegal stills were detected and confiscated in the Highlands by the “gaugers” (excisemen) and illegal production continued to thrive over the next few decades.  By the 1820s, it has been claimed, about 14,000 stills were being confiscated annually in Scotland.  The Government’s continuing efforts to terminate the illegal trade were simply not working, but a solution was at hand with the passing of the Excise Act of 1823, which halved the duty payable on whisky distillation and, at a stroke, undermined the illegal manufacture of spirit by diminishing its competitive advantage.  Illegal production did not end overnight but within ten years this old and romantic Highland money-spinner had essentially disappeared.

 

Illicit distilling on Deeside   

Before 1823 and the Excise Act, Upper Deeside had all the necessary conditions for distilling whisky away from the curiosity of the gaugers.  Remote glens with poor access, an impoverished peasant population and several routes over the Grampian mountains for smuggling the product through to Angus and then onwards to the south made a favourable mix of conditions.  Much of the population formed an unwritten alliance to thwart the efforts of the excisemen, acting as lookouts and generally practising deception upon the unwelcome officials.  Several remote glens plunge south from the main Dee valley, the most prominent ones being Glentaner and Glenmuick, which give access to mountain passes into the County of Angus, known as the Firmounth and the Capel Mounth, respectively.  However, other, smaller and even less accessible glens, such as the Girnoc, part of the Abergeldie Estate, were also involved.  Several local families were prominent in the illegal distillation and smuggling of whisky, some members subsequently moving into licensed production after 1823.  As will be seen, several of the same families also found employment and prominence in the service of the monarch from 1848.

Charles Robertson was probably born on Upper Deeside and was reported to have been a miller at “Mill of Balmoral” before his death at the age of about 53 in 1812.  No precise location for this mill has been discovered, though the Lochnagar Distillery burn runs into the Dee near Crathie.  Charles and his wife Margaret had two sons and a daughter.  Parish records for the baptism of two of these offspring, in 1790 and 1791, give the place of residence of the parents as “Mill of Abergeldie”.  This site is also difficult to identify.  The nearest known mill adjacent to Abergeldie was east of the castle at Dalraddie.  The two mill names associated with Charles Robertson may be identifying the same site.  However, the important point is that he is known to have operated an illegal still.  One son of Charles and Margaret Robertson was James, born in 1789.  After his father’s death James moved to the Spital of Glenmuick, where he continued the family calling of illegal distillation.  He became friendly with another clandestine whisky producer and smuggler, John Robbie (1770 – 1829), who had been born at the farm of Fettereggie in Glen Clova, Angus.  These two glens are linked by the Capel Mounth track over the watershed.  John Robbie was thus well equipped to lead smuggling gangs at night along this route.

Robbie provided a link to another prominent smuggling family, the Stewarts, having married Barbara Stewart (1784 – 1855) in 1815.  Barbara’s brother Donald (1789 – 1878) and his wife Mary Gordon (1791 – 1879) farmed at Bualtchach, Crathie, a convenient cover for their other income-generating activities.  On one occasion Mary Stewart and “Granny Thomson” were caught by the excisemen in the act of smuggling whisky.  “Granny Thomson’s” identity is unclear, but she was probably a member of a further, prominent Crathie peasant family.   Ironically, at the 1871 Census an officer of the Inland Revenue, Frederick T Edwards, was lodging with the Stewarts at Bualtchach but by that year the aged Stewarts’ smuggling activities were long behind them.  The family was also related by marriage to the Gordons of like smuggling notoriety.

Notorious smugglers, Donald and Mary Stewart

Dr Peter Gordon, a son of Glen Girnoc and extensive chronicler of the history of this part of Scotland (see his “Deeside Tales.  The stories of a small glen”), related an interesting anecdote concerning John Robbie and the Excise.  “It was whilst John Robbie was Innkeeper at Inchbobart (Glen Muick) that a gauger came to investigate illegal distilling. The weather had turned stormy and the exhausted gauger had to seek shelter in John’s house. The blinding snow was preventing further travel and blocking his way home. As he settled down comfortably by the fire the gauger remarked that it was not a good day for anyone to be out. John Robbie was quite pleased to think that the gauger had experienced such an unpleasant journey. He had hopes that the gauger would be in no hurry to return, so he did his best to paint a picture of deep snow, closed roads, unpleasant conditions and the unwelcome attentions of ‘spookies’.”  When John Robbie died in 1829 from injuries sustained when he fell from his horse, his widow Barbara moved to look after another watering hole at Spital of Glenmuick.  The Inchbobart inn was subsequently managed by Peter Gordon who was probably involved in the illicit whisky trade too.  Other Gordons also participated in this illegal activity.  Charles Gordon, a farmer at the fermtoun of Tilfogar, Crathie and probably a relative, was caught transporting illicit whisky in 1821 and Donald Gordon, brother-in-law of James Robertson, was also a smuggler, in addition to being a notorious forger.

Inchbobart, Glenmuick

Following the passage of the Excise Act into law in 1823 there followed a progressive demise of the illegal whisky trade, but it did not happen overnight, principally because powers of enforcement were not immediately available to the Excise.  However, in 1826 the forces of the state gained the authority to inflict penalties on the laird of any property where the tenant was caught in the manufacture or smuggling of contraband whisky.  Between 1823 and 1826, a state of hostility existed between moonshine producers who continued in the old ways and those distillers who sensed that the illegal trade had had its day and that whisky production in future would only continue under licence.

Another fascinating tale by Dr Peter Gordon, concerning whisky smuggling in the turbulent mid-1820s, involved one Donald McPherson, a farmer in Glen Girnoc who had continued with the illegal trade.  “When Donald McPherson of Bovagli was caught in 1824, his smuggling party was a boisterous gathering from the Girnoc; and armed with cudgels and other weapons, they traversed the Mounth with a trailing convoy of ponies laden with kegs of contraband whisky. Little did they know that at Tarbrax Tollhouse the gauger, Mr Tawse, with a company of Dragoon Guards, awaited them. Somebody it seems had tipped them-off!  It was the dreadful skirmish that followed which inspired the poem ‘Din-raisin wi’ Donald.’ The poaching gang, as many as thirteen in number, pelted the poor exciseman Mr Tawse with large stones. Donald McPherson threatened the Dragoon ‘tae blow ther brains oot if they laid violent hands’ upon his gang. Aye, he was brazen and never feart! Then Donald threatened to run auld Tawse-the-Excise ‘throo the body wi’ a pitch fork.’ It was then that the Dragoon Guard surrounded Donald McPherson and apprehended him along with James Gordon the Abergeldy Gamekeeper. They were taken to Perth prison but confessed their guilt (no doubt knowing that the evidence against them was overwhelming.) Donald McPherson served twelve months, but it seems James Gordon was served more leniently.”

The withering of clandestine whisky distilling caused a substantial exodus of the peasantry from the more remote glens off the Dee Valley, frequently to the colonies.  Glen Girnoc became largely depopulated.    Peter Gordon was apprehended by the Excise in 1824 and he and his family were forced out and left for New Zealand.  Descendants of the Robertson family departed for Melbourne, Australia, where they became sheep farmers and graziers, but they kept a link with the home country by calling their new, antipodean parish Strowan, a name by which Charles Robertson had been known.  In March 1829, Tilfogar, part of the Abergeldie Estate, was being occupied by Charles Gordon, Donald Stewart and John Gordon, three of the most notorious illegal whisky smugglers in the district.  It is not clear if they offered for a renewal of their lease which terminated in that year.  Subsequently, Tilfogar fermtoun rapidly became depopulated, its buildings decayed, and it did not appear on maps from the mid-19^th century onwards.

 

James Robertson brings legal whisky production to Upper Deeside

Claims have been made that the first legal distillery in the Crathie area was actually located in Glen Feardar on the north side of the Dee, possibly built by James Robertson (1789 – 1837) about 1823.  This former illegal still operator had become a reformed character.  Glen Feardar was part of the Invercauld Estate, the Feardar burn flowing into the Dee near the Mill of Inver, west of Balmoral.  If the Glen Feardar story is true, why did James Robertson locate his legal distillery in such an inaccessible place?  Was this the previous location of an illegal still?  Further, it has also been alleged that this facility was destroyed in a conflagration started by Robertson’s disaffected former smuggling colleagues about 1825. No primary historical source for these events has been uncovered in the present study, but there was an interesting report of fire-raising in the area, which was potentially of relevance. 

Glen Feardar

Arson was, in the mid-1820s, a regular tool of retribution for the disaffected on Upper Deeside.  The Aberdeen Journal reported one such incident in the summer of 1826.  “Wilful fire-raising reward.  Whereas on Tuesday 26 June last the heath and hill ground on the estate of Invercauld and in the united parishes of Crathie and Braemar and County of Aberdeen were wilfully and maliciously set on fire whereby a considerable extent of surface was consumed  and the neighbouring country placed in imminent danger and whereas James Gray in Coldrach in these parishes stands accused of being concerned in the said crime and has absconded, a reward of ten guineas besides payment of all necessary expenses is hereby offered to any person who will within one month from this date apprehend the said James Gray and lodge him in any of His Majesty’s Jails in Scotland.  The reward to be paid by Mr Simpson Procurator Fiscal for Aberdeenshire.  Aberdeen July 6 1826.  Description.  The said James Gray is about 30 years of age tall, stout made, round shouldered, pock-pitted, hair rather lightish and speaks fast.  Said Gray is frequently engaged in driving whisky from the top of Aberdeenshire into the lower parts of Forfarshire.”  “Coldrach”, also part of the Invercauld Estate, was an area about a mile west of Balmoral Castle through which the Coldrach burn runs.  It is a near neighbour of Glen Feardar.  Perhaps it was significant that the fugitive arsonist, Gray, was a whisky smuggler? 

What is reasonably established is that in 1825 James Robertson, then a tenant at Abergeldie Croft, built a licensed distillery south of the river Dee in the neighbourhood of Tilfogar, Crathie and took his water supply from a burn, flowing from the northern foothills of the Lochnagar mountain, possibly the same water course which today supplies the modern Distillery.  The facility took the name of “Lochnagar” and was sited on land owned by the Gordons of Abergeldie, though it lay close to the boundary with the Balmoral Estate and bore an annual rent of £12 (£1,330 in 2020 money).  The Gaelic derivation of the name “Lochnagar” is in some doubt but most likely it is a corruption of the name “Lochan na Gaire” – “Little loch of the noisy sound”.  This lochan is to be found in the north-east corrie of the mountain and its name may have been donated to the whole massif.

North-east corrie of Lochnagar

The words of the chorus from a song by “WG Stepney”, which appeared in the Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, a London newspaper, at the end of November 1826, but was allegedly extracted from a collection of Border songs, called “Blue bonnets over the border”, are telling.

“Whiskey – a Song”

“Boy, boy, haste wi’ some whisky here,

See that ye rightly accomplish the order,

Boy, boy, haste wi’ some whisky here,

Such as frae Loch-na-gar comes o’er the border.

Whisky’s a bonnie thing,

Worthy, or Lord, or King,

Worthy high place at the banquet to hold,

Joy ‘twill awaken, lad,

Care set a-quaking, lad,

Cheer up the faint heart – make bolder the bold.”

 

What a paean to Scotland’s national drink generally, and to the product of the Lochnagar Distillery in particular!  The implication of this Lochnagar reference is that the whisky of that name was produced sometime before 18 November and possibly also before the year 1826, which is consistent with 1825 being the foundation year of the Lochnagar manufactory. 

Licensing of whisky production allowed officialdom to monitor the extent of whisky manufacture at Scotland’s authorised distilleries.  An account of the statistics for these distilleries for the half-year 5 January 1826 – 5 July 1826 showed total production of 1,864,301 gallons of spirit using 950,327 bushels of malt.  At the time Scotland was estimated to have a population of about 2 million, so this was a staggering output and showed the extent to which whisky was being consumed at the time!  Twenty-five distilleries were listed for the Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire area, one being that of James Robertson at Lochnagar.  He was one of the smallest producers, generating only 926 gals of spirit, about 0.05% of the Scottish total for this reporting period.  Small beer indeed!  Another limited producer was Francis Robertson of Tulloch, who manufactured 968 gals using 459 bushels of malt.  Little Tulloch and Corntulloch are farms at Dinnet, Aberdeenshire, about 12 miles east of Balmoral. Milton of Tullich, Braehead of Tullich and Newton of Tullich are located a little to the west of Dinnet.  It is not presently known if the two distillers named “Robertson” were related.  For the reporting year 10 October 1826 – 10 October 1827 James Robertson’s production at Lochnagar was 1,523 gallons.  These statistics also confirm the existence of a Lochnagar Distillery, operated by James Robertson, during the first half of 1826 and thus probably in the previous year, too.  An 1836 newspaper advertisement has been found, which was placed by J&R Williams 45 Whitechapel, advertising “Lochnagar Whisky very old 10 cent over proof 18/- per gallon”.  Presumably, stocks travelled from the distillery to Aberdeen by cart and then on to London by steamer.  Transport costs must have been substantial, and the price paid to the producer is not known. 

James Robertson, who was described as a “farmer and distiller”, did not become a rich man during his life.  He died in May 1837, aged 48, without leaving a will.  The sale of his personal estate realised £342, about £40,000 in 2020 money, a modest sum, but much more than a typical labourer would have left at that time.  Neither his widow, Elizabeth, nor either of his two sons, John and James, then aged 19 and 17, continued with the operation of the distillery.  At the 1841 Census the three of them were living at Monour, Glen Girnoc, a few miles east of Crathie.  Elizabeth and John were described as farmers.  Ten years later at the following census, Elizabeth was still farming, but now at the five-acre Croft of Abergeldie.  John was an agricultural labourer and James was a carpenter.  Elizabeth died at this croft in 1857 and was buried in Glenmuick kirkyard.  Her two sons, John and James had remained unwed until their mid-40s, but then each changed his marital status by joining in matrimony with a domestic servant, apparently in his employment.  John remained a small farmer, at Drymills and Abergeldie Croft, for the rest of his life.  The other son, James Robertson, was described as a “wright” (presumably a wheelwright) living at Easter Balmoral in 1861 but at the time of his marriage in 1865 he had become a mechanic at the Lochnagar Distillery and appeared to work and live there until he died in 1884.  So, some link was maintained between the Robertson family and the distillery, even if it was in a craft capacity rather than as manager or owner.  His long service and loyalty to the distillery were marked in John Begg’s will with the award of £50.

 

The Farquharson family and Lochnagar Distillery 

“Farquharson” is a surname with a distribution generally localised to the North East of Scotland and adjacent Perthshire.  At the 1881 Census, 1,691 such individuals were recorded of whom 413 lived in Aberdeenshire.  It is likely, due to this limited geographical dispersion, that many of these people were related, though proving a family connection between them is often difficult, due to the lack of adequate records.  After the death of James Robertson, three members of a Farquharson family took over the lease to the Lochnagar Distillery.  They hailed from the area just north of Aberdeen containing the settlements of New Machar, Belhelvie, Parkhill, Whitestripes and Grandholm.  Robert Farquharson, variously described as a farmer, labourer or crofter, married Agnes Davidson, a girl from Belhelvie, in 1795 and over the next 17 years he moved his work and home location at least four times.  In that period, most substantial farms were let on 19-year leases, so this mobility was more consistent with a crofting existence, which linked farming of a small acreage with labouring.  This Farquharson couple had a family of at least eight children between 1796 and 1812.  Three of the siblings became involved in the management of the Lochnagar Distillery sometime between 1837 and 1841.  They were Alexander, born 1801, Isabel, born 1808 and Joseph, the youngest, born 1812.  Nothing is known of their lives between birth on small farms or crofts just north of Aberdeen and their appearance on Upper Deeside, nor is anything known for certain of the circumstances which led them to become whisky producers in this distant part of Aberdeenshire.  Dr Peter Gordon has suggested that there may have been a family link to the Farquharsons, Lairds of the Invercauld Estate, lying just to the west of Balmoral, but this study has not uncovered any evidence for such a genetic connection.  Peter Gordon has also suggested that there may have been a family linkage to John Begg, the principal subject of the present investigation, describing the Farquharsons who preceded Begg at the Lochnagar Distillery as “cousins”.  John Begg’s mother, Isabella, was a Farquharson but her father, James, b 1754, has not, so far, been linked with the antecedents of Robert Farquharson.

The 1841 Census gives a good indication of how managerial responsibilities at the distillery were divided between the three Farquharson siblings.  The Lochnagar property, part of the Abergeldie Estate, owned by a branch of the Gordon family, contained not just a facility for whisky production but also a substantial farm, which at a later date is known to have contained in excess of 100 acres.  Alexander Farquharson, the oldest of the three offspring of Robert Farquharson, senior, running the Lochnagar venture, seemed to take the leadership role and was described as a distiller, though he also employed Charles Stewart (1816 – 1877) as a brewer.  Charles was the elder son of Donald Stewart, senior, (1789 – 1878) and his wife, Mary, the notorious whisky smugglers.  Presumably, Charles learned his brewing skills in illegal whisky production at home!  Charles Stewart’s younger brother, Donald junior (1826 – 1909) became a ghillie to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1848 and was eventually appointed head keeper on the Balmoral Estate.  Donald Stewart was highly regarded by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and later by King Edward VII, for his long and dedicated service.  Another Farquharson, Robert, a 35-year-old agricultural labourer was also in residence.  He could have been another son (Robert, 1803 - ) of Robert and Agnes Farquharson since, at the 1841 Census, the ages of adults were only recorded to the nearest five years.

Isabel Farquharson (1808 – 1872) had married James Reid in 1834.  The couple had a daughter, Agnes, born in 1838.  Sadly, the child died at a young age.  As noted in the 1841 Census, James Reid was employed at the distillery as the maltman, overseeing the germination of barley grains, followed by drying and the production of grist from which sugars were extracted prior to fermentation to produce alcohol.  The Reids also lived at Lochnagar, possibly in a different house from that occupied by brother Alexander.  Sharing accommodation with the Reids were Agnes Farquharson aged about 40, elder sister of Isobel, and another Agnes Farquharson, aged 60, presumably the widow of Robert Farquharson.

In 1841, Joseph Farquharson (1812 – 1868) was living at the Lochnagar Distillery and was described as a spirit dealer, so it appears that his role in the operation was to sell the product of the distillery.  Joseph had married a local girl, Ann Rattray, in April 1839.  She was heavily pregnant at the time, the couple’s first child, Alexander, being born six weeks after the wedding!  Interestingly, this suggests that the start of the Farquharsons’ reign at Lochnagar could not have been later than mid-1838 and was possibly sooner, perhaps being initiated not long after the death of James Robertson in May 1837.

However, tragedy had struck the Lochnagar operations a month before the census enumerator visited the site in early June 1841.  The report of the incident, replicated in several newspapers, tells the story succinctly.  “Fire at Lochnagar Distillery.  On Thursday morning, 6 May, at 4 o’clock the premises were discovered to be on fire; and notwithstanding the greatest exertions in less than two hours the whole of the distillery-house, malt-barn, kiln, and store-rooms, with all their contents were reduced to one heap of embers.  Where and how this fire originated remains a mystery.  The supervisor, excise officer and the distiller made a survey about nine o’clock on the previous evening when the fires were put out, the floors watered, and the premises locked for the night.  The distiller’s brother had occasion to be out about one o’clock on Thursday morning and saw nothing wrong.  When discovered at four o’clock a part of the roof had given way.  The office-houses and a dwelling-house are all contiguous to the distillery and had the discovery been half an hour later, half a dozen human beings and the whole bestial must have inevitably been consumed by the devouring element.”  Was arson the cause of the conflagration?  It did occur in the middle of the night, but who knows?  By the 1840s, the conflict between legal and illegal whisky producers had long passed but it was still possible that some local score-settling was the root cause of the fire.

Isabel Reid also suffered loss of a more personal nature.  Agnes, the first child of Isobel and her husband, James, died in March 1839 at the age of only one year.  By 1841 they had a new daughter, Isabella, then aged about one.  Tragically, Isabel Reid’s husband, James, met his demise in 1842 at the distillery.  He was only 33 and Isabel was pregnant at the time.  Her son, Alexander Farquharson Reid, was born the following year. 

As a farmer and distiller, Alexander Farquharson was a significant person in the life of the community in Crathie and he played the part expected of him.  His own ploughmen competed in the annual ploughing match mounted by the Crathie Agricultural Society and in March 1846 Alexander hosted this competition at the Lochnagar farm.  This required him to provide for, and act as chairman at, a dinner for the judges, other farmers and their friends.  Such occasions were lengthy and interspersed with speeches, both propositions and responses, sometimes punctuated with songs by the attendees, all accompanied by much consumption of alcohol, usually whisky toddy.  On this occasion, the dinner finished at 9.00pm, when a dance got underweigh for the ploughmen and their sweethearts.  Such Highland balls went on well into the night with boisterous, noisy reels and other traditional dances.

Sometime between March 1846 and October 1847, the business conducted by the Farquharsons at Lochnagar Distillery collapsed, possibly as a consequence of the cost and disruption resulting from the fire of 1841.  This termination is principally known because two notices appeared in the Aberdeen Journal on the 25^th October 1847 from Nicol and Monro, a firm of advocates in Aberdeen, announcing that two trust dispositions had been made.  The first was in favour of the creditors of Joseph Farquharson, merchant, Crathie and the second related to those owed money by Messrs Alexander Farquharson & Co, New Lochnagar Distillery, Crathie.  Debtors were urged to settle their accounts within 10 days.  The creditors of A Farquharson & Co were finally paid their fractional due in 1851.  These two trust dispositions suggest that the business had been organised into two legally distinct but mutually dependent parts, the distillery controlled by Alexander Farquharson and the other partners in A Farquharson & Co, and the sale of whisky under the management of Alexander’s younger brother, Joseph.  The identities of the “the individual partners” in A Farquharson & Co, other than Alexander, have not been discovered.  Peter Gordon has suggested that James Reid was a member, but he died in 1842.  The exact date of failure of the Lochnagar operation is not known but probably took place during late 1846.  The Aberdeen Post Office Directory for 1847 had an entry for Alexander Farquharson associated with the Lochnagar Distillery and that suggests that this statement was true when it was written, probably in late 1846.  However, no such affiliation was found post-1847. The new owners were John Begg and William Buyers and their story is continued below.

 

John Begg (1804 – 1882) becomes a merchant in Aberdeen

John Begg

John Begg was the eldest child of Samuel Begg, a crofter at Boggenglach, part of the Glentaner Estate, which lies south west of Aboyne, mid-Deeside, and his wife, Isabella Farquharson.  At the start of the 19^th Century, this estate was in the ownership of George Gordon, the 5^th Earl of Aboyne, who subsequently (1836) became the 9^th Marquis of Huntly, on the death of his relative the 5^th Duke of Gordon.  Later in that century, the Aboyne branch of the Gordons (9^th and 10^th Marquises), who lived at Aboyne Castle, would displace many of the small tenants in Glentaner and turn the property into a sporting estate.  Little is known of the early life of John Begg but, given his origins, it is possible that he was only educated at the parish school in Glentaner.  If so, it is likely he would have left education at the age of about 12 (~1816).  But John must have been able because, after completing his schooling, he did not remain in his native glen to work the land.  According to his obituary in the Aberdeen Journal, John’s first employment was as “clerk in a Forfar hostelry”, which might indicate that his education was more expansive than could have been delivered by the local dominie. 

Bogenglaik, Glentaner, 1866

John Begg then moved back to Aberdeen to a similar position at the New Inn, Castlegate, Aberdeen (which stood on the site subsequently occupied, from 1839, by the North of Scotland Bank) before “the coaching days became historical”.  John’s move from Forfar to Aberdeen represented a major step up for him. The New Inn was the main coaching establishment located in central Aberdeen and travellers naturally gravitated to its doors.  Between 1825 and 1828, John Begg was a clerk in the Mail Coach Office, 5 Castle Street, which appears to have been either on the same site as the New Inn, or on an adjacent site.

New Inn, Aberdeen ca 1800

The New Inn was ideally located for the commercial businesses of the town, mainly found in the then developing Union Street and around the harbour, and for the Town officials and the advocates attending the Town House and the Court next door.  The Freemasons’ lodge took up the second floor of the New Inn building.  Did this environment and the contacts he would inevitably have made in the commercial world persuade John Begg to seek a career as a merchant?  This seems to be a plausible explanation for John Begg’s next posting.  In 1828 and 1829, John Begg & Co, “Wholesale, porter, ale and spirit dealers”, operated from 13 Correction Wynd.  But, during the latter year, the name of the firm and its location changed to “John Begg, general commission agent, 115 Commercial Buildings, Union Street”.  At this time, John, who was then aged 30 and just about to marry, was living at Bon-Accord Street, Aberdeen.  John Begg’s commercial venture underwent another change of venue when it moved to 37 Marischal Street by 1831 and this place also appears to have become his home address.

In 1835, John’s business office moved to Weighhouse Square near the quay at Aberdeen harbour, initially to no.14 but later transferring to no.17.  This was to be the locus of the Aberdeen branch of the Begg business for the rest of John’s life.  In the mid-17^th century, a weighhouse was located here for weighing and packing goods and extracting custom dues before cargoes were loaded onto ships at the adjacent quay.  Nearby, many warehouses were built, some of them bonded premises.  This area was the centre of Aberdeen’s substantial import and export business, especially in the period up to 1850 and the arrival of the railways.  The description of John Begg’s business also changed from time to time.  1828 – 1829, “Wholesale porter ale and spirit dealers”; 1829 – 1836, “General commission agent”; 1837 - 1850, “Flour wine and spirit merchant”.  Later changes were occasioned by the take-over of the Lochnagar Distillery.  The term “commission agent” indicated a person or business which transacted sales for a commission and had nothing to do with the same term, self-applied euphemistically by bookmakers and betting shops.  John Begg had built, by 1837, a substantial granite house for the use of his family at nine, Quay (later Regents Quay), Aberdeen.  It became his home in Aberdeen for the rest of his days.

Aberdeen Weigh-house

For about the first ten years of his business career, John Begg seemed to be casting around for a profitable segment on which to concentrate, which was probably the reason for the changes of name.  However, wine and spirits were a significant part of the trading mix from his earliest commercial activities.  The first reference detected to John Begg in the Commercial List published, initially haphazardly but later regularly, in the Aberdeen Journal was in late 1832 when he took delivery “from warehouse” of a hogshead (54 gallons, or about 245 litres) of Spanish white wine.  Rum and brandy were the main spirits in which he traded during these early days.  He also supplied sherry and port wine.  In 1834, John Begg announced that he had been appointed agent, firstly for Messrs Wm Younger & Co, Ale Brewers, Edinburgh “whose ales are allowed to be of the most approved qualities” and, secondly for John Taylor, Distiller, Cabrach, for his “Cabrach” whisky.  By 1839, Geneva (juniper-flavoured spirit originating on the near-Continent) and spruce beer, also sourced from across the North Sea, had been added to his product range.  This last beverage was usually alcoholic and flavoured with spruce buds, needles or essence.  Such additives were used by native Americans to fend off scurvy in winter and that may have made this beer attractive to seafarers.  The drink was popular in the North East of Scotland throughout much of the 19^th Century.  John Begg also dealt sporadically in tea, though he was not amongst the more significant of such merchants in Aberdeen. 

At this time, Begg was also trading in agricultural seeds, “has on hand for sale seed wheat of superior quality and weighing 64lbs per bushel” from his Marischal Street premises.  He also dealt in oats, bere, barley and seed potatoes.  In 1836, a quite different agency was announced, the promotion of emigration by agricultural labourers to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada.  John Begg also chartered vessels to sail from the Moray Firth to Hull in 1840 with cargoes of wood. Another line traded by this son of Glentaner was guano and bone meal fertilizers, both used to improve the yield of turnip crops in the North East, for the over-

winter feeding of beef cattle in cattle courts.  The guano was imported directly, both from Peru and from Ichaboe Island off the coast of present-day Namibia.  When discovered in 1828, Ichaboe Island was enveloped to a depth of 7 metres in bird droppings!  Bone fertilizer, on the other hand, was mostly prepared locally in bone mills, often using animal bones imported from the Baltic ports.  Some of John Begg’s guano cargoes were unloaded at towns on the Moray Firth.  In 1845, the following advertisement appeared in the Aberdeen Journal.  “The subscriber has for sale 180 to 200 tons very superior African guano being part of the cargo ex “Alice Haveland”, Captain Turner, direct from Saldanha Bay.  This vessel is now on her passage round from Cork for delivery at Banff or Macduff.  Apply to John Begg Quay Aberdeen.”  John was the fractional owner of several ships and such vessels may have been used to carry his imports, though these vessels have not, so far, been identified.  Other business initiatives emerged from time to time throughout his business life.  John acted as agent for the seller when an Arbroath hotel was put on the market in 1844.  Ten years later, it emerged that John was a local representative for David Doull & Co of Edinburgh who were manufacturers of ginger wines and cordials, though it was unclear for how long John Begg had held this agency.  In 1861, John Begg, always on the look-out for a new business opportunity, was noted to be an agent for the Scottish Union Insurance Co., providing cover for farm stock.

 

John Begg’s goods movements in and out of warehouse

The Aberdeen Press and Journal (present-day name) has been published continuously since 1747.  It was originally called Aberdeen’s Journal (1747 – 1748) but became the Aberdeen Journal between 1748 and 1922.  Almost all editions in its long history have survived.  It has always had a good coverage of local business affairs and has proved to be a rich source of information on the business conducted by John Begg.  The newspaper was first published as a weekly title with four pages but moved to eight pages in 1847.  Since 1876, this newspaper has had a daily publishing schedule.  A section in the paper entitled “Commercial List” was first published in 1830.  Initially, it appeared only sporadically but then became a regular feature.  Two items were particularly valuable in tracing the progress of John Begg’s business, “Goods delivered from Warehouse (for home consumption)” and “Goods Warehoused”.  John Begg’s goods movements featured in both sections, the former being found regularly from 1832 and the latter was published from 1847. 

Initially, goods delivered detailed quantities in traditional containers (barrel, puncheon, hogshead, butt, pipe, cask, keg and case).  Most of these containers have a recognised capacity but three (cask, keg and case) do not, thus creating uncertainties for volume estimates in gallons or litres.  In 1847, with the introduction of information on goods warehoused, almost all volume data, both “in” and “out”, were given in gallons.  Between 1847 and 1854, data for brandy movements were still sometimes stated in terms of traditional containers.  In these cases, conversions to gallons have been made but for some years, these are underestimates, though only by relatively modest amounts.  Data collected for John Begg were made from his earliest detected entry in 1832 through to 1876, when the Aberdeen Journal became a daily paper.

Time constraints would have made data collection by directly turning the newspaper pages practically impossible, but this aim was achievable using digital images.  However, employing a search function to look for “John Begg” and “J Begg” quickly revealed that many references remained undetected, due to poor print quality, especially in the early years.  This problem with “false negatives” was overcome by using direct observation of the digital images and transcription using the Mk 1 eyeball, though this was more time-consuming and had to be abandoned after the newspaper became a daily, with the Commercial List appearing in every edition, from 1876.  Good quantitative data have thus been recorded for most of John Begg’s business life, only the period 1876 – 1882 being largely overlooked.  Of course, what is not known and is probably unknowable, is whether the data collection by the newspaper staff were comprehensive.  Even so, the statistics gathered still give a deep insight into John Begg’s commercial activities centred on his base at the Aberdeen quayside.

Looking over the John Begg data for the whole period 1832 – 1876, it is clear that some goods were traded consistently by him throughout this interval.  Rum, brandy and Geneva were the ever-present items.  Curiously, whisky was not a member of this enduring group.  Many different products were traded in the early years of John Begg’s business life, only to be abandoned by about 1853.  Spanish wine, Portugal wine (were these alternative names for sherry and port?), spruce beer, black beer, French wine, Cape wine, Champagne and claret all fell out of favour in this fashion, though the various wines may later have been classified simply as “red” and “white” varieties.  Still, even red and white wines had ceased being traded by John Begg, effectively by 1869.  The only late introduction (substantially from 1853) which persisted to 1876 was tea.  There were some items which were so rarely traded as to be oddities, coffee, vinegar, plain and flavoured spirits and raisins.

What did the terms, “Goods delivered from Warehouse (for home consumption)” and “Goods Warehoused” actually imply?  The latter term seems to refer to warehouse storage by importers or owners of goods, not necessarily in facilities that they possessed.  The goods owner’s identity was stated in the paper.  “Home consumption” probably meant not for export, ie for local consumption.  “Goods delivered from warehouse” identified the sender but not the recipient.  The term may also include goods sent from one warehouse to another and this seems to be the case with John Begg, who clearly did not import everything that he sold.  A comparison of volumes of the main traded items (whisky, rum, brandy and Geneva) between “in” and “out” categories for John Begg shows a strong positive correlation between the two categories when viewed both over a long run of years and between “in” and “out” for individual years.  Also, the absolute volumes of the different spirit types, summed over the period 1847 – 1876, are similar between “in” and “out” classifications, whisky ~102,000 gals vs ~85,000 gals, rum ~14,000 gals vs 16,000 gals, brandy ~7,000 gals vs ~5,000 gals, Geneva ~800 gals vs 1,300 gals.  These results strongly support the model of flow of goods suggested above, bearing in mind that there is no record of how much spirit of the different categories was present in warehouse at the start and

 at the end, of the period under consideration.  These data, when considered for trends over time show that between 1832 and 1834, John Begg’s trading in wines, beers and spirits progressed quite slowly but accelerated from the start of 1835.  Instead of supplying goods to customers once or twice a year, the rate of trading had by then increased to about once a month.  By 1836, it was clear that John Begg had developed a substantial merchant business.  Whisky also figured strongly in John’s business success, but consideration of this spirit will be deferred for the present.

 

Tragedies in John Begg’s family life

John Begg’s family life was peppered with personal tragedy, caused by premature deaths amongst his nearest and dearest.  His mother, Isabella Farquharson, died at the family farm of Boggenglach in 1819, when John was about 15.  She was buried in the kirkyard at Glentaner and, in 1836, John paid for a memorial to mark the grave when he described himself as a “Merchant in Aberdeen”.  How true!  Not just a merchant but a successful merchant.  His mother would have been proud of his achievements.  In April 1830, John Begg married 19-year-old Jane Leys in Aberdeen.  Their first child, John was born the following year and by 1852 the family had been completed and consisted of nine children in total, six boys and three girls.

Tombstone raised by John Begg to his father and mother

The eldest son, John junior, died in tragic circumstances, being drowned at sea off the coast of Brazil on 19 Nov 1846 at the age of 16 while travelling on the Mungo Park, a 248-ton barque.  This vessel had been built in Aberdeen in 1838 at Duthie’s shipyard and was registered at the port.  Nothing has so far been uncovered which directly relates to the events immediately surrounding John Begg junior’s death, but circumstantial evidence suggests a possible explanation.  Presumably, John Begg junior was a crew member of the ship.  Had John junior decided, or been persuaded, to seek a career in the Merchant Navy?  If so, the route to the top was to start at the bottom as an apprentice seaman.  It seems more likely, though, that John Begg senior would have looked to his eldest son to succeed him in business in due course, but the father may have seen life in the Merchant Marine as a character-forming experience, suitable to prepare his son for his ultimate role.  Reporting the tragedy, one newspaper described John’s voyage as a “pleasure sail”.  If so, it would have been a journey which was expected to last for about a year. 

A barque was a three-masted ship, with the fore- and main-masts fully-rigged and the mizen-mast rigged fore and aft.  At the time of John’s death, the vessel was probably owned by Aberdonian George Thompson and her master was John Thomson.  Although of only a modest size, she was typical of the sail pattern and displacement of vessels which crossed the oceans of the world in the British merchant fleet of the time.  The Mungo Park sailed from the Clyde for Valparaiso, Chile on 29 January 1846, though she may have put back temporarily, because she was then reported as sailing again on the 6^th of the following month.  Her ultimate destination was the Chincha Islands off the coast of Peru to load with guano – bird droppings rich in nitrogen and phosphorus used as a fertilizer.  Export of this stinky, but valuable, commodity from Peru had started in 1840 and so popular did it become that during the next three decades many vessels could be found at anchor at the Chinchas, waiting their turn to be loaded.  John Begg senior traded regularly in guano and probably had commercial connections with both ship owners and ships’ masters in Aberdeen.  No evidence of John being a part-owner of this vessel has been uncovered.  The Mungo Park arrived at Callao, the port of Lima, Peru on 23 June and soon moved on to its island destination.  The list of vessels, including the Mungo Park, arriving at the Chinchas prior to 11 August, extended to 27 ships.  The Mungo Park returned to Callao on 27 August and sailed for Great Britain on 8 October.

Ships at anchor, Chinchas Islands

The return route was down the coast of Chile, around Cape Horn and up the Atlantic, skirting the coast of Brazil.  It was off this former Portuguese colony that John Begg was lost overboard on 19 November 1846.  It is not presently known if he was drowned due to rough weather or lost through other circumstances.  The accidental death of seamen in the days of sail was not uncommon.  News of John Begg’s death was not announced in the Aberdeen Journal until 20 January 1847.  The electric telegraph had not yet been deployed around the globe and tragedies such as this remained unknown until a vessel made landfall.  The Mungo Park was heading for Castletown – Bearhaven in remote south-west County Cork, Ireland to unload part of her cargo.  She arrived there on 13 January 1847 and the news of John’s death probably travelled by post from Cork back to Aberdeen.  The vessel then headed for her home port, calling first at Falmouth and then London, before arriving back in the North East on 14 February.  John Thomson probably then had a difficult meeting with John Begg senior to explain the circumstances of the loss of his eldest offspring and putative successor.  

The premature loss of his mother and his eldest son were only the first two of several similar family misfortunes which dogged John Begg’s life but, at the same time, seemed to spur him on to overcome adversity.  The 1840s were a period of extensive business activity and great commercial success for this son of Glen Taner.  Towards the end of 1848, John Begg must have been feeling a deep sense of satisfaction at the prominent position he had achieved, both personally and for his business.  But any such emotions must surely have been shattered by the accidental death on 11 Dec 1848 of his second son, Patrick Duncan Begg.  Two independent reports of the circumstances of this further tragedy have been uncovered but they conflict on so many points that it is difficult to divine the whole truth precisely.  The bare bones of the incident were as follows.  On Monday 11 December 1848, 16-year-old Patrick Begg was in a small boat on Aberdeen harbour with one or more friends when he fell in and was drowned.  Although his body was recovered, Patrick could not be revived.  This loss of his two most senior sons by drowning probably accounts for John Begg’s subsequent support for swimming and life-saving societies in Aberdeen.

Although the death of a child or young adult was not uncommon in those pre-antibiotic days, John and Jane Begg must have felt they had been particularly cursed when their third son, Francis Leys Begg, died of influenza in October 1852, barely four years since the loss of his brother, Patrick.  Francis, who was not yet 18, was buried in Nellfield Cemetery, Aberdeen.  The Grim Reaper did not call again at the Begg household for a period of 13 years but then felled yet another son, Robert, aged 20.  The registration of this death was curious in that Robert died at Lochnagar in early January 1865, but the cause of death was stated as “unknown”, it not having been certified by a medical practitioner.  The informant was Alexander Jamieson, the manager of the Lochnagar farm, who was present at Robert’s end.  Although a death announcement appeared in the Aberdeen Journal and other newspapers, no explanation has been discovered which accounts for these unusual circumstances.  This litany of family misfortune had not yet been concluded.  Charles Begg, the youngest of the distiller’s sons, also died at Lochnagar aged 21 in the summer of 1868.  Again, the informant was Alexander Jamieson.  On this occasion a cause of death was certified, “disease of brain” of many years' standing and diarrhoea 10 days, the medical attendant being William Marshall, the Ballater general practitioner.  It is possible that “disease of the brain” was a reference to a mental illness.  Again, no further enlightenment has been found in the pages of the local newspapers, other than a simple death announcement.  There is a similarity in the circumstances in the deaths of both Robert and Charles Begg.  Did they share a medical condition?  If so, did that condition have a genetic cause?  The final premature death of a child of John and Jane Begg occurred almost a year after the demise of Charles, when Alice, the youngest of the family died, also at Lochnagar.  Yet again Alexander Jamieson was the informant and was present at her end.  This time the cause, once more certified by Dr Marshall, was more explicit – congestion of the lungs of three weeks’ standing.  Was that relentless killer, pulmonary tuberculosis, then remarkably common on Upper Deeside in spite of generally uncrowded living conditions, involved? 

There are other puzzling aspects to these last three deaths at Lochnagar.  Why was there apparently no parental presence with these three young people in their last hours and days, with the caring duties apparently delegated to Alexander Jamieson, the dutiful farm manager?  Was John Begg so obsessed with his business or, perhaps, so inured to family misfortune that he shut out any human feelings of concern and anxiety he may have felt, by burying himself in work?  It is also curious that Queen Victoria, who was so solicitous concerning the health of John and Jane Begg, never mentioned the deaths of any of the six young Beggs in her journals.  Or was this apparent omission a product of Princess Beatrice’s ruthless editing of her mother’s sentiments? The sixth early death, of Alice in 1869, then left only three Begg offspring, Isabella, Henry and Eliza, in the land of the living.  Fortunately, they all outlasted the lives of both of their parents, thus sparing John and Jane Begg further anguish.

 

John Begg acquires the Lochnagar Distillery

Returning to the Lochnagar Distillery and the failure of the business under the stewardship of the Farquharsons about the end of 1846, John Begg, a son of Deeside as well as a spirit dealer, must have been aware of this arising opportunity, not just to trade in whisky but also to trade in his own product.  Interestingly, he took on a partner to join him in the venture, William Buyers (1826 – 1855).  Although possibly not of relevance to the Lochnagar venture, John Begg had been one of a large number of partners in “The Aberdeen Coach Manufacturing Company” but this partnership was terminated in October 1846, presumably because those involved saw the writing on the wall for the stagecoach, which was occasioned by the then burgeoning rail network.  What this association with coaching did illustrate was the entrepreneurial nature of John Begg, who was prepared to invest in businesses well outside his immediate personal experience.   

James Buyers (1753 - 1832) was a successful Aberdeen builder and timber merchant, based at 12 Kidd Lane, which address was close to central Aberdeen.  He was joined in the business by three sons, James (1788 – 1854), William (1792 – 1861) and John (1796 – 1862).  At the 1851 Census, the Buyers firm was recorded as employing 64 men.  The eldest son of John Buyers was another William (1826 – 1855) who would have been only 20 at the start of his partnership with John Begg in 1846.  The first mention of Begg & Buyers in the Post Office Directory for Aberdeen was for the year 1847, implying that the relationship had been in existence at the end of the previous year.   It is unclear how and why John Begg and William Buyers came together to cooperate in the purchase of the Lochnagar Distillery.  Perhaps William was basically bringing Buyers family finance to the venture, as he could hardly have been contributing much commercial experience at such a tender age?  There was another member of the Buyers clan, Peter Buyers, who was a grocer and ship’s chandler operating from 32 Quay and was thus a neighbour of John Begg.  He may have created the link between John Begg and the Buyers family.  However, if there was a family relationship between Peter Buyers and the builders of that name, it has not so far been discovered and could not have been close.  From the Buyers family point of view this was an opportunity for a young member of the family to learn commercial principles from a successful practitioner.

At the end of 1846, John Begg found himself in the position of having to control two significant businesses located 50 miles apart.  Although William Buyers had been taken on as a partner, he did not have the experience necessary to manage a complex operation.  At the 1851 Census, William was living in Aberdeen and conducting business as a spirit merchant, though it is unclear if this reference is to the business he acquired from Charles Fyfe (see below) or a pre-existing business.  William Buyers was not at that time playing a role in the management of the Lochnagar Distillery.  One of the first acts of the new owners was to implement improvements in the infrastructure of the distillery at Crathie.  “Addition to the malt barn and kiln at Lochnagar Distillery by Ballater.  Estimates wanted” was advertised in the Aberdeen Journal on 11 November 1846.  Just two months later John Begg senior would hear of the drowning of his eldest son, but this tragedy did not seem to impede his drive to make Lochnagar a success.  But who was managing the distillery operations from late 1846?

The Post Office Directory for Aberdeen records that James Anderson was “Manager Lochnagar Distillery” in its 1847 edition, which implies that he was in post at the start of that year. James seemed a curious choice, since he was a 63-year-old retired soldier, who had served in the Gordon Highlanders.  He was married to John Begg’s sister Margaret and the couple appeared only to have two children, James born in 1837 and John born in 1850.  This sparse family may have been occasioned by James Anderson’s long Army service.   In her journal for 18 September 1852, Queen Victoria recorded visiting the distillery.  “A beautiful morning. — We took a delightful walk, going up to the Distillery, where M^r Beg, is making improvements, & made the acquaintance of his brother-in-law, a M^r Anderson, who directs everything. He is an old soldier, having served 25 years in the 92^nd Highlanders, remembers the old Duke as Sir Arthur Wellesley & is deeply grieved at his death. He brought us out his old coat with a Waterloo medal & a Peninsular one.”  However, James Anderson did not last long in his new role.  On the first of November, barely six weeks after making the acquaintance of his monarch, he died suddenly.  Queen Victoria must have been impressed by this Chelsea Pensioner as she had appointed him to “an important situation in the Tower of London” (presumably as a yeoman warder, or “beefeater”).  James’ departure for London was imminent at the time of his demise, so John Begg would, in any case, have then needed yet another distillery manager.  At the following census in 1861, Margaret Anderson, widow of James, was still living at Lochnagar House, the manager’s substantial residence at the distillery.  The family connection was emphasised by the presence of Robert Begg, John Begg’s seventh child.  Reciprocally, 11-year-old John Anderson was lodging with his uncle at the Quay, Aberdeen, perhaps to attend school in the town.  At about this time, John Begg donated a guinea to the fund for the rebuilding and reorganisation of Aberdeen Grammar School.  Similarly, at the 1851 Census, Francis Begg, John Begg’s third son, had been staying with the Andersons at the distillery in Crathie.   

Other people may also have been involved in the management of the distillery in the early period of John Begg’s reign, though their precise roles remain unclear.  When the call for estimates for the work of improving the distillery went out in November 1846, bids were to be returned to “Mr John Milne, manager at the work”, the “work” being “Lochnagar Distillery by Ballater”.  Nothing has been discovered about this man, except that he did not appear to be living locally at the next census.  In April 1848, another manager, Mr Glennie was in post at the distillery, though he too was no longer in evidence at the 1851 Census.  A further representative of the distillery, of unknown but probably significant status, was a Mr Gray who, in 1852, acted as chairman of an opening dinner at the new St Nicholas Hotel in Aberdeen.

An alternative explanation for the succession of John Begg after the Farquharsons has been made by Ronald Clark in his book “Balmoral: Queen Victoria’s Highland Home”, and by Dr Peter Gordon.  They have proposed that John Begg took up the lease to the Lochnagar facility in 1845 and that the Farquharsons worked for Begg for some time afterwards, certainly until after 1851.  This explanation is called into question here for several reasons.  No primary source evidence has been found for John Begg taking up the lease to Lochnagar in 1845.  Had he done so, why would John Begg keep on the previous managers if he planned to appoint his own brother-in-law to manage the facility in the near future?  Why did John Begg form a partnership with William Buyers to own the facility in 1846, if he had acquired the lease in 1845?  At the 1851 Census, Alexander Farquharson was described as a distiller and farmer, living at Kintore (Khantore), a croft about a mile east of Lochnagar.  He was not found in subsequent Scottish censuses and it is likely he emigrated to Canada before 1861, dying in 1865 at Charlottesville, Prince Edward Island.  Also, at the 1851 Census, brother Joseph Farquharson was still described as a “brewer in a distillery” but was living at Balnacroft, another small farm located near to Khantore.  Ten years later, Joseph was still living at Balnacroft, though he no longer seemed to have a connection with whisky production, then being described as a labourer.  Similarly, Alexander and James Reid’s widowed sister, Isabella, was also living at Balnacroft (different household).  She was described as a laundress.  Isabella had two children, Isabella, b 1840 Crathie and Alexander Farquharson Reid b1843 Crathie with her.  Alexander was born after his father’s death in 1842.  Also in the house was a lodger, Hugh Hague, an agricultural labourer.  It appears that Isabella was having to make an income by taking in laundry and lodgers.  Why did the Farquharsons leave the distillery accommodation before 1851, if they were still working at Lochnagar Distillery?  It seems unsafe to make the assumption that the descriptions of the jobs of Alexander and Joseph Farquharson in the 1851 Census (“distiller and farmer” and “brewer in a distillery”) necessarily implies that they were still working at Lochnagar. 

The alternative explanation for the attributions of the Farquharson brothers at the 1851 Census is that they had left Lochnagar entirely at the end of 1846 and started their own separate distilling operation.  If so, it appeared not to have been successful.  In her journal for 1853, Queen Victoria noted, “Drove with Alice, Bertie, & Mary B., to where the Abergeldie Distillery (author’s emphasis) used to be …”, but she gave no indication of the timescale for its loss.  Is it possible that this was a recently-terminated endeavour which had involved the Farquharsons, which would thus explain their continuing involvement in distilling, while not being resident at the Lochnagar facility?

The partnership between John Begg and William Buyers only endured to 1851, when a brief notice of termination appeared in the Aberdeen Journal on 16 April.  “Dissolution of copartnery.  The partnership carried on by the subscribers as distillers at Lochnagar Royal Distillery under the firm of Begg & Buyers was this day dissolved by mutual consent.  John Begg, Wm Buyers”.  In the same edition of this newspaper, John Begg entered a notice about the continuation of the business.  “With reference to the above, John Begg, by special warrant distiller to Her Majesty, begs to intimate that he continues the business conducted by the late firm of Begg and Buyers in his own name and on his own account.  He will discharge all claims against the firm on presentation and is authorised to receive payment of all debts due to it.  Lochnagar Royal Distillery 11^th April 1851”.  The ending of the partnership seems to have been amicable as in his will John Begg left legacies of £50 each to Mrs Jane Baxter, widow of William Buyers and to her sister, Sushannah Poole Baxter. 

No reason for the Begg & Buyers partnership being concluded has been uncovered but several facts may be relevant.  In June 1860, William Buyers married Jane Baxter, eldest daughter of Aberdonian, Captain Andrew Baxter.  Jane quickly became pregnant, and the first child of the marriage was born in Aberdeen on 31 May 1851.  Perhaps Jane was unhappy about raising a family in remote Upper Deeside?  After his exit from the partnership with John Begg, William Buyers quickly acquired a new business.  At the end of April, the following notice appeared in the Aberdeen Journal.  “Charles Fyfe begs respectfully to tender his sincere thanks to his numerous friends and the public for the patronage and support he has been favoured with for the long period of 50 years and begs to acquaint them that he now retires from the business of tobacconist and tea dealer in favour of Messrs William Buyers Jun and Co whom he has great pleasure and confidence in recommending to the public for their support.  C Fyfe will now devote the whole of his time and attention to the business of house-factor and general agent and begs to solicit the continuance of the favours of his friends at his office 43 Belmont Street.  In reference to the above, William Buyers jun begs to acquaint his numerous friends in town and country that he succeeds Mr Fyfe in the above business which will be carried on under the firm of William Buyers jun & Co.  They will have always on hand a large and well-selected stock of teas, plain and fancy snuffs, cigars and tobaccos of the finest qualities.  The trade supplied at London prices.  104 Union Street Aberdeen April 1851”.  William was initially the sole partner in the venture but joined with an experienced co-partner, Alexander Skene, by the end of the year.  This new business appeared not to suit William Buyers either.  Sometime after October 1852, William, his wife and family moved to Australia.  Sadly, William died in 1855 in Melbourne, which at the time was a boom town due to the Australian gold rush that had started four years earlier.  Was William Buyers, the scion of a wealthy family, unable to knuckle down to the hard work and persistence necessary to achieve business success?

Once John Begg was in sole control of the distillery, he set about commissioning a major expansion of its facilities.  “Estimates are wanted from the following parties for work to be done this season at Lochnagar Royal Distillery:- Masons and wrights for building additional houses.  Coopers for a set of new tuns, 1400 gallons each.  Ironfounders for a set of metal coolers.  Coppersmiths for a new boiler.  All in terms of specifications to be seen with Mr Anderson at the Work, or at 17 Quay Aberdeen.  8 July 1851”

 

 

Queen Victoria acquires Balmoral and becomes a friend of the Beggs

John Begg could not have known it when he took on the Lochnagar Distillery at the end of 1846, but he was about to experience a piece of potentially great good fortune.  His new neighbour to the west, initially the lessee and then the owner of the Balmoral Estate, would soon be Queen Victoria, head of the British Empire, and her husband Prince Albert.  Quick-witted, entrepreneurial John Begg did not fluff this opportunity to garner the most impressive Royal accolades for his new business.

Queen Victoria first visited Deeside and took up temporary residence in 1848, subsequently visiting her Balmoral estates annually until the death of Prince Albert in 1861 and thereafter biannually.  These royal pilgrimages to worship all things Highland turned the attention of the world to this formerly remote and then largely unknown corner of Britain.  “All things Highland”, of course, included Scotch whisky.

On Tuesday 5 September 1848, the Queen, Prince Albert, their three children and entourage left Buckingham Palace to travel to Woolwich, where they boarded the Royal yacht, the paddle steamer “Victoria and Albert”, for the journey to Aberdeen.  They arrived at the port on the morning of 7 September after a 39-hour journey.  The Queen and the Prince then undertook a programme of events in the town, after which the Royal party slept on board again.  Their journey by carriage along the Dee Valley took place the next morning, the party arriving at Balmoral Castle at 2.45pm on Friday 8 September.  That same afternoon, the Queen found time to climb a nearby hill, probably Craigowan, to admire the view, while Prince Albert sought to shoot a stag.  On the following day, Saturday, the program of activities began in earnest, with the Royal Consort again pursuing his hunting obsession and his wife taking a carriage drive on the extensive estate, which she found to be very picturesque.  Sunday morning was marked by worship at the Presbyterian Crathie Kirk, less than a mile from the castle.  In church, the Queen was disappointed that few of the congregation wore the kilt but she also found it remarkable that, while crossing the Crathie suspension bridge outside, she could mingle with the local populace without them making her feel uncomfortable in any way.  The afternoon was taken up with a walk of about five miles, which caused the monarch to wonder at the silence, interrupted only by the calls of wild birds.

On Monday 11 September 1848 John Begg, sitting in his house at the distillery less than a mile from the Castle, made his move.  He wrote a bold note to George Anson, a courtier who served both the Queen and Prince Albert in a number of roles and who was present at Balmoral. The missive was handed in at the castle at 9.00am, announcing that the distillery was now fully in operation.  John Begg’s diary described the contents of his letter.  “… knowing how anxious HRH Prince Albert was to patronise and make himself acquainted with everything of a mechanical nature, I said I should feel much pleasure in showing him the works.”  On the afternoon of Tuesday, 12 September the Royal neighbours responded directly, though the surviving record in the Princess Beatrice-edited version of the Queen’s journals barely does the occasion justice.  “In the afternoon we drove with the 3 Children & Miss Hildyard getting out at Crathie & walking a little way up the hill to Whiskey Distillery, which we looked at & then down to the carriage again, driving some miles on the road to Invercauld.”     

John Begg’s diary entry was more expansive.  “I ran and opened the door when the Prince said, “We have come to see through your works, Mr Begg.”  There were besides TRH, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and Prince Alfred, accompanied by Lady Canning.  I at once conducted the Royal party to the distillery.  On entering the works, the two young Princes at once ran away among the casks, like any other children, whereupon Her Majesty called to them “Where are you young children going?” on which I laid hold of one in each hand and held them during the time they remained.  I endeavoured to explain the whole process of malting, brewing and distilling, showing the Royal party the bere in its original state, and in all its different stages of manufacture until it came out at the mouth of the still pipe in spirits.  HRH tasted the spirits with his finger from both the still pipes.  On going downstairs, HRH turned to me and said (looking at the locks on the stills), “I see you have got your locks there.”  On my replying, “These are the Queen’s locks,” Her Majesty took a hearty laugh.  When we came to the door, I asked HRH if he would like to taste the spirit in its matured state, as we had cleared some that day from Bond, which I thought was very fine.  HRH having agreed to this, I called for a bottle and glasses (which had been previously in readiness) and, presenting one glass to Her Majesty, she tasted it.  So also did His Royal Highness the Prince.  I then presented a glass to the Princess Royal, and to the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, all of whom tasted the spirit.  HRH the Prince of Wales was going to carry his glass quickly to his mouth.  I checked him, saying it was very strong and so he did not take but a very small drop of it.”  Clearly John Begg had prepared for the visit he hoped would take place and had done his best to make a good impression on the Royal party.  Events were to prove that he had been wildly successful in his aim.

The Aberdeen Journal also ran a full report of the Royal visit to the Lochnagar Distillery, published on 20 September.  “After their return, her Majesty, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred and the Princess Royal honoured the Lochnagar Distillery with a visit.  His Royal Highness Prince Albert examined most minutely the whole process of distillation of our national beverage.  His Royal Highness who is much interested in scientific and mechanical operations of all kinds put many questions relative to the works which showed that although he had never before seen any distillery, he was well acquainted with the general principles on which the process is conducted.  Mr Begg explained each department from the drying and malting of the grain to the time the liquor comes out in perfection at the worm end.  The Prince tasted the result of the operation he had witnessed, and the Queen also condescendingly put it to her lips.  They pronounced the quality to be very fine and an order was given for a supply to the Royal Yacht.  We understand that subsequently Messrs Begg & Buyers, the proprietors, were honoured with the Royal appointment of Distillers to Her Majesty.  We need not add that so signal an hour as that conferred on the distillery by the Royal visit is well calculated to win for it a popularity in this country which its produce is allowed by judges to merit and the occasion was celebrated with due festivity by all connected with the establishment by a great ball in the evening”.  John Begg was clearly chuffed with the success of the Royal visit.  The remarkable similarity of the contents of the Journal report to the entry in John Begg’s diary, but with extra detail which could only have come from someone who was present, suggests that Begg may have been the source of the information in the newspaper article.

Glasses and decanter used by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Lochnagar 1848

Almost immediately after the Queen’s first visit to the distillery, a Royal Warrant was granted to John Begg for the supply of whisky to Her Majesty.  John Begg wrote in his diary, “On 14^th September 1848 two days after the Royal visit, Mr Begg called by agreement at Balmoral Castle and was informed by Mr Anson, Private Secretary to Her Majesty that although there were several applicants for the Royal Warrant as distillers to Her Majesty, the Queen had expressed the wish that the warrant should be given to him and that he was writing by that day’s post to St James’s Palace to the Lord Steward to issue the warrant”.  Soon afterwards, while on a visit to London, John Begg visited St James’ Palace to receive his Royal Warrant.  He was asked to sit at the “Board of Green Cloth”.  This was the green baize-covered table at which the Court officials who audited the Royal accounts sat.  John Begg must have noted with satisfaction by this time that his strategy to recruit Royal approval for Lochnagar whisky had succeeded.  John Begg carefully preserved and displayed the decanter and glasses used to entertain the Queen and her consort on 12^th September 1848. 

In 1897, a watercolour of the Lochnagar Distillery, which had belonged to Henry Farquharson Begg, was offered for sale at the Bon Accord Auction Saloon in Aberdeen.  It had been painted by James Cassie, RSA and it sold for £30 (about £4,020 in 2020 money).  A painting of the same subject, by the same artist, was offered for sale at auction in 2007.  At this second auction, the full title was known.  "Lochnagar, Royal Distillery, The Special Appointment - Visited by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, His Royal Highness, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, and the Princess Royal, 12th September 1848, and on the 14th Her Majesty was pleased to confer the Special Appointment - Distillers to Her Majesty and His Royal Highness, Prince Albert".  Although proof is presently lacking, it seems very likely that it was the same painting being sold on two separate occasions.  Further, it also seems probable that it had originally belonged to John Begg senior and, from the caption attached, that it was commissioned from James Cassie by Begg himself.  Cassie was born at Keith Hall, near Inverurie, Aberdeenshire in 1819, the son of a wealthy tea and spirit merchant, which could have provided a link to John Begg.  James Cassie spent much of his life up to 1869 in Aberdeen as a pupil of painter, James Giles, ARSA. In any case Cassie was living in Castle Street and then Union Street, Aberdeen, in late 1848 and he also painted at least one scene depicting the harbour, the location of John Begg’s merchant business, about this time.  If these suppositions are correct, the picture’s caption would underline the significance that John Begg attached to that first Royal visit in 1848 and to the subsequent award of the Royal warrant.  The sale price on the second occasion has not been discovered but the estimate prior to auction was £2,500 - £4,000 (£3,650 - £5,840).  This construct would also be consistent with the commemorative labelling by John Begg of the glasses and decanter used to serve the Royal party with whisky on that fateful first visit to Lochnagar.  

Lochnagar Distillery by James Cassie

Aberdeen Harbour by James Cassie

James Cassie RSA

    

One of the earliest orders for whisky for the Royal household was for the Royal Yacht, though there were subsequently innumerable references to the supply of Lochnagar whisky to events at Balmoral Castle.  A good example right from the end of Queen Victoria’s reign was the order for ten gallons of Lochnagar whisky for the celebration of the Queen’s jubilee at Balmoral in 1897.  Becoming a Royal Tradesman had meant that John Begg could attach the adjective “Royal” to his distillery.  Although today the distillery is called “Royal Lochnagar” and that word sequence was used in the press from the beginning, John Begg’s initial use of the term was usually in the reverse order, “Lochnagar Royal Distillery”.  Presumably, he wanted the royal accolade to attach to the distillery and not to the mountain.

John Begg was clearly aware of the Queen’s addiction to all things Highland and made sure that he played the part that his monarch expected of residents of the Highlands.  On the return of Queen Victoria to Balmoral at the end of August 1850, she recorded the scene at the entrance to the estate in her journal.  “I really felt as if we had never been away! Near Grant's house (John Grant, then the Head Keeper at Balmoral, who was married to Elizabeth Robbie, daughter of the Glenmuick whisky smuggler, John Robbie) stood many of our own people, — with a little inscription: "Welcome to your Highland Home." Amongst the people were M^r Begg, in Highland Dress, & old M^rs M^cDougal, who threw herself on her knees, as we passed. For the old people of Upper Deeside, it must have been unimaginable that the head of the British Empire, the most powerful monarch in the world, should have appeared so intimately amongst them.

John Grant and his family, Balmoral 1861

The first reference that has been found which used the noun “Lochnagar” to refer to the product of the Lochnagar Distillery, rather than the mountain, was from 1826, as noted above, but from 1848, the Royal lease of the Balmoral Estate and then the visit to the establishment by the Their Royal Highnesses, caused this usage to accelerate.  Also, from this time, the press took a much greater interest in the affairs of Upper Deeside generally, for example in the Braemar Gathering, which indirectly added to the public profile of the whisky brand.  Terms such as “real Lochnagar”, “mountain dew o’ Lochnagar”, “wee drap Lochnagar”, “best Lochnagar”, “Royal Lochnagar”, “good Lochnagar” in connection with ploughing matches, agricultural shows and Highland gatherings became commonplace.  John Begg’s name was often attached to the product too, for example, “being fortified by a thimble-full of as good Lochnagar as ever John Begg brewed”, or even Begg’s name being used alone to identify his whisky, for example, “the real John Begg”.  After a ploughing match held at Candacraig on Donside in 1863, “The judges and several friends were hospitably entertained to dinner &c - Mr Riach, Candacraig, in the chair - when with a few tumblers of the real John Begg the party spent a happy evening”.  Lochnagar was a great, almost essential, social lubricant.  So potent did the association between John Begg’s name and the product of the distillery become that, after the death of John Begg in 1882, his son and successor, Henry Farquharson Begg, still traded under the name of his father.  After Henry’s death in 1896, the affairs of the business were managed by a board of trustees, usually referred to as the “Trustees of John Begg”, or even the truncated form “John Begg”.  The founder’s name has lived on long after his earthly extinction.

Early John Begg whisky label

That first call by the monarch to the Lochnagar Distillery on 12 September 1848 was not the last visit by the Queen and members of her family.  Further, VIP visitors to the Balmoral Estate frequently took the opportunity to pay homage at this shrine to the Highland beverage.  John Begg also took the opportunity of his now raised public profile to supply Lochnagar whisky to important national events.  In January 1849, “Messrs Begg and Buyers Lochnagar Royal Distillery have had the honour of forwarding a hogshead (54 gallons) of their whisky to the Mansion House for the use of the Lord Mayor and his distinguished guests” and any such supply was subsequently reported in the press.  Lochnagar whisky was also advertised extensively, the following example being from August 1849.  “Royal Lochnagar Whisky (as supplied to Her Majesty’s household and the nobility).  The subscribers beg to intimate that they have at present in their bonded warehouses here and in Aberdeen upwards of 1000 gallons of their celebrated Aqua matured with age and fit for immediate use, price 10a 6d per gallon.  One of the firm is now in attendance personally at the Work to receive orders.  Begg & Buyers, Distillers by special appointment to Her Majesty, and HRH Prince Albert.  Lochnagar Royal Distillery (within 1 mile of Balmoral Castle) August 10 1849”.  Curiously, as late as 1851, the Aberdeen Herald and General Advertiser (a rival organ to the Aberdeen Journal) still made a reference to “… a fair supply of Farquharson’s new Lochnagar” but this was a rarity.  Perhaps the Herald’s reporter had not recently visited Upper Deeside?

Without doubt, serendipity played a major role in elevating the status of John Begg and his product in the public mind, but credit must also be given to the man for his marketing acumen, long before the term “marketing” had been invented.  A walker enjoying the scenery of Upper Deeside in 1860 recorded a fitting tribute to John Begg’s establishment which illustrated the impact of Royal patronage, coupled with Begg’s commercial skills.  “A dense volume of dark brown smoke rising from the back of a fir plantation about a mile to the east of the palace guided us towards the Royal Lochnagar Distillery, which designation we have had occasion so often to notice in the public rooms of almost every Scottish village, town and city and the produce of which has attained such notoriety both at home and abroad since Her Majesty fixed her Highland home in the neighbourhood. And conferred the distinctive appellation of “Royal” upon the establishment”. 

The Queen’s peregrinations about her Deeside estates led to repeated interactions with John Begg, his family and his employees.  Only a week after the initial Royal visit, the Queen noted in her journal, “Afterwards walked up to the Distillery & on our way met M^r Begg & another man, by name Duncan, who looks after the poor. … We visited the cottage of M^r Begg's Distiller, by name Maclane, which is very tidy. He has such pretty children, 7 in number! Also saw the bothie where the labourers live, a very poor one, & the Excise Man, who showed Albert his books, &c. We came home pleased & interested with what we had seen, & the information we had obtained.”  In 1849, Prince Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales made a separate visit to the distillery.  “… the Prince of Wales walked to the Lochnagar Distillery and perambulated through all the works”.  The same year, the monarch and her consort made a return visit.  “During Wednesday (19 Sept) afternoon Her Majesty and Prince Albert visited the Lochnagar Distillery and while there entered the malt barn, the servants’ bothy and the brewers’ house, examining minutely the accommodation and arrangements with much interest”.  The Aberdeen Journal dutifully reported all such occasions, and their reports were in turn copied by other newspapers.

Prince Albert’s birthday anniversary was on 26 September, when the Royal entourage was usually in residence at Balmoral.  In 1849 this day happened to be a Sunday, so celebrations were deferred to the following day and included a “Grand rustic fete”.  The sequence of events was Highland games, entertainment by Professor Anderson, “the great wizard of the north” and concluded with a Highland ball.  One of Professor Anderson’s conjuring tricks was called “The inexhaustible bottle”, the magic container apparently able to supply any drink requested by a participant, in unlimited quantities.  “Mr Begg who was present called for best Lochnagar, which was produced.  The Queen and Prince also called for Royal Lochnagar which was poured and then tasted by the royal couple.  During the free diffusion of spirits from the bottle, Angus Mackay the Queen’s piper and Macdonald the Prince’s yager (huntsman, stalker or ghillie) competed to see who could drink the most, which caused great mirth”.  After the tragic early death of Prince Albert in 1861, the Queen raised a memorial cairn to his memory on Creagan Lurachain and in every remaining year of her reign and her life, representatives of the Court and estate employees would dutifully tramp up the hill on which the cairn was located and drink to his memory in….what else but Royal Lochnagar!

Over the years, there were many VIP visitors to the distillery and John Begg kept a record of the curious in a visitors’ book.  They included the following.  1850 – HRH the Duchess of Kent (Queen Victoria’s mother) accompanied by Baroness de Speth, Lord James Murray (brother of the Duke of Atholl) and Dr Robertson (the Queen’s Commissioner at Balmoral).  1863 – the Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied by the Hon Mrs Bruce, Colonel Keppel, Dr Jenner &c.  “After going round all the premises, the whole party honoured Mr & Mrs Begg the proprietors by visiting their house and partaking of Lochnagar Whisky”.  1863 – “Rt Hon W Gladstone, presently in attendance with the Court in the Highlands, paid a visit to Lochnagar Distillery when John Begg explained the whole process to him.  He stayed for nearly an hour.”  1864 – “… the Earl and Countess Delawarr and party, also Sir Charles Phipps and party honoured Mr Begg with a visit to the Royal Lochnagar Distillery to see the operations in the manufacture of Highland Whisky”.  Other prime ministers known to have crossed the portals of Lochnagar were Lord Beaconsfield (called Benjamin Disraeli before 1876), Lord Derby, who was thrice the occupant of 10 Downing Street and Lord John Russell (prime minister 1846 – 1852 and 1865 – 1866).   

John Begg’s relationship with both the Queen and Prince Albert matured over time from one of curiosity to one of friendship, albeit an unequal association involving a senior member of royalty and a tradesman, a definite social inferior.  This was similar to the way her relationships evolved with her senior Balmoral servants and extended to their wives and children.  In 1852 Prince Albert, accompanied by Mr Gibb was out one day spearing trout in the burn which fed the distillery when John Begg came upon the Royal visitor and was sufficiently confident to offer help in his neighbour’s endeavour “pointing out the different places where they might be most successful”.  As with other sporting pursuits, quantity was Prince Albert’s measure of a good day’s enjoyment and on this occasion many trout were run through, probably more than could be eaten.  Queen Victoria wrote in 1868, “Walked with Baby (Princess Beatrice, her youngest child) & Leopold, calling at the Distillery on the Begs. It is quite a nice house & she, such a good woman & they are such a respectable family”.    On other occasions the Queen simply dropped in on the Beggs while passing the Lochnagar Distillery.  In 1879 the monarch was taking her carriage to Abergeldie Castle to visit the Empress Eugenie of France, whom the Queen had invited to stay on Deeside, “calling at the Beggs, at the Distillery”.  Another regular visit was to say “goodbye” when the Court was leaving at the end of a Deeside sojourn, an example from her journal in June 1881 was, “Drove with Victoria to the Distillery & wished M^rs Begg goodbye.” 

As the health of the Beggs started to decline, the Queen was solicitous in seeking after their condition.  In autumn 1869 she “Went up to the Distillery to see M^r & M^rs Beg. He is much better. She is such a good Kind woman”.  When she was not present at Balmoral, the Queen still received reports of the health of estate workers and locals.  During 1881, Mrs Jane Begg’s health had declined significantly and the Queen, who was resident at Windsor Castle at the time, recorded “Heard that good M^rs Begg at the Distillery at Balmoral was very ill”.  Jane Begg died in July 1881 and the monarch noted the event with much feeling.  “Heard of the death of good excellent M^rs Begg. … . She will be much missed. She was such a superior, good & kind woman.”  Queen Victoria had clearly grown closer, over time, to Mrs Begg than to her husband.  When John Begg passed on during the following year, the entry in the Royal Journal was rather muted.  “Heard that M^r Begg died last night. Very sorry”.

 

John Begg and the community

Just like Alexander Farquharson before him, John Begg found that heading the distillery gave him substantial status in the local community but required him to play a public, social role too.  Attendance at Highland gatherings, such as Braemar, Deeside (at Banchory) and Lonach (at Strathdon) were de rigeur but presented ideal opportunities to promote his whisky brand.  Such events were (and are still) occasions on which much whisky is consumed.  In his native valley, Glenmuick, an annual gathering was initiated in 1851, and in 1852, John Begg acted as a judge.  The iteration of the gathering in the following year terminated with a ball held in a granary “with plenty of real Lochnagar and other good things”.  Another occasion which was of great sporting significance and which recurred annually was the salmon supper held at Banchory to mark the start of the salmon fishing on the Dee.  John Begg, who had been provost (mayor) of the town, chaired the 1851 supper.  Ploughing matches were another popular winter sport which allowed ploughmen and others to demonstrate their skills along the furrows.  The host farmer would normally supply food and drink to the participants and spectators during the day, liquid refreshment often being in the form of whisky, not infrequently from Lochnagar.  In 1866, John Begg hosted the Crathie ploughing competition on the Lochnagar farm.  Both Begg and Colonel Farquharson of Invercauld contributed prize money for the competitions and the proceedings advanced in typical style.  “Throughout the day the competitors and spectators were plentifully supplied with the real Lochnagar as well as with the edibles and after the labours of the day were over the judges, farmers and a great number of Mr Begg’s friends sat down to dinner served up in Mrs Begg’s usual liberal style and a pleasant evening was spent”.  Landlords of the principal hotels along Deeside received special welcomes when they arrived in post and similar accolades when they departed.  When George Clark decanted from the Invercauld Arms, Braemar in 1858, many of his customers and others subscribed to an illuminated address as a keepsake.  John Begg was a contributor, as he was the following year when a welcome dinner was held for the new landlord, Mr Ross, who had just arrived at the Monaltrie Arms, Ballater.  These are but two examples from a longer list.  Following the disruption of 1843, which split the Church of Scotland and created the Free Church, most of the nascent congregations were left without premises in which to worship.  It took some time for money to be raised to acquire new buildings.  In Crathie, it was not until 1862 that a new Free Church was built on a site near the distillery.  John Begg, though not of that persuasion, attended the ceremony for laying the foundation stone of the emergent church, located just outside his premises.

Saturday 19 November 1864 saw another significant wedding involving one of the most important proprietors on Upper Deeside.  Not a member of the Royal family, but Colonel James Farquharson, “Piccadilly Jim”, the Laird of Invercauld and the nuptials were not held in Scotland, but in London.  Nonetheless, major celebrations on Upper Deeside were organised, including a dinner in the Invercauld Arms, Braemar for his tenantry on the following Monday, to which John Begg was invited.  However, on the day of the wedding, the Lochnagar distiller, now wealthy and confident of his position in Deeside society, organised his own celebrations for the tenantry around Abergeldie, who were asked to assemble on “Craig Begg” (probably Cairnbegg, a hill located to the north of Crathie church) to build a bonfire.  “By half past three pm a large concourse of people had assembled headed by Mr Peter Robertson, piper to HRH the Prince of Wales at Abergeldie, who discoursed lively airs on the bagpipes throughout the afternoon.  While the work was progressing plentiful supplies of the “Real John Begg” were given by Messers Taylor and Jamieson, managers at the distillery.  About half past five o’clock the large pile was lighted by a young lady amidst thunderous cheers which were caught up by the Invercauld tenantry who were similarly engaged on the Craig above the parish church and cheer after cheer was given and returned during the burning of the bonfire.  After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the toast of the evening “Health and long life to the newly-married pair “was given amidst the vociferous cheering of the assemblage – the piper playing “The young laird of Invercauld”.  Dancing on the greensward was engaged in for a considerable time.  An order having been given to the people to march to Mr Begg’s the colours were hoisted, and the crowd headed by the flag and the piper marched to the entry door where having formed into a half circle the health of Mr Begg was proposed and drunk to with three times three “in real Highland style”.  Then followed the health of Mrs Begg and all the members of the family also that of Mrs Anderson, Lochnagar.  The whole proceedings were brought to a close about half past nine o’clock all having enjoyed the never-failing hospitality of Mr Begg on a most liberal scale.”  Although only a tenant of the Abergeldie Estate, by 1864 through clever deployment of his largesse, John Begg had achieved a prominence usually reserved for the major landed proprietors of the district.

Invercauld House 1884

Invercauld Arms, Braemar

Abergeldie Castle

Perhaps of more significance in the special circumstances of Upper Deeside was the mantle that John Begg donned as leading citizen in his interactions with the Royal family and their retainers at the castle.  Following the granting of a Royal Warrant in 1848, John Begg qualified to join the Royal Tradesmen in Aberdeen who held a celebratory dinner each year about the time of the monarch’s birthday (24 May).  In 1858, John Begg chaired this event.  When the Princess Royal married in that same year, a celebratory dinner was held at Balmoral which was chaired by Dr Andrew Robertson, the Commissioner.  He recruited John Begg to be his principal croupier (not an attendant at a gaming table but a supporter of the chairman at the dinner table, who ensured that conversation was encouraged). A year later this Royal couple celebrated the birth of a son and the Queen commanded that a celebratory ball be held at Balmoral Castle.  John Begg then took the lead in organising a congratulatory address to be sent to the new parents.   There were other occasions on which Begg attended events at Balmoral too.  John’s prominence grew with the years.  When Prince Albert Edward married in 1863, the celebrations on Deeside were extensive.  The Birkhall tenantry and officials built a celebratory cairn on the Hill of Cairnbegg, “where a cask of real Lochnagar was produced to supply the loyal toasts”.  On the Balmoral and Abergeldie estates a dinner and ball were held in celebration.  Initially, the plan was for John Begg to take the presidency though, on the day, Dr Andrew Robertson fulfilled the role.  The reason for the substitution has not been discovered, but the fact that John Begg was slated for this role was significant.  A few months later the Lochnagar distiller had an opportunity to shower his largesse on an occasion to celebrate Prince Albert Edward’s’ nuptials.  A reception was held for the Royal couple at Abergeldie and in the evening John Begg mounted a firework display for his brother tenants and their families.  Another pyrotechnic extravaganza was laid on at Abergeldie by the prominent distiller when the Crown Prince and Princess of Prussia arrived at the castle the same year. 

Although the Prince of Wales was his landlord at this time, John Begg did not forget to charm the monarch.  When the Queen arrived at Ballater on her way to Balmoral for her spring holiday in May 1864, John Begg was present at the station and presented Her Majesty with a bouquet of flowers.  The sixth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was Princess Louise, who was born in 1848.  In 1871 she married the then Marquis of Lorne in London but, as usual, celebrations were held nationwide, including the illumination of several buildings and ships in Aberdeen.  The Aberdeen Journal described the scene.  “Looking down from Union Bridge towards the station the coup d’oeil was magnificent.  Quite equal however in its way was the general effect of the ships in the harbour illuminated with their red and green signal lights.  The Aberdeen & London Company’s steamer “Ban-Righ” was hung over with no fewer than 60 or 70 of these lights.  Mr John Begg added to the harbour attractions by displaying upon his premises at Weigh-house Square a large, illuminated star with the letters “L&L” underneath and surmounted by a crown.”  Begg had good reason to make a fuss of Princess Louise.  He had been the representative of the tenantry and servants on the Royal Deeside estates who had coordinated the collection of contributions and the selection and presentation of the wedding gift, “a very chaste and elegant necklet and earrings composed principally of very fine Scotch pearls and diamonds with a suitable address”.  Princess Louise wrote a warm letter of thanks to John Begg, including the following extract.  “I am deeply touched by your having so kindly thought of me on this occasion and in giving me such a beautiful present.  I thank you from my heart for it and I shall ever treasure it among my most valued gifts as coming from kind friends who will always be associated in my thoughts with dear Balmoral and those who have known me from my childhood”. 

There was a different civic role to be played, mostly in Aberdeen, but one which was of an alternative nature to his community activities on Upper Deeside.  Politically, John Begg was a Conservative and from time to time he attended political hustings or added his name to published lists of supporters of Parliamentary candidates.  By 1866, John Begg’s status on Deeside was such that he took the role of presenting the Conservative candidate, Sir James Elphinstone “as a fit and proper person to represent the County in Parliament” at an election meeting held in Ballater.  In 1867, Aberdeenshire gained a second Parliamentary constituency, West Aberdeenshire, which included Balmoral and Lochnagar.  Remarkably, this seat was won by William McCombie of Tillyfour, the celebrated breeder and feeder of polled black cattle (see below), although he was not the candidate of either of the main political parties.  McCombie, a highly principled man, stood as an independent, essentially representing the interests of the tenant farmers.  Remarkably, McCombie was the comfortable winner.  At the following general election in 1874, William McCombie stood again and John Begg, true to his principles signed the election papers of McCombie’s Conservative opponent, Mr Edward Ross.  McCombie once more scored a decisive victory.

In 1856 John Begg was a member of the Committee for Cooperation with the Town Council in the Preservation of the Links, the popular area of sand hills behind Aberdeen beach.  A new Excise Bill was introduced to Parliament in 1859 and a copy was sent to the distillers and bonded warehouse keepers in Aberdeen for comment.  A meeting under the chairmanship of John Begg for this purpose was held in the Adelphi.  The meeting generally supported the measures proposed but also suggested some alterations to improve the working of the legislation.  Turnpike trusts had been responsible for the building and maintenance of long-distance roads since the start of the Industrial Revolution but 100 years later there was dissatisfaction with this funding mechanism and a public movement arose to have road tolls abolished.  In 1862, the Lochnagar distiller was one of many businesspeople trading in Aberdeen who petitioned Queen Victoria for the abolition of road tolls.

As John Begg grew older (approximately from 1860, when he was in his mid-50s) and, at the same time, much wealthier, he made a habit of supporting charitable causes, especially ones focussed on Aberdeen.  The typical sum contributed was £1 or 1gn, which today might seem a bit parsimonious.  However, in 1860, £1 was the equivalent of £127 in 2020 money.  Some of these organisations received serial donations, including the Public Soup Kitchen, the Aberdeen Hospital for Incurables, the Aberdeen United Coal Fund, the Shipwrecked Mariners Society, the Association for the Poor, the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the Hospital for Sick Children.  Other donations were one-off, such as 10/- given for the relief of unemployed operatives in Aberdeen in 1868.  In January 1862, the beam of the pumping engine at the Hartley Colliery, Northumberland, broke and fell down the shaft trapping the mine’s occupants.  The death toll was 204 men and children, which caused a national outpouring of grief.  John Begg donated 10/- to the appeal, giving the lie to the casually repeated prejudice concerning Aberdonians and charitable giving.  Another English cause that John Begg supported was the appeal made on behalf of unemployed cotton workers in Lancashire in 1863, which was occasioned by the blockade of the Southern ports during the American Civil War, resulting in a shortage of raw cotton in Manchester, then known popularly as “Cottonopolis”, and the surrounding area.  Begg gave 2gns. 

John Begg, a merchant especially dependent on marine trade had a particular concern for seamen’s charities.  In 1873 he gave 10/- to the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society and the following year he donated twice that sum to the Stonehaven Lifeboat Disaster Fund.  This oared, but self-righting vessel, with a crew of 12, was capsized entering Aberdeen Harbour in rough weather after a false alarm in 1874.  Four of the crew were swept away and drowned.  Another disaster, of a more widespread nature occurred at the end of April,1880, when a late gale caught out many small fishing boats from the coastal villages along the Aberdeen and Kincardineshire coasts, with much loss of life leaving many widows and orphaned children.  The Fishing Boats Disaster Fund received £1 from the Lochnagar distiller. 

 Stonehaven lifeboat, St George 

Occasionally, a John Begg donation went to a cause far distant from Aberdeen, such as for the victims of the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 when 300 people died and 100,000 were left homeless.  Another overseas cause that he supported was relief of the famine in Asia Minor (the most western part of modern Turkey) in 1875.  Another famine in India between 1876 and 1878 affected about 60 million people, and the fund established for the relief of the stress caused benefitted from John Begg’s donation of £3.    Although most of his charitable donations went to the alleviation of poverty or distress, occasionally Begg’s monetary gifts were directed to artistic causes, such as the Aberdeen Choral Union and the Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum Fund.

Other organisations of a semi-, or quasi-charitable nature also benefitted from his largesse, such as the City of Aberdeen Artisan Volunteer Artillery and Rifle Corps.  After the death of Prince Albert in 1861, an appeal was launched to raise a statue of him in Aberdeen and, inevitably, John Begg contributed his guinea.  A further but similar monument, this time to the Queen, was financed by subscription the following year.  On the second occasion, Begg’s contribution was doubled, and the distillery employees added their shilling (actually 8/-).  Aberdeen’s Wapinschaw (weapon show - an annual shooting competition) was established in 1862 and has taken place almost every year since.  By 1865 John Begg was donating to this event, usually ½ gn, probably because of his support for the Volunteer battalions, which had been raised in Aberdeenshire and whose members were keen shooters.  John Begg contributed to the funds of the Aberdeenshire Volunteer Rifle Association too.  Another of John Begg’s special interests was in swimming and life-saving.  He gave 5/- to support the Grand Regatta held on the River Dee in Aberdeen for the first time in 1867 and he also donated to the Dee Swimming Club and Humane Society.

 

Litigation 

On a small number of occasions John Begg found himself involved in litigation, both as pursuer and as defender.  In 1860 at Kirkaldy Sheriff Court he pursued Mrs Ann Doig for additional duty relating to a barrel of spirits ordered before an increase in tax but delivered afterwards.  She claimed that only the pre-rise tax rate was due.  John Begg was successful in overturning her argument.  In 1862 John Begg found himself defending his actions in the Court of Session against the accusations of one David McDonald, an Edinburgh grocer.  The issue was as follows.  “Whether in or about the 4^th of May the defender did write and transmit through the Post Office to Mr John Jopp 161 High Street Edinburgh a letter dated Aberdeen 4^th May 1861 containing inter alia the following words “M’Donald, if he was as well known in Edinburgh as I know him, or the people of Dunfermline, he would have been kicked out of the town long ago.  He is about one of the worst characters I ever knew, and I suppose his brother in Grassmarket is not much better” and whether the whole or any part of the said words are of and concerning the pursuer and are false and calumnious and whether the said letter containing said words was so written and transmitted to the loss injury and damage of pursuer”.  The jury found unanimously for the Aberdonian, though it has not been discovered whether the jurors believed the words to be true, or if they had concluded that it was not proven that John Begg uttered them, or if the pursuer had not suffered a material loss as a result.

 

John Begg’s herd of shorthorns

Trophy farming by the Royal family had started with Prince Albert and keeping specialist herds of cattle then became fashionable amongst the aristocracy, allowing them to garner glory with their animals at major agricultural shows.  The most popular such breed of beef cattle was the black hornless breed, later called “Aberdeen Angus”, from the North East counties, where William McCombie of Tillyfour farm, near Alford was particularly prominent.  John Begg also developed a herd of beef cattle, but he chose the shorthorn which, especially when crossed with other breeds, produced enormous animals.  This breed was more in keeping with the commercial ethos that John Begg espoused. The Lochnagar herd was in existence from about 1865 and in subsequent years John Begg was often recorded buying prize animals from other farms, such as the famous Sittyton herd.  Although Begg won prizes with his animals at local agricultural shows, he seemed to have no aspirations to be represented at the most significant Scottish or English shows, though he became a member of the Shorthorn Society, based in London.

 

Distillery operations

The Lochnagar distiller was a victim of the success of his own alcoholic beverage when his premises at Crathie became the target for thieves.  The Huntly Express related one damaging event from late November 1868.  “While some carts laden with casks of whisky were standing in the court at Mr Begg’s Lochnagar Distillery some “drouths” (thirsty people) bored a hole in each of them but appears to have been scared in the act and bolted leaving the whisky running out.  When the horseman came to yoke the horses, he found the cask leaking and discovered that eight gallons had run out.  Mr Begg has suffered a good deal of late from thefts of spirits in similar daring ways”.

John Begg is reputed to have owned eight warehouses around Weighhouse Square, Aberdeen and in 1876 he planned an addition to his storage capacity with a new warehouse on land between Virginia Street and Castle Street.  However, a spanner was thrown in the works when an interdict was sought by Hugh Fraser, a china merchant and owner of a plot adjacent to and north of John Begg’s property.  There was a restrictive covenant on the Begg land which precluded building within 60 ft of the boundary.  John Begg was proposing to build on this restricted area but below ground level and posited that the covenant would not be breached.  Begg lost the legal argument, appealed the verdict and then lost again.  He is presumed to have modified his plans as a result.  But all did not turn out well when the building had been completed and stocking had been initiated.  The Aberdeen Journal tells the alarming story.  “Accident to a new granary.  No little alarm was caused on Monday forenoon at the large granary and bonded stores in Virginia Street, recently erected for Mr John Begg distiller, by the partial giving way of a part of the building.  The stores occupy the site of what used to be called Cowie’s Brewery and have a massive and rather imposing appearance from Marischal Street Bridge.  The premises consist of one block nearly 100 ft long.  On the street level are five long arches with gates leading to extensive vaults cut into the Castle Hill behind the building.  The arches to the front assist in sustaining three granary floors one above the other by means of iron pillars which rest upon them.  The arches are levelled up with concrete and covered with a flooring of asphalt.  The granaries were being filled up with Russian grain, the cargoes of two vessels freighted by Mr Knox, grain merchant, when the alarming symptoms to which we have alluded occurred.  There were about 600 quarters of grain in the granary above the entire sole when it was discovered that the pillars were standing in saucer-like indentations in the floor having sunk by the superincumbent weight fully 2 ins into the concrete and asphalt.  Of course, there was a corresponding give in the floor of the grain loft and probably it might have passed unheeded had the floor not actually given way in two or three places at the east end of the building and allowed several bushels of grain to run through.  The men at work in the loft receiving the bags of grain and emptying it as it was hoisted up to the lofts by means of a steam crane, naturally became alarmed for their safety which led to a cessation of work and an examination of the building.  The result was that the work of putting in the grain was resumed which would seem to indicate that no real danger was apprehended and that what was taken for the premonitory symptoms of a collapse was only the settling down of a new building to its permanent bearings.  The appearance of the external walls at the place where the accident occurred was not calculated to allay the fears at first excited by the internal rupture.  The east gable is perceptibly bulging outwards and there is a rent in the front wall and one of the stones in the nearest arch has fallen about an inch from its place.  Whether this was caused by the internal strain is not very clear, but it was thought advisable before putting more grain into the building to place supports of a temporary kind under the arch”.  Today, this warehouse no longer seems to exist, all the old granite buildings on the north side of Virginia Street having been replaced by anonymous modern structures.

John Begg warehouses, Weigh-House Square

The boast was often made that the essential ingredients of Lochnagar whisky, the water, the barley and the peat, were all derived from the land of Deeside, as though this undeniably beautiful part of Aberdeenshire contained some magical ingredient which was captured and bottled in the manufacture of the John Begg spirit.

The link to the mountain of Lochnagar was especially claimed for the origin of the distillery’s water supply and its purity, for example, “… the water comes from a spring on Lochnagar on which there is a series of three reservoirs, one of which is very near the summit of Lochnagar” and “… one has only to see the water in these huge reservoirs to realise its absolute purity”.  These romantic notions do not bear too close an examination.  Inspection of OS maps from 1866 and 1901 show two large reservoirs in the former, both quite close to the distillery.  A third water storage facility had been added in the latter.  All three were fed and joined by two burns and a series of lades and sluices.  None of the reservoirs was remotely close to the mountain of Lochnagar.  The burns feeding these ponds arise on Creag a’ Ghail a hill of 1969 ft located some 3 ½ miles north of the Balmoral Munro (Scottish mountain over 3,000 ft).  Regarding the claim of purity, the straw colour of the water in these Deeside burns demonstrates that the contents are certainly not pure in a chemical sense.  But are these natural contaminants essential contributors to the character of Lochnagar whisky?

Lochnagar reservoirs 1901

Before the importation of coal to Aberdeen in the mid-19^th Century, only two sources of fuel were available, wood and peat, the semi-fossilised remains of moorland plants accumulated since the last ice age.  Queen Victoria used to burn birch logs, but she had extensive forests which could be plundered.  For most peasant people, cutting, stacking and drying peats was their only practicable fuel source.  Anyone who has smelled the smoke of a peat fire knows that its aroma is pleasant, highly characteristic and has the potential to add some special ingredients to whisky via the drying of the malted barley.  From about 1847, the peats used at the Lochnagar Distillery were derived from a site on the Invercauld Estate and the production was put out to contract, the following extract being from 1863, “Wanted estimates for casting peats for Lochnagar Distillery”.  However, in 1897, the then laird of Invercauld, Alexander Haldane Farquharson, son of Colonel James Farquharson, through his factor, Gordon Foggo, abruptly withdrew his permission for peat cutting.  This combination of laird and factor had proved in other circumstances to be both impetuous and difficult.  Queen Victoria stepped in to offer an alternative source of peats near Loch Muick.  This concession was continued by King Edward VII.  John Michie, who in 1897 was head forester at Balmoral, was given the task of keeping an eye on the new operation.  In his diary he expressed some skepticism about the quality, but not the quantity, of the material available.  About 300 loads a year were needed, possibly about 300 tons, for the drying kilns.  The cost of mossrent for the first year was not immediately decided but the expenditure on road building, drainage ditches and peat cutting was £50.  John Michie was not impressed by the foreman peat caster, Christie, whom he described as “a peculiar mortal & most independent”.  The head forester had to demand that the mining site be kept in better order, so as not to offend the monarch due to its untidy state, as she passed along the road bordering Loch Muick.

Locating the distillery at a farm with some arable land and the ability to grow barley was a good combination though, as the volume of whisky produced each year expanded, the farm must soon have become inadequate as a source of this grain for malting.  One interesting result of John Begg’s local production was reported in 1878, when it was announced that he had developed a barley strain with two heads.  In 1865, it is known that some of the grain for the distillery was sourced from Tarland market, “bere and barley to go to Lochnagar Distillery 20s 6d per 53lbs”.  Forty years later, grain supplies were still coming from the same general area “the barley is grown west of Torphins”, maintaining the claim of a Deeside origin for the distillery’s grain.  The Aberdeenshire seed merchants and maltsters used a combination of carrot and stick to encourage local farmers to produce barley of the desired quality.  In 1869, they published a warning to farmers concerning their threshing practices.  “To the farmers of Aberdeen and adjoining counties.  Grain merchants and maltsters objecting to practice of farmers of “beating bere and barley too close” so that its germinating powers are damaged.  Will in future refuse to buy or buy as an inferior quality”.  John Begg was one of the signatories.  A further exercise of purchasing muscle occurred in 1877.  “To farmers.  We the undersigned grain dealers (including John Begg) finding it necessary to put a stop to the practice of weighing up grain above the natural weight hereby intimate that in future we will only receive and pay for grain by the natural weight and for any additional grain put into sacks payment will be made as for over measure”.  In 1880, shortly before John Begg’s death, the Lochnagar farm was used as a demonstration site for a new corn harvesting implement.  “Exhibition of Wood’s reaper and binder at Lochnagar.  The machine was exhibited by Messrs Ben Reid & Co, Bon-Accord Works Aberdeen, under the superintendence of Mr Harris agent for Walter A Wood and Mr Anderson of Ben Reid”.  This was such a significant development that “the Queen and Princess Beatrice came to see the demonstration”.  The Beggs also promoted the production of improved barley through the donation of prizes at local agricultural shows.  For example, in 1876, at the Cromar, Upper Dee and Donside Agricultural Association 5^th annual show at Tarland, John Begg donated a prize of 10/- for the best sample of barley and 5/- for the second best.  His son, Henry Farquharson Begg carried on this practice.  In 1889 at the Banchory Ornithological and Agricultural Produce Society annual show, he donated a piece of plate as a reward for the best barley for distilling.

Lochnagar farm (left) and distillery (right) ca 1901.  Prince Albert's cairn in the distance

Even in 1901, the Lochnagar Distillery’s main means of transporting whisky about the district was by cart pulled by Clydesdale heavy horses, but John Begg had earlier seen an opportunity to improve his transport efficiency.  The railway joining Aberdeen to the south was completed in 1850, initially ending at Ferryhill on the south side of the town but continuing to the Guild Street terminus in central Aberdeen, close to the Quay, in 1854.  Meanwhile the Deeside railway had been under construction and the first phase from Banchory to Aberdeen, was joined to the line from the south at Ferryhill in 1853.  Further extensions westward of the Deeside line reached Aboyne in 1859 and Ballater in 1866.  Backers sought to continue the railway along the river valley to Braemar and John Begg was an investor in the Aboyne and Braemar Railway which was established for that purpose.  He was present at the turf cutting ceremony for the Braemar addition at Ballater in 1865, but Queen Victoria blocked the railway’s supplementation beyond the town, fearing its impact on the tranquility of her Deeside home.  Today, visitors to Ballater can still see the bridge over the “railway line that never was” just before the station on the western approach to the town.  A siding in the vicinity of Crathie would have been enormously helpful to John Begg in moving whisky barrels from Lochnagar to his bonded stores in Aberdeen, by drastically reducing the slow, ten-mile cart journey to Ballater.

Distillery carts ca 1901

The tracking of whisky depositions into, and dispatches from the Aberdeen warehouses of John Begg, mined from the pages of the Aberdeen Journal between 1847 and 1876, reveals an interesting story and one which is quite different from the movements of the other spirits rum, brandy and Geneva, in which John Begg traded.  Whisky depositions did not enter storage in Aberdeen until 1851 and even then only at the modest level of 200 gallons during the whole year.  Thereafter a stuttering rate of deposition occurred annually, a few hundred gallons or nothing, until 1866.  Between 1851 and 1865, the total volume of whisky deposited in Aberdeen by John Begg was less than 3,800 gallons.  Moreover, there were no recorded dispatches of “best Lochnagar” from Aberdeen storage at all in the period 1847 – 1865.

But from 1866, the pattern of whisky movements changed completely.  Depositions in the Aberdeen warehouses ramped up rapidly, so that in 1875 almost 27,000 gallons entered storage in the Granite City.  Also, from 1866 dispatches from the Aberdeen warehouses followed a similar trajectory to depositions.  In that year, 674.6 gallons left the Aberdeen warehouses, apparently for the first time.  They ramped up to over 23,000 gallons in 1875.  During the year 1876, the Aberdeen Journal move to daily publication and data collection on whisky movements was terminated.  However, the portion of the year for which volumes are known show a high rate of entry and exit, similar to that of the previous year.

There is a clear explanation for this dramatic change in 1866.  In that year the Deeside railway reached Ballater, barely 10 miles from the Lochnagar Distillery.  Prior to 1859, moving whisky to Aberdeen would have involved a slow, 50-mile cart journey and low volumes and even between 1859 and 1866, the road journey would have been to Aboyne, 20 miles.  The railway granted John Begg speed and high load capacity.  Further, at the destination the goods station was located in Guild Street, quite close to Weighhouse Square and the Begg warehouses.  Also, transportation of whisky south by rail, or internationally by steamer, now became feasible for large volumes of product, overcoming the disadvantage of Lochnagar’s remote location.  The completion of the Deeside railway to Ballater in 1866 was a most important development for the John Begg whisky business.

Modern distilleries deliberately cultivate a traditional look for the benefit of their visitors, one which is associated with traditional architectural features, cleanliness and the historical romance of the product.  But it should not be overlooked that they are factories and factories produce waste products which were initially simply discharged into the immediate environment without a thought to the consequences.  As the production volume at Lochnagar built up, so the casual discharge of waste became an increasing problem.  One small locational advantage was the distillery’s geographical position downstream, and down wind, of Balmoral Castle, though not of Abergeldie Castle.  In the early days, Balmoral Castle, and other sites and settlements along the river valley, were also polluters of the river Dee with the discharge of raw or semi-treated sewage, so perhaps the monarch and the Court would not have perceived a distillery problem against this background.  The body which first started to worry about pollution of the Dee, and which had the authority to act, was Aberdeen’s town council, which had started to abstract water from the Dee in 1866 from Cairnton, a location between Banchory and Kincardine O’Neil.  The Invercannie Water Works two miles downstream from the abstraction point were opened by Queen Victoria in that year.  

The earliest complaint about discharges from the Lochnagar Distillery that has been uncovered was in 1878 when Thomas Jamieson, the city analyst measured water quality above and below all the Deeside settlements.  The places he picked out as causing the most nuisance were:- Lochnagar Distillery, Kincardine O’Neil, Ballater, Braemar, Balmoral and Abergeldie.  In most cases the problem was caused by sewage but not in the case of the distillery.  Some years later, the Town Council started to commission regular analyses of water quality and later still instituted an annual tour of Deeside by members of the Water Committee to assess progress in mitigation measures.  Water quality for human consumption was not the only problem, the Dee being an important river for the sport of salmon fishing.  John Michie recounted a meeting with two members of the Water Committee, Baillie Booth and Councillor Wilson, in 1906, by which time Michie was the Balmoral Estate factor.  “Walked with them to the river opposite the (Crathie) manse.  They approve of the cesspool system for the sewage the overflow to go on the Glebe.  Visited the cottages cesspool, overflow of which passes into Distillery Burn & which they object to”.  The following year Michie also had a conversation with Mr Duffus, Clerk to the Dee District Fisheries Board specifically about pollution by distillery effluent. At the start of the fishing season in 1909, John Michie, a keen fisherman, was out early but still noted, “Froth from Distillery passing down all the time”.  The same year, the Deeside District Committee of Aberdeen County Council also complained to John Michie about discharges from Lochnagar and urged him to put the matter right before the next inspection. 

Aqueous effluent was not the only pollution problem caused by local whisky production at Crathie.  In 1914, the distillery had its chimney stacks swept and the workmen then threw the resultant hot piles of soot into the adjacent wood, which was on the Balmoral Estate.  The wood caught fire and an acre of young trees was destroyed.  Success usually brings its own problems!

It should be born clearly in mind that John Begg, though often called a “distiller” appeared never to have had day to day involvement in the management of the Lochnagar distillery, let alone have his hands on the taps and gauges.  The same was true of his son, Henry, who was more interested in farming than in distilling (see below).  Similarly, management of the substantial Lochnagar farm was delegated.  Further, practical operations within the whisky manufacturing facility depended on the recruitment of craft skills, often from that most important Highland whisky-producing region, the Spey valley.  The Lochnagar distillery was quite isolated geographically and there were no similar facilities nearby from which craftsmen and managers could be attracted.

Collation of references to individual managers (distillery and farm) and craftsmen has given a reasonably clear account of the key employees who were vital to the efficient operation of the Lochnagar distillery during the four successive regimes of John Begg (1847 – 1882), his son Henry (1882 – 1896), the Trustees of John Begg (1896 – 1910) and the managing director of John Begg Ltd. (1910 -).  There were several distinct crafts employed within the distillery, maltman, brewer and ballman (or stillman) who played their parts sequentially during the production process.

In the earliest days of James Robertson (1823? – 1837) the level of production of whisky was so limited that the owner/manager probably played multiple roles, as is the nature of all small businesses.  His successor, Alexander Farquharson (1837 – 1846?) was described as “distiller” but separately employed a brewer and a maltman.  Perhaps Alexander played the role of ballman as well as taking overall managerial responsibility for the operations?  The advent of John Begg as owner of the facility also brought a new manager, his brother-in-law, James Anderson, the retired soldier of advancing years.  He only lasted from 1846 to 1852, when he departed this life.  It was probably at this point that John Begg recruited James Smith from Glenlivet, Speyside as the new distillery manager, though reference to him being in post has only been uncovered for the period 1859 – 1861.  In 1860, a passing rambler on Deeside enjoyed the company of the Smiths and recorded his experience.  “We experienced the hospitality of Mr and Mrs Smith and were able to see the respect in which Mr Smith is held by his employer from a rather costly presentation with an inscription bearing to have been a gift from his master’s lady”.  Smith, who had recruited his own craftsmen from Speyside, moved back north in 1861 and was replaced by Alexander “Sandy” Taylor, who was promoted from the role of maltman.  He remained in post until 1901, being described variously as brewer, head brewer, manager and distillery manager, but who was clearly in overall charge of the distillery.  During the building of a bonfire as part of the celebrations of the marriage of Colonel Farquharson in 1864, which was referred to above, “While the work was progressing plentiful supplies of the “Real John Begg” were given by Messrs Taylor and Jamieson (farm), managers at the distillery”.  Both Taylor and Jamieson were rewarded for their loyalty in John Begg’s will, when they were bequeathed legacies of £50 each.

Sandy Taylor, Lochnagar Distillery manager

The earliest identification of a recognisable farm manager at the Lochnagar farm was at the 1861 Census, when 35-year-old (estimates vary) Alexander Jamieson, who had been born at Premnay, Aberdeenshire, was described as “farm overseer”.  At the previous census ten years earlier, he had been a farm labourer in Alford.  It is uncertain when between the two censuses he was appointed to manage the farm at Lochnagar.  In 1864, when in his late thirties, Alexander married Elizabeth Gordon, the daughter of Peter Gordon, the whisky smuggler.  Alexander Jamieson was given a variety of titles over the years – manager, land steward, farm manager, overseer, grieve – in addition to his 1861 title, but all described or implied control of farm operations.  He seemed to be close to the family of John and Jane Begg and had the difficult task of ministering to three of the Begg youngsters in their last hours and days, when they died prematurely at the distillery.  Alexander was succeeded by Charles Clark, who in turn gave way to John Morrison.  He filled the role at least between 1900 and 1902.  It was in this period that there was a serious fire at the distillery and John played a leading role in fighting the conflagration.  During WW1, when labour was scarce, the roles of distillery manager and farm grieve were combined and fulfilled by William Lumsden, who had previously been principal maltman.

 

Henry Farquharson Begg (1838 – 1896)

Henry Farquharson Begg was born in 1838 at 9 Quay, Aberdeen, close to his father’s merchant operation.  Henry was the fifth child and fourth son of John and Jane Begg and while growing up he probably thought that he was so low down the pecking order in the family that he had little hope of stepping into his father’s shoes.  However, chance is a funny thing and in October 1852, with the death of his brother Francis, he became the oldest surviving son of the family.  By 1868, after further family misfortune, he had become the only surviving male offspring.

In 1851 Henry Begg was a pupil at Belleview House, Hardgate, Aberdeen and, after completing his schooling, he worked for his father for a short while.   But, instead of settling down and preparing to take over the family business, in 1858 at the age of 20, Henry Begg left for New Zealand, travelling steerage on the 600-ton barque, Strathfieldsaye (named after the Hampshire home of the Dukes of Wellington), and arrived at Dunedin on 29 April.  Perhaps he wanted to see the world and thought there was plenty of time to achieve personal goals before undertaking family duties?  Dunedin is and was the largest town in Otago, South Island, which was dominated by expatriate Scots.  While in New Zealand, Henry met and married Jane Hay, of Hilly Park, Otago, in 1865.  She had been born in Keith, Banffshire.  The couple’s first two children, Jane, born 1866 and John, who entered life three years later, first saw light in the antipodes.  Henry Begg and Jane went on to have nine children in total.  Henry was said to have been “in business” in New Zealand.  The exact nature of his commercial activities has not been discovered but was probably related to farming.  On his return to Britain, his interests were clearly oriented towards agriculture and away from distilling and liquor trading.

During late 1869 or early 1870, Henry Begg and his family returned to Britain, apparently recalled due to the deterioration in his father’s health.  Queen Victoria wrote in her journal in August 1869, “… drove with Lenchen up to the Distillery to enquire after poor M^r Begg who has had another seizure. Found his good excellent wife very anxious”.  This episode of ill-health seems to have been the immediate cause of Henry’s return to home shores.   Now it was time for Henry Farquharson Begg to prepare seriously to succeed to his father’s businesses at the Quay and at Lochnagar and Henry’s job titles over the next few years suggested that he spent time in different areas of the John Begg businesses as a training programme.  Between 1870 and 1873 he was described as a “clerk”, most likely working at the Weighhouse Square office supervising the warehousing and delivery operations of the merchant business.  The year 1874 saw Henry’s job title transform to “clerk at distillery” and two years later he was a “wine merchant”, to be followed in 1880 by “master distiller” and in all subsequent years as simply a “distiller”.  This last title probably carried the same import as with his father, that is as a representative of the owner of the facility and subsequently the actual distillery owner.  However, it is likely that Henry had taken practical control of both businesses before his father’s death in 1882.  In April 1879, the Queen invited Balmoral tenants and dependants to a dinner in honour of the nuptials of HRH the Duke of Connaught to Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.  Henry Begg acted as croupier (one of three), which role he surely would not have been asked to perform if his father had been fit to act in this capacity.  In April 1883, Henry Begg attended the funeral of John Brown, Queen Victoria’s controversial Highland servant at Crathie churchyard.

 

Fires and distillery improvements     

The continuing growth and success of the Lochnagar Distillery depended upon improvements and additions to the works on several occasions.  When John Begg and his brother-in-law, James Anderson took control of the Lochnagar Distillery at the end of 1846, they already had plans for expansion and immediately set about enlarging the facilities.  An informative advertisement appeared in the Aberdeen Journal in mid-November of that year.  “To masons and wrights.  Estimates are wanted for an addition to the malt barn and kiln at Lochnagar Distillery conforming to plans and specifications to be had of Mr John Milne, manager at the work to whom application may be made and estimates lodged with on or before Friday the 20^th curt on which day the work will be contracted for”.  Just four and a half years later, a further ambitious expansion was set in train.  “Estimates are wanted from the following parties for work to be done this season at Lochnagar Royal Distillery :- Masons and wrights for building additional houses.  Coopers for a set of new tuns, 1400 gallons each.  Ironfounders for a set of metal coolers.  Coppersmiths for a new boiler.  All in terms of specifications to be seen with Mr Anderson at the Work, or at 17 Quay, Aberdeen”.  The following year Queen Victoria noted the new constructions in passing, “We took a delightful walk, going up to the Distillery, where M^r Beg, is making improvements”.  In 1860, a passing rambler noted another phase of expansion. “There are at present considerable additions being made to the premises and we found the works being presided over by one of the Smiths of Glenlivet of whisky-making fame.”

Demand for the John Begg brand of whisky continued its seemingly inexorable rise, even after the originator’s death and in 1901 what amounted to a complete reconstruction of the Lochnagar Distillery was put in train.  “Large extensions are in progress at Lochnagar Royal Distillery.  Mr Morgan, builder, Aberdeen has an army of masons employed building new warehouses of large dimensions.  It is said that the stills etc will also share in the general enlargements”.  Morgan was also responsible in the same year for building a new bungalow 300yds east of the distillery on the Lochnagar site for the “Misses Begg”, John Begg’s surviving daughters.  But then disaster struck.  The original Crathie distillery is alleged to have been burned down about 1825 and the first Lochnagar distillery suffered the same fate in 1841.  This New Lochnagar distillery also went up in flames during the reconstruction process of 1901.  It was a serious, costly and disruptive conflagration.

The Misses Begg's bungalow at Lochnagar

Distilleries were inherently at risk of ignition.  They used fires extensively to dry the germinated barley and to heat water.  Further, they sometimes employed steam engines, too.  The spirit product, often stored in bonded warehouses in large volumes, was flammable, as was the peat and coke used for fuel and the grist manufactured from the barley.  The New Lochnagar fire started during the night of Saturday 14^th – Sunday 15^th December 1901.  Fire precautions on the site seem to have been good and routinely applied.  On every night of the week except, crucially, Saturday, an employee was on duty throughout the night. The farm grieve, John Morrison, had been in the distillery office at 9.00pm on Saturday preparing the mail bag for the new manager, James Gordon, who was off work sick that day, having burnt his leg.  John Anderson, one of the distillery workers had locked up the distillery at 6.00pm on the Saturday night and at 10.00pm he trimmed the kiln fire so that it would stay in overnight, drying the germinated seeds, but remain contained.  At 4.00am, George Willox, one of the distillery carters, was woken by the glare from a fire coming through his bedroom window but by that time it had gained a firm hold on the buildings.  John Morrison, grieve on the farm, took the lead in organising and directing the firefighting effort and Balmoral Castle dispatched a small manual fire engine to help with containment.  Fortunately, neither human nor animal life was endangered, the 40 cattle were safely secured, and the 10 heavy horses used to draw the distillery carts, were led to safety.

Subsequently, there was speculation that the kiln fire might have flared up, despite Anderson’s precautions and set fire to the dried peats.  There had been a similar incident six years previously but at that time the flare-up was intercepted before it got out of control.  However, perhaps crucially, it was not clear that Sandy Taylor, the previous manager, had been informed of the accident.  Given the distillery’s past, the police investigated the cause of the fire but found no evidence of arson.  Lochnagar Distillery had been fully insured against fire.  The cost of the damage was estimated at between £2,000 and £3,000 (£248,000 - £372,000 in 2020 money).  Five hundred quarters of malt and barley, 426 gallons of low wines (the alcoholic liquor prior to distillation) and 73 gallons of spirit in manufacture were consumed.  But the really significant loss was the destruction of buildings and plant, and the concomitant cessation of production, which lasted for a year.  However, product lying in the bonded stores ensured that no customer went without a supply of Lochnagar whisky during that fallow period.

Fire damage Lochnagar Distillery 1901

Rebuilding got underway immediately and the first, experimental brew was carried out in September 1902.  Interestingly, the fire and rebuilding reports gave valuable information on the production and storage characteristics of the new works, all of which were executed in the local grey granite, vide Balmoral Castle.  The new bonded warehouse, a four-storey building 154ft long, had a capacity of 160,000 gallons (273,000 litres) of spirit and the barley store could hold 1520 quarters (almost 20,000 Kg).  At the restart of production, 1,000 quarters of barley remained from the pre-fire stock.  Further bonded warehouses in Aberdeen added another 250,000 gallons to the firm’s storage capacity.  Other distillery buildings were arranged around the bonded store at Lochnagar to form a quadrangle and included the malt deposit, the malt mill, the engine room with chimney stack attached, the draff house, the mash tun, still room, tun room, spirit store and the general offices.  Separately, a shed for storing barrels was constructed.  The adjacent farm steading remained as it was before the fire.  Opportunity was also taken to build a new bothy for the Lochnagar workmen.  Queen Victoria had been unimpressed by the old one!  A store and stable was also built at Ballater, presumably because most cart journeys were between the distillery and Ballater station.

Bonded warehouse, Lochnagar, 1901

Death of John Begg and its aftermath     

Although John Begg had been a creaking gate for at least the last decade of his life, according to the Aberdeen Peoples Journal, it was his wife, Jane Leys, who died first in July 1881.  She had been suffering from pneumonia and departed this life at the Begg house near the distillery.  The Aberdeen Peoples Journal opined, “… it may be said that no lady on Deeside enjoyed so much of Her Majesty’s confidences in what may be called domestic and family matters as did Mrs Begg on whose death last year the Queen and Princess Beatrice each sent a wreath for the coffin”.  The cause of death was certified by Dr Alexander Profeit, at that time the Queen’s commissioner at Balmoral, but who was still providing medical care to the residents on the Royal Deeside estates.  The informant who registered the death was, almost inevitably, the faithful farm grieve, Alexander Jamieson, who had been present at Jane’s demise.  She was 72.  After his seizure (a sudden, but temporary, alteration in the brain’s electrical activity) in August 1869, John Begg made at least a partial recovery over the next year and in April 1871, John and his wife travelled to London, possibly on holiday, staying at the Charing Cross hotel.  However, John’s condition progressively deteriorated over the following few years, so that in 1881, a year before his end, Queen Victoria wrote of John Begg on the death of his wife, “She, who never left her helpless old husband, to be taken, & he left!”.  John only survived his wife by six months.

The publication of John Begg’s inventory of personal estate exposed the full extent of the wealth he had accumulated through his business activities.  Cash generated was reinvested.  He owned a wide range of financial stakes in banks, colonial investment companies, prominent local firms, such as the Aberdeen Lime Company, railways, steam ship services, fractional ownership of individual vessels, assurance policies and property.  He may only have been a country lad by origins, but he clearly understood the importance of investment diversification.  Assets held within his own businesses were also considerable.  His net worth in Scotland was estimated to exceed £66,000 (>£8.1M in 2020 money) .  Remarkably, he held other assets in England and debts were due to him from such geographically diverse locations as Buenos Ayres, New York, India, Christiania and Bonn.  His total net estate amounted to about £84,000 (>£10.3M in 2020 money).

Those who had outstanding accounts with John Begg included Her Majesty £63-15, the Duke of Abercorn £11-16-6, Col Farquharson, Invercauld £8-18, Sir Charles Forbes of Newe £1-7-3 and Dr Profeit, Balmoral £20-18-6.  While the Queen’s debt probably related to whisky purchased for events at Balmoral, Dr Profeit’s outstanding bill was likely for spirits for personal consumption.  The Queen’s commissioner’s decline and death were probably advanced by his excessive drinking habits.

John Begg’s will was signed off on 30 August 1880, written while his wife Jane was still alive, and the wording shows clearly that John expected his spouse to survive him.  John Begg had, in 1868, already assigned the lease of the farm of Monachur and Tolfoggar, ie the Lochnagar Distillery farm, to Jane.  He expressed the wish that Jane would continue occupation of the Lochnagar site, with all the equipment and supplies necessary for the two undertakings.  In preparation for such an eventuality, he had assigned all household furniture, etc, to his wife along with a legacy of £1000.  She did not survive him, and her proposed inheritance was added to the pot which was shared amongst his children and grandchildren.  The proposed beneficiaries of the will were his wife, his son Henry, his two sons-in-law, John Robertson and William Mitchell (a rather Victorian view of women, since his two daughters were still alive). Jane Begg and his advocate, James Collie, were nominated to act as executors.  Legacies were also granted to his son, his two daughters and his grandchildren.  John Begg’s brother Samuel and his sister Isabella were left £20 annuities.  In addition to legacies to loyal employees at Lochnagar (detailed above), two long-serving Aberdeen staff were also recognised, porter Francis Ross and clerk Daniel Levy.  On the death of his wife (in effect, on his death) John’s whole means were to be converted to cash and divided amongst his children and grandchildren.

 

Henry Farquharson Begg takes control

Following his father’s demise, Henry eventually came into funds and his first major purchase was a farm, but not just any farm.  It was the farm made famous by William McCombie, the polled black cattle breeder, the property called Tillyfour, near Tough, Alford.  William McCombie and John Begg senior were almost certainly known to each other, John Begg had been present at the dinner held at the Bridge of Alford hotel in 1862 to entertain the new landlord, James Davie.  William McCombie took the chair that night.  A few days later a public dinner was held in the Music Hall, Aberdeen in honour of the famous black cattle breeder and John Begg was again present.  William McCombie, who was the owner, not the tenant, of Tillyfour, died in 1879 and his farm was put up for sale the following year.  At that time, it consisted about 1900 acres, of which about 1175 were arable, 400 hill pasture and 310 wood.  Quite separately, the Tillyfour herd of black polled cattle was sold by public roup the same year.  It seems that a misjudgement was made concerning the valuation of the farm, perhaps unduly influenced by the celebrity of the previous owner.  It did not sell for three years despite several attempts at auction.  Finally, in 1883, Henry Farquharson Begg bought the property for the then substantially reduced upset price of £23,000 (>£2.8M in 2020 money).  There were no other bidders at the roup.

Henry Begg probably leased Lochnagar from his father’s trustees in 1885.  He then moved from Tillyfour to the farm at Lochnagar and let the Donside property, which by this time had been reduced to 600 acres.  The tenant of Tillyfour, let on a 19-year lease at an annual rent of £440, was Arthur Jeffrey of Banks of Fyvie.  The same year, the trustees of John Begg held a displenish sale at Lochnagar, covering both farm stock and distillery plant, though it is unclear why it took three years for those acting on his behalf to turn all his assets into cash.  The categories for sale included horses, milk cows, a shorthorn bull, breeding sows, carts, implements, dairy utensils and household furniture.  Distillery equipment consisted of two stills, mash tun, coolers, wash backs, spirit safe, brewing tanks and “all the other effects connected with the distillery”.  Coaches were laid on to bring prospective bidders from Ballater station to Lochnagar.  However, there seems to have been a tacit agreement between the other sale attendees that the contents of the distillery should go to the new occupant at prices “it must be stated at very mild, even gentle figures”.  The whole lot was knocked down to Mr Anderson, representing Henry Begg, for £300.  Alexander Jamieson, who had been farm grieve at Lochnagar for many years died in 1884.  John Michie, the Balmoral wood forester, attended Alexander’s funeral.  “Started for Jamieson's funeral, who has been farm Grieve at the Distillery for many years (more than 30 according to the Aberdeen Journal).  A large funeral - he was much liked”. 

Henry Begg then took over the management of the farm.  The distillery continued under the competent direction of Alexander Taylor.  Although Henry Begg was henceforth called a “distiller” his real interest at Lochnagar was the agricultural side.  His obituary in the Aberdeen Free Press said of him, “Mr Begg was fond of farming, a taste he acquired during his stay in the colonies”.  In 1886, the valuation of the Lochnagar farm and distillery was estimated at £125 per annum and the representatives of John Begg were the largest tenant on the Abergeldie Estate.  In 1905, the John Begg trustees were paying £600 (about £74,000 in 2020 money) per year in rent for Lochnagar.  After Henry’s death in 1896, a new farm manager, James Morrison, was recruited for Lochnagar.

Henry Begg continued the roles played by his father, both on Deeside and in Aberdeen, though his visibility was rather more modest than his parent’s profile had been.  He did not seem to have the same flare as his father for publicity, public acts, or currying favour with the Royal neighbours on Upper Deeside.  Henry Begg continued with the shorthorn herd at Lochnagar, which had been started by his father and the then incumbent at the Lochnagar farm had a frequent presence in the showring and at cattle sales from pedigree shorthorn herds.  Henry was also an enthusiast for Clydesdale horses, the gentle giants used to pull Lochnagar whisky carts.  After Henry’s death 27 Clydesdales were sold from Tillyfour farm.

 

Family of Henry Farquharson Begg

The family of Henry and Jane Begg was growing up and in late 1887, their eldest daughter, Jane (Jeannie) married William Reid, the son of a Glenbucket farmer.  The marriage took place at 36 Bon-Accord Terrace, which was Henry and Jane Begg’s Aberdeen home at the time.  Although William hailed from a truly remote corner of Donside, he had been educated at Aberdeen Grammar School, succeeded in gaining entry to Aberdeen University and graduated MA.  He worked as an advocate in Aberdeen between 1875 and 1902.  In addition, he was a prominent Liberal Unionist and a volunteer in the 1^st Aberdeenshire Engineers.

Towards the end of November 1887, the employees at the distillery presented Jeannie Begg with a wedding present of a marble clock.  Later, the tenantry on the Tillyfour Estate made a present of a silver tea and coffee service to Jeannie.  Meanwhile William Reid was entertained to dinner by his brother officers in the Volunteers and received an eperque (lawyer’s wig?).  In return the family invited their employees in the Aberdeen district to dinner at the Royal Athenaeum under the chairmanship of Daniel Levie, the long-serving clerk at Weighhouse Square, aided by John Ligertwood, then manager of the Aberdeen operations.

Another prominent wedding in the Begg family was the union between the Reverend Samuel J Ramsay Sibbald, the minister at Crathie church and Lizzie Begg, fourth child and third daughter of Henry Begg in 1898, only a year after Sibbald had been appointed to the Crathie charge.  The prominence of both bride and groom in the Upper Deeside community ensured that they received a personal telegram of congratulation from the monarch.  “Please accept my best wishes for your happiness – VRI”.  The Queen sent the bridegroom a silver table inkstand and Princess Henry of Battenberg (Princess Beatrice) added a pair of brass sconces.  The same year also saw a tragedy in Henry Begg’s family, which was reminiscent of the fate of so many of Henry’s brothers.  George Hay Begg did not enjoy good health and had been sent to South Africa for the climate, seeking relief from his malaise.  He returned to Scotland early in January and stayed with his brother John, at that time living at Muchalls, Kincardineshire, a small coastal village a few miles south of Aberdeen.  While walking in the dark along a cliff path to reach Muchalls station, he fell a distance of 120ft to the beach and was killed.

Rev S Ramsay Sibbald and his wife, Lizzie Begg

In 1902, Henrietta Farquharson Begg, Henry’s fourth daughter got married in Crathie church to Captain HF Wyatt of the Queen’s Own Rifles, Toronto, the former ADC to Lord Aberdeen when he was Governor General of Canada.  This was the first wedding celebrated within the new Crathie church since it was built in 1894, most nuptials being conducted in brides’ homes at that time.  By this date Queen Victoria had died and been lodged in the Royal mausoleum at Frogmore, Windsor and she had been succeeded by her eldest son, now known as Edward VII.  He conducted his life quite differently from his mother’s routine and spent much less time each year on Upper Deeside. Edward’s affection for Royal Lochnagar did not waver and he renewed the Beggs’ Royal Warrant, which had first been awarded in 1848 by his mother.  Again, the prominence of both bride and groom ensured that the King sent the bride “a handsome enamelled brooch” with a letter expressing good wishes.  He also called at Lochnagar to add his felicitations in person and, at the same time, donated two Noble Firs to be planted in front of the Miss Beggs’ bungalow.  The newly married couple set to and planted one sapling each before leaving for their honeymoon.  As was traditional with landed proprietors, the farm and distillery workers were entertained to dinner followed by a firework display and a dance. 

 

Death of Henry Farquharson Begg and its aftermath

In 1894, Henry had bought another agricultural property, Inchgarth, a mansion and estate at Peterculter in the Dee valley 10 miles west of Aberdeen, from the trustees of Captain Taylor.  Henry Farquharson Begg did not have long to enjoy his new property.  In the spring of 1896, he became so ill with heart disease that he was confined indoors at Inchgarth.  He died there on 9 May 1896 at the early age of 57.  The merchant business in Aberdeen and the Lochnagar Distillery had operated since 1882 in his father’s name and Henry wanted that to continue under his nominated trustees, but with two stipulations.  Firstly, that they should never allow the stock of whisky in bond to fall below 50,000 gallons.  Henry perceived the Achilles heel of the distillery to be the leasehold of the site and was anxious in case a renewal should ever be refused by the Abergeldie owners.  At least a large stock of whisky would provide a financial buffer should this calamity ever befall the whisky business.  Secondly, that the books should be brought to balance half-yearly by a professional accountant and the clear profits then shared amongst his children and grandchildren.

Inchgarth House, Peterculter

The total value of Henry Farquharson Begg’s personal and heritable estate was just over £73,000 (about £9.7M in 2020 money).  It was all to be deployed for the benefit of his family and, unlike in his father’s will, he made no public bequests.  Like his father, he had some prominent debtors including the Queen, the Prince of Wales, Dr Alexander Profeit, the Balmoral commissioner, Gordon Foggo, the Invercauld factor, Donald Stewart, the Balmoral head keeper and the executors of Hugh Brown, John Brown’s brother.

An indicator of the wealth that had accrued to the Begg family by the time of Henry’s death was the ostentation of his tombstone in Allenvale cemetery.  This monument, designed by prominent Aberdeen architect, A Marshall McKenzie and executed by the firm of Baillie Taggart, Great Western Road, was 11ft wide and 10ft high, hewn from Kemnay granite.

Drawing of Henry Farquharson Begg's tombstone

 

The trustees of Henry Farquharson Begg

Henry’s trustees were an interesting group, William Sanderson, Distiller, Leith, John Hay Begg, Henry’s eldest son, formerly at Otago, New Zealand, but now recalled by his father and temporarily installed at Lochnagar, and William Reid Reid, advocate and the husband of Henry’s eldest daughter, Jeannie.  John Michie, the Balmoral Head Forester recorded in his diary that he met John Begg junior at Lochnagar in November 1896, so he was still in residence at that time.  William Sanderson was paid for taking general superintendence of the businesses in Aberdeen and at Lochnagar and William R Reid was appointed as law agent of the trust and paid for this service.  The John Begg businesses were in safe hands.  By 1898, William and Jeannie Reid were living at Inchgarth, Peterculter, Henry Begg’s former mansion.

The following year, 1897, John Michie met William Reid during the commissioning of the new peat extraction site in Glenmuick and gave a frank appraisal of this son of Glenbucket.  “This Reid is a rough, big man who has made some attempt at refinement but Donside shows through it all, notwithstanding his ascent of the Matterhorn & other continental tours.”  Ouch!  Despite his initial reservations, John Michie managed to interact successfully with William Reid over many years.

About 1901, possibly after the disastrous fire at the Lochnagar Distillery, William Reid became the manager of the works, acting on behalf of his fellow trustees.  He continued in this role until the firm was converted to a limited company in 1907, with a head office in London and a bottling plant in Glasgow, after which Reid became the limited company’s managing director.  At this time, the company described itself as “distillers, blenders and exporters of McAlpine Street Glasgow, the Royal Lochnagar Distillery, Balmoral (note “Balmoral”, not “Crathie”, which would have been geographically more accurate) and Regent Quay, Aberdeen”.  William Reid continued as managing director until 1916, when the company was acquired by the Distillers Company Ltd and direct involvement of the wider Begg family in the operation of the enterprises, ceased. 

 

The death and life of John Begg

On Wednesday 8 February 1882, John Begg suffered a stroke, perhaps the final brain event of a series.  He died at Regents Quay the same evening at the age of 77 and was buried at Nellfield Cemetery five days later, the funeral being “largely attended”.  The Queen commanded Alexander Profeit to represent her at the funeral and he was accompanied by the heads of various departments on the Balmoral and Abergeldie estates.  Dr Profeit also delivered a wreath from the monarch, probably made up with everlasting flowers.  It lay on John Begg’s grave for many years afterwards.  The Balmoral commissioner also delivered a missive from the Queen personally to each member of the Begg family, which “graciously conveying expressions of condolence”. 

The Aberdeen Peoples Journal described John Begg’s personality as follows.  “Of most genial character and cheerful disposition, Mr Begg secured the affection of a wide circle of friends while his frankness of demeanour and probity in business caused him to be respected wherever he was known”.  It is likely that this was not just a eulogy which avoided speaking ill of the dead.  From his social interactions, his charitable giving and the loyalty of key members of his staff, whom he remembered with generosity in his will, it is clear that he had good civic intentions and earned the allegiance of others.  However, it also seems to have been the case that he could be brutally frank about the shortcomings of others, as illustrated at the Court of Session in 1862.      

So concluded the remarkable career of a remarkable man, who was born into a crofting family in a remote Aberdeenshire glen and who ended his life with wealth beyond anything he could have dreamed of as a young man.  Of course, serendipity played a part in his advancement but that lucky chance of Queen Victoria becoming his neighbour, while a necessary ingredient of John Begg’s rise to fame and fortune, was not alone a sufficient condition for his success.  Like so many others who rose from obscurity in the North East of Scotland, he had native wit in abundance and did not squander his opportunity through timidity.  Lucky, bright and bold, even driven by family misfortune, but who would have begrudged John Begg his success in life?  John Begg’s entrepreneurship, going back to the late 1820s, had created many jobs and added much value to the economy.  His name lives on as a popular brand of the national tipple even today, being described thus, “The flagship blend from Royal Lochnagar distillery’s founder John Begg was a favourite among the royals”.  Not a bad set of achievements for a chiel fra’ Glen Taner!

 

Don Fox

20210405

donaldpfox@gmail.com