The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-19 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN MEETINGS.

These meetings were held at Inverness on Thursday
and Friday. They consist of an annual assemblage of the
nobility and gentry resident in the Highlands of Scot-
land at this season of the year, and, while they afford
opportunity for fashionable reunions, they have chiefly
in view the encouragement of Highland sports and ath-
letic games.
The great gathering came off in the Academy Park.
A. portion of the lawn was railed in for the competitors,
and a grand stand was erected for the nobility and their
friends. Formerly the public were admitted free of
charge, but this year is. bad to be paid for admission,
the effect of which was to limit the number of spectators
greatly, and thus to divest the games of the popular in-
terest which used to attach to them.

The attendance of the aristocracy, however, was very
large, and among those present were Lord Lovat, Lord-
Lieutenant of the county, and Lady Lovat, the Earl
and Countess of Hardwicke, Earl and Countess Talbot,
the Earl of Annesley, Viscountess Dupplin, Viscount
Hamilton, Lord Claud Hamilton, Viscount Chelsea, the
Countess of Waldegrave, Sir John and Lady Harrington,
Lady Elizabeth Yorke, Sir Thomas and Lady Louisa
Moncrieff, Lady J. Parry, Sir Kenneth Mackenzie,
Lady Grey Egerton, Major Leith Genkendie, Sir Henry
Meux, &c., with family parties. The amusements of
the day commenced with some of the simple games, and
then there was a keen competition for the prizes offered
for the best playing on the bagpipes. Nine competitors
entered for the trial of the pibroch music, and in the opi-
nion of the most competent judges displayed the highest
proficiency in this department of bagpipe music. The
first prize, a splendid set of bagpipes, was gained by
William Ross, a piper of the 42d Regiment; the second, a
valuable silver brooch, by Angus M'Millan, piper to
Cluny ; and the third, a Highland snuff-mull, by Kenneth
M'Millan. The same candidates were successful in the
strathspeys and marches. The games consisted of the
usual routine of " putting" the stone, throwing the
hammer, and tossing the caber. The heavy hammer
of 161 b was thrown 93 feet by John Tait, from Ayrshire,
who thus gained the first prize ; and the light hammer
of 121 b., was thrown 106 feet, by Donald Fraser, game-
keeper, of Killin. John Tait at the first throw sent
the putting stone of 211 lb. 37 feet, on seeing which the
other competitors at once withdrew. It was rather a
mortification to the stalwart Highlanders to be thus dis-
tanced by a firm knit and well• built, but nowise formi-
dable-looking Saxon, and this, we believe, is the first
time that the first prizes have gone so far south. The
sports of Friday were of a more lively character and
went off with much éclat. They consisted of dances,
lighter games, and were characterised by great spirit. In
the evening there was a grand ball in the Assembly
Rooms, which wa3 brilliantly attended and kept up to
a late hour in the morning.

T.HE BRAEMAR GATHERING.

The annual gathering of the Highland clans for the
practice of athletic sports and games was held at Braemar
on Thursday, and was honoured by the presence of the
Queen and Royal family. The preparations for the oc-
casion were of a more than ordinary character, and the
weather being unusually fine an immense number of
people were congregated from every part of the county.
On Wednesday evening Sir Charles Forbes marched
to Corriemulzie at the head of 120 men of the Forbes
clan, all elegantly dressed in the Forbes tartan and
richly accoutred. They pitched their tents in military
style, and on Thursday morning resumed their march for
Braemar, where they were joined, first, by 80 of Mr.
Farquharson's men, commanded by that chief and two
of his sons, who presented a fine appearance, and then
by the Duff Highlanders, commanded by Mr. Duff,
M. P. for Banffshire, and proceeded to the Castle grounds
with music and banners.
A large space in front of the Castle was set apart for
the games, the Highlanders forming three sides of a
square, and the populace standing in the rear. On the
green embankment by which the Castle is surrounded a
carpeting of the Farquharson tartan was laid, and ele-
gant sofas were placed for the Royal family, while seats
were reserved immediately behind them for a distin-
guished circle of visitors, among whom were Mr. and
Mrs. Farquharson, of Invercauld, and family, Miss
Farquharson, Colonel Dundas, the Hon. C. C. Caven-
dish, Miss Dalrymple and Miss Ross (from Invercauld),
Mr. and Lady Agnes Duff, Mr. George Duff, M.P.,
Viscount and Viscountess Campden, Lady Alice Hay,
Sir Maxwell and Lady Wallace, the Hon. Mrs. Hope
Johnstone, Sir James Carnegie, with a party from Cor-
riemulzie, and the Marquis of Abercorn, Lord Stanley
of Alderley, the Hon. Charles Hardinge, Mr. William
Wills, M.P., Mr. Charles Leslie, M.P., Sir Edward
Landseer, with a party from Mar Lodge.
The games commenced about one o'clock, but when
the Queen and Court were announced they were sus-
pended, and the Royal cortege was greeted with a truly
Highland welcome. The Queen and Prince Albert were
accompanied by the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, the
Princess Royal, the Princess Alice, and Princess Helena
and suite, the Earl Granville being the Minister in at-
tendance. There were present also, from Balmoral, the
Lady Augustus Bruce, the Hon. Mrs. Colonel Gordon,
Lady Cooper, the Hon. Miss Bulteel, Dr. Becker, Dr.
Robertson, and Mr. Carl Hoag.
The Queen was received by Mr. Farquharson and Mr.
Duff, and walked to the Royal dais with Prince Albert,
where her Majesty conversed freely with Mrs. Farquhar-
son, Lady Agnes Duff, and others of the distinguished
circle around her.
The games were then resumed, and continued with
much spirit for nearly two hours ; they consisted of the
usual practice of putting the stone, throwing the ham-
mer, and tossing the caber, the dull monotony of these
exercises being relieved by a variety of Highland dances
and excellent music, the whole concluding with a foot
i race, n which the competitors all distinguished them-
selves for agility of limb and strength of lung. The
heavy hammer of 161 b. was thrown 74 feet by John
Wlntosh, of Braemar, who gained the first prize • a
stone of 281 b. was thrown 25 feet 7 inches by Charles
M'Hardy, of Woodhill, who also gained a medal for
throwing a hammer of 161 b. a distance of 81 feet
7 inches.
An
in elegant luncheon was provided by Mr. Farquhar-
son,the Castle, for the more select visitors ; and the
festivities of the day were closed by a ball in the even-
ing, at which the nobility and gentry mingled freely
with the humblest of the peasantry of Mar.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE.—The whole of the new facade
has been newly pointed, and i.. now impervious to the
wet.