The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-01-18 00:00:00

October 14, 1855.

To kirk at twelve o'cleck. The Rev. J. QOM, one of the
most celebrated preachers In Scotland, performed the ser-
vice, anti electrified all present by a most admirable and
beautiful sermon, which lasted nearly an hour, but which
kept one's attention riveted. The text was from the 12th
chapter of Romans, and the 11th verse—" Not slothful in
business fervent in spirit; serving the lord.' He ex-
plained, in the most beautiful anti simple manner, what real
religion is; how it ought to pervade every action of our
Wee ; not a thing only for Sundays, or for our closet ; not a
thing to drive us from the wont: not "a perpetual moping
over good hooks," but "being and doing good," "letting
everything be done in a Christian spirit" It WAS as fine as
Sir. M'lood's sermon last year, and sent us home much
edified.
She was (and of moving about among the oottaifes of
the poor, anti giVen an account of some visits which
she paid to certain old women :
I went into • small cabin of Old Kitty Keats, who is
eighty-six veers old—quite erect, and who welcomed us with
a great air of dignity. She sat down and spun. I gave her,
also, a warm petticoat ; she Bahl, "May the Lord ever attend
ye anti yours, here and hereafter; and may the Lord be a
guide to ye, and lo.ep ye from all 'harm.'" She was quite
surprised at Vicky's height; great interest is taken in her.
We went onto a cottage formerly Jean Cordon's , to visit
old widow Symons, who is "past fourscore," with a Moe
rosy face, but was bent quite double ; she was most friendly,
shaking hands with us all, asking which was I, and repeating
many kind blessings '• May the Lord attend ye with mirth
And with joy; may He ever be with ye ill this world, and
when ye leave it. To Vicky, when lid she was going to be
Married, she sail, " May the Lord be a guide to ye in your
future, and may every happiness attend ye" She M/18 very
talkative, anti when I said I lifolks4l to see her acain, she ex-
pressed an expectation that" she should be called any day,"
gni so did Kitty Kean
We went into three other cottages—to Mrs. Symons's
(daughter-in-law to the old widow living next door, who
bad an .• unwell boy ;" then moms a little limn to another
old woman's; and afterwards peeped into glair, the
fiddler's. We drove back, and got out again to visit old
.ISZA. Omit ,trant'a mother, who is so 54 ly anti clean, and 1
to whom If gave a Irene arid handkerchief, and she said, I
" You're too kind to me, you're over kind to me, ye give
me more every 'ear. and I get older every year." After talk-
ing some time with her, she said, I mu happy to see ye
looking so nice." She hail tears in her eyes, and, speaking
of Vicky's g ~ ~ g, said, " Ito v. 17 Bony, ait.l I Wilk is
sorry herser:" Lind having sai.l she leered she would liot
set her ;the Princess, again, said "I am very sorry I said
that, bat I meant no harm I always gay lust what I think,
sot what Is fut" OW. Dear old lady, shell such a pleasant
person
Really the affection of these goof people, who are so hearty

• and no happy to we yon, taking Interest in everything, Is
' very touching not gratilying.
She even became fond of the bagpipes :--
There were nine piper, at the castle : sometheee one and
sometimes three played. They always played about break-
fast time, again during the morning at luncheon, and also
whenever we went in and out •, again before linner, and
during most of dinner time. We both have become quite
i fond of the bagpipes.
'

She did not despise that national dish of which Dr.
Johnson i, well•known to have spoken in most die.
respectful terms :

At breakfast! tasted the oatmeal porridge, which I think
very good, and also some of the Finnan hotlines."
But her Majesty is profoundly silent SS to her opinion
of another national dainty. She says only this :

At %loulinearn we tasted some of the "A thole bros.," which
was brought to the carriage.
-

And as for that other pride and glory of the Scotch
system of cookery, hodge-podge, :Me condemned it.—
The dinner was very fair, and all very clean—soup,
“hodge-podge," mutton-broth with vegetable., which I did
not much relish, fowl with white sauce, good roast lamb,
very good potatoes, besides one or two other dishes, which I
did not taste, ending with a good tart of cranberries.

- -
The people of Edinburgh will be delighted to read
of the Queen's admiration for what Scott called "my
own romantic town "

The impression Edinburgh has made upon in le very
great : it Is quite beautiful, totally unlike anything else I
have seen: and what is even more, Albert, who has area SO
much, says it is unlike anything he ever saw It is so regular,
everything built of massive stone, there is not a brick to be
seen anywhere. . . . The view of Edinburgh from the
road before you enter Leith is quite enchanting it is, as
Albert said, fairy-like," and what you would only imagine
as a thing to dream of, or to see in a picture. There was
that beautiful large town, all of stone no mingled colours of
brick to mar it, with the bold Castle on one side, and the
Caltiophill on the other, with those high • sharp hills of
Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags towering .IMove kit, and
maklog the finest, boldest background Imaginable. Albert
mid he felt sure the Aeropolie could not be finer.
- -

The inhabitants) of Perth also will often hereafter
quote the opinion expresaed by her Majesty and the
Prince Consort of their city

We very soon came upon Neal, the situation of which is
quite lovely ; it is on the Tay, with wooded hills akirting it
entirely on one side, a,jd hills are seen again in the distance,
the river winding beautifully.
Albert was charmed, and said It put him in mind of the
situation of Basle.

Then for the lase of Killiecrankie
We passed Pitlochrie, a small village, Faskally, 'a very
pretty place of Mr. Butler's, to the left, and then came to
the Pass of Killiecrankie, which Is quite magniflcent; the
road winds along it, and you look down a great height, all
wooded on both sides : the Garry rolling helm it. 1 cannot
describe how beautiful it in Albert was in perfect
ecstasies.

Her account of Taymouth is interesting; and we
may here quote her observations on revisiting thie
lovely place :

_
I revisited Taymouth last autumn on the 3rd of October,
from Dunkeld ineo.p.iis, with Louise, the Dowager Duchess
of Athole, and Miss WOregor. As we could not have driven
through the grounds without asking permission, and we did
not wish to be known, we decided upon not attempting to
do cii, as contented ourselves with getting out at a gate
close to a small fort, into which we were led by a woman
from the gardener's house, near ti which we had stopped.
and who had lie idea who we were.
. . . . . .

We got out, and looked from this height down upon the
house below, the mist having cleared limey sufficiently to
theta* everything: and then, unknown, quite In private, I
gazed—not without ileep emotion - on the mien° of our recep-
tion twenty-four years ago, by dear Lord Breadalbane, in a
princely style, not to be equalled in grandeur and poetic
effect.
Albert and I were then nob .--- •
happy.

Albert and I were then only twenty.three, young and
appy. HOW many are gone that were with us then !
was very thankful to have seen it again.
It seemed unaltered.—letiti."

Year by year the Queen seemed to become more
attached to the Highlands, more eager to return to
them, more loth to leave them. It seems as if she
could take up the burden of the Scotch gong, "My
heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here." On
one occasion she writes :--

At a quarter past eight o'clock we started, and were very,
very sorry to leave Blair and the dear highlands ! Every
little trifle and every spot I had become attached to; our
life of (inlet and liberty, everything was so pleasant, and all
the highlanders and people who went with os I had get to
like so much oh t the dear hills, it made me very sad to
leave them behind

And then on reaching England she writes with that
passionate feeling which mountainous countrita are
apt to inspire : -
The English coast appeared terribly flat. Lord Aberdeen
was quite touched when I toll him I was so attached to the
dear, dear Highlands, and missed the tine hills so much.
there is a great peculiarity ab iut the Highlands and High-
landers ; and they are such a chivalrous, fine, active people.
our stay among them was so delightful. Independently of
the beautiful scenery, there was a quiet, a retirement, a
wildness, a liberty, and a solitude that had such a charm
for us.

The following is the Queen's account of one of the
incidents of those expeditions in which she travelled
incognita :

A few seconds brought us over to the road, where there
were two shabby vehicles, one a kind of barouche, into
which Albert and I got, Lady Churchill and General Grey
into the other—a- break; each with a pair of small and
rather miserable horses, driven by a man from the box.
Grant was on our carriage, and Brown on the other. We
had gone so far forty miles, at least twenty on horseback.
We had decided to call onrselves " Lord and Lady Churchill
and party," Lady Churchill passing as Miss Spencer, and
General Grey as Dr. Grey ! Brown once forgot this, and
called me "Your Majesty," as I was getting into the car-
riage; and Grant on the box once called Albert " Your
Royal Highness " which set us off laughing, but no one
observed it.

--We.1;;;s1; long three hours' drive It was six o'clock when
We got Into the carriage. We were soon out of the wood,
and came upon the liadenoch road—passing close by Kinrura,
hut, unfortunately not through It, which we ought to have
done. It was very beautiful—fine wooded hills, the high
Cairngorm range, and Brn Mulch Mut, unfortunately much
obscured by the mist on the top, and the broad Spey flowing
in the valley, with cultivated fields and tine trees below.
Most striking, however, on our whole long Journey was the
utter, and to me very refreshing, solitude. thirdly a habita-
tion and hardly meeting a soul! It gradually grew dark.
We stopped at a small hallway house for the horses to take
some water, and the few people about stared vacantly at the
two simple vehicles.

The mountains gradually disappeared,—the evening was
mild, with a few drops of rain. On and on we went, till at
length we saw lights, and drove through a long and strag-
gling" toun," and turned down a small court to the door of
the inn. Here we got out quickly, Lady Churchill and Gen.
Grey not waiting for us. We went ur a small staircase, and
were shown to our bedroom at the top of it—very small
but clean—with a large fourpost bed which nearly filled the
whole room. Opposite was the drawing and dining-room In
one --very tidy and well-sized. Then came the room where
Albert dressed, which was very small. The two maids !Jane
Shackle was with me • hail driven over by another road in a
waggonette, Stewart driving them. Slade ourselves "clean
arid tidy," and then sat down to our dinner. Grant and
Brown were to have waited onus, but were "bashful" and
dal not. A rlngletted woman did everything, and, when
dinner was over, removed the cloth and placed the bottle of
wino our own which we hail brought on the table with the
glasses, which was the old English fashion. After dinner I
tried to write part of this account (but the talking round
nie confused me,, while Albert played at "patience." Then
went away to begin undresaing, and it was about half-past
eleven when we got to bed. . -

Wednesday, September e.
A misty, rainy morning. Had not slept very soundly. We
got op rather early, and sat working and reading in the
drawing, room till the breakfaFt was ready, for which we had
to wait for some little time. Good tea and bread and butter,
and some excellent porridge. Jane Shackle (who was very
useful and attentive sant they had all supped together—
namely, the two maids, and Grant, Brian, Stewart, and
Walker (who was still there, and were very merry in the
" commercial room." The people were very amusing about
an 'The woman came in while they were at their !Brinier,
and said to Grant, "Dr. Grey wants you," which nearly upset
the gravity of all the others then they told Jane, " Your
lady gives no trouble :" and Grant in the morning called up
to Jane, " Does his lordship want me l" One could look in
the street, which is a very long wide one, with detached
houses, from our windows. It wee perfectly quiet, 110 one
stirring, except here Mid there a man driving coast, or a boy
going along on his errand. General Grey bought himself a
watch in a shop for £2.
Messrs. Brown and Grant were afterwards taken
mildly to task for not waiting at table :
- -

- -
We mounted our ponies a short way out of the town
but only rode fore few minutes, as it was past 2 o'clock. We
came upon a beautiful view, looking down upon the AVIIII
and up a fine glen. There we rested and took hinobeon.
While Brown was um acting and arranging our things, I
spoke to him and to Grant, who was helping, about not
having waited on us, as they ought to have done, at dinner
last eight, and at breakfast, as we had wished ; alld Brown
answered, Ike wes afraid he should not dolt rightly ; I replied
we did not wish to have a stranger in the room, and they
must do so another time.

We have thought that we should best do our duty
to the remarkable volume before us by thus quoting
from it freely. Our readers will be eager to
bear the Queen speak for herself, and hope that
in the foregoing extracts we have been able to convey
a fair idea of the work of the kindly, womanly
spirit in which it is written, and of the frankness
with which the first lady in the land admits
us into her confidence and gives us the privileges
of friendship. The book, however, to be rightly ap-
preciated, should be read WI a. whole, and we doubt
not that it will deepen, if that be possible, the national
sentiment of loyalty which the Queen has inspired, and
increase the warmth with which every true heart
among us says, God bless her.

The Morning Star, in a leader, makes the following
graceful allusions to her Majesty's successful author-
ship ; and the suggestion that the work elninld be issued
in a cheap form, so that it may be found in the home
of the humble cotter, as well as in the hall of the
noble baron, it is to be hoped will soon become a
reality :
The diary of her Majesty will be even more welcome to
those who have travelled ranch In Scotland than to the
many thousands who will read it who never crossed the
Tweed. The fidelity of her descriptions, which she accom-
plishe. by a single touch, is marvellous, whether in sketching
scenery or filling in the details of the road-side incidents as
she and the Prince Consort galloped along to Preadalbane
from Perth, to Blair Athole from Dundee, or wandered
amidst the cottages around her pleasant and much-
loved Balmoral. It has sometimes been a reproach to
monarchs that they knew very little, from personal in-
spection, of their own dominions. The reproach was
certainly true for the four Georges. As for their pre-
decessors, at least in the case of the two Charles Stuarts,
they knew a great deal more both of England and Scotland
than wag pleasant either for the PHnees or the people.
Queen Victoria has seen far more of Scotland than most even
of the wealthy rid well-educated natives, few of whom could
exclaim with Christopher North that they knew Scotland no
well that there was not • mountain peak they had not
clambered, not a stream which they had not fished, not a
solitary sheep path over wild moorland which they had not
traversed. Her Majesty has gazed from Stirling Castle on the
windings of the Forth she has rowed down Loch lay; she has
stood on the top of lochdia.Gar amid the fierce whistling
of the storm and the driving mists; she hag gazed, awe-
struck, among the solitude. of Ben-mac.Dhui, has sailed
among the Western lochs, and seen the glory of the autumn
day blotted out in a moment by the rats-drift from the
Atlantic she has swayed on the restless surge at the month
of the Stalin Cave, and crossed the wild paths by the Side' of
the Glaaalt, where the foot of English tourist has seldom
trod. More fortunate than her ancestors, she has listened
to the preaching of the faith ul ministers of the Scottish Kirk
without hearing herself denounced as • covenant breaker
and, more fortunate also than they, she has preferred to
go move the cottages of the poor to receive the blessings
Mid the heartfelt wishes of the aged and the young.
Scottish tradition is full of the adventures of the Sameses
When they threw aside for a thine the robes of royalty, and,
sometimes in the garb of beggars, plunged amidst the
common people to learn what was said id the King, and to
enjoy the great delight of e..csping Iron, a life •of strife
care. The trips of the Queen mid the Prince Consort when
they endeavoured to snatch • few days of the pleasure of
privacy will he wad with peculiar Interest. The aescription
of the dinner at Orantown. in Inverness-shire, after the
drive through miles et solitude which the Queen thoeght
very refreshing. In the simple Inn, waited on by a
ringleted " woman, is an exquisite sketch. The hodge-
podge, the good roast lamb, and the potatoes, followed
I, the bottle of Wine which the party had brought vnth
them, all help to convey a perfect image of the scene,
while the ringlelted woman, all unconscious of the dignity
of her illuettiotte gents, sweeps ell the crumbs with her