The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-14 00:00:00

I.I.O:XAL VISIT TO SCOTLAND.
BALM ORAL, MONDAY MORNING.

Prince Albert did not go out shooting on Satur-
day, as was expected, but accompanied the Queen,
and several of the royal attendants, in a drive, as
far as Loch-na-gar, in a pony equipage and the
customary outriders. Her Majesty seemed highly
pleased with the beautiful scenery.
There are very few visitors in the vicinity of the
Cistle, indeed nearly all the houses in the village are
temporarily occupied by !persons whose avocations
are immediately concerned in the visit of the Court,
and no further accommodation could be afforded if
required.

ROYAL VISITS TO ABERDEEN
IN OLDEN TIMES.

The Aberdeen Journal, apropos of the present aus-
piciotis occasion, gives the following historic sketch of
the circumstances under which some of her Majesty's
royal predecessors have honoured Aberdeen with
their presence :
Some of our old chroniclers will have it that Aber-
deen was one of the residences of the usurper Grig,
commonly called Gregory the Great, whose misty
history belongs to the latterr half of the ninth century.
They, stssu're us that he had what they magnilo-
quenty call a " palace" in Aberdeen ; that he be-
stowed on the city its first charter ; and that he was
so specially fond of it as to speak of it as " his own
city." These statements, however, are not borne out
by any trustworthy evidence, and must be regarded
as—in a great measure, if not wholly—fabulous.
It is most likely that Aberdeen owed its first
charter, if not its origin, to the munificence and en-
lightened patriotism of David I.; since the oldest
charters extant are partly confirmatory 'of privileges
conferred on the citizens by that monarch, but make
no reference to earlier marks of royal favour.
The first monarch of whose residence in Aberdeen
there is authentic evidence, is King William the Lion,
grandson of David I. He appears to have resided
frequently, either in the city or county, between the
years 1179 and 1214. The oldest extant charter of
the city was granted by him, and is believed to be of
the former date. It is still in good preservation.
William appears to have had a house in Aberdeen,
which, about 1211, he bestowed on the order of the
Trinity, Red, or Maturing Friars, whose chief busi-
ness it was to collect funds for the redemption of
Christina held in slavery by the infidels in Palestine.
Of this palace nothing now remains ; the site is occu-
pied I.ly the Old Trades Hall. But there is still to be
seen sr the new hail a ponderous table, at which tra-
dition says the leonine monarch used to preside. It
is a very curious piece of furniture, consisting of a
massive slab of artificial stone, smoothly polished, and
set in a beautiful oak frame of much later date ; the
style of the ornaments showing that it belongs to the
early part of the 17th century. The framework bears
the arms of Dr. Guild, who purchased and fitted up
tae ruins of the monastery as an hospital for decayed
burgesses of trade.
Alexander 11. appears to have been frequently in
Aberdeen, between the years 1222 and 1235. Old
Wynton says that, in the former year—
" Ho held his yule in Abbyrdene."
He, too, is said to have had a palace in the city,
which he afterwards bestowed on the preaching or
black friarciin4riTer of which ho was a great patron.
Its site was in what now forms the garden of Gor-
don's Hospital. The building was destroyed at the
period of the R4ormation ; and not a vestige of it
was visible for many years, until latterly its founda-
tions were accidentally di, covered. Between 1272
and 1369, Aberdeen was the occasional residence of
Alander 111., John Baliol, Robert the Bruce, and
David 11. The unfortunate Baliol was taken captive
here by John Cornyn, Laird of Strathbogie, and de-
livered up to Edward I. of England, at Montrose.
Edward himself came to Aberdeen, on the 14th July,
1506, and remained in it for five days. On the 17th he
received the homage and oath of allegiance of the bur-
gesses and community. For this act, however, the citi•
zens afterwards made so ample an atonement to " the
Bruce," that that illustrious monarch conferred on them
many privileges, which are set forth in what is justly
called the Greet Charter of the Burgh. In some of
the battles which he fought in vindication of his title
to the Crown, the citizens of Aberdeen seem to have
afforded him signal assistance. We may here men-
tion, incidentally, that the citizens gave undoubted
proof of their loyally and bravery at the battles of
Herlaw,'July, 1411, when their gallant Provost, Sir
Robert Davidson, and many of the burgesses, were
slain in de ending the rights of the Crown against the
usurper, Donald of the Isles.
In the month of July, 1448, James 11. paid his first
visit to Aberdeen, when the magistrates made him a
present, under name of a " propine," of two tuns of
Gasoony wine, wax candles, and sweetmeats. His
Queen paid a visit in -January, 1455, and was
jresented with 100 marks in money. James
W. visited Aberdeen in 1492, 1495, 1497,
1504, 1507, 1509, when he received " propines "
of wine, wax, spiceries, and money. In May, 1511,
Aberdeen was visited by his Queen, Margaret, eldest
daughter (If Henry VII. of England. The occasion
was afterwards celebrated i❑ a poem written by
Dunbar (who seems to have accompanied the royal
park), entitled "The Queeneie iZeception at Aber-
dein: ' Great preparations were made to receive her
Majesty with suitable pomp and circumstance. Coin •
miesioners were appointed to raise money to defray
the expenses of the occasion, and the citizens were
ordered to decorate the fronts of their houses with
arras-work, evergreens, and flowers.
It appears from Dunbar's poem that the Queen was
met, at some distance from the city, by the bur-
geieses, " richelie array it, as became theme to be;"
four of their number, " men of renoun,"
" In gounes of velvet, young, able, andlustie,
To heir the pall of velvet cramasie,
Abone her held, as the custowe has bein."
Under this canopy the Queen took her seat, and was
borne to the Shiprow Port of the city. Here she was
welcomed by- another procession, " in cap of gold and
silk full pleasantlie," and was treated with a succes-
nof masques and pageants. The first represented
The Salutation of the Virgin—
" The sound of menstrallis blaming to-the sky."
Then came the pageant of " the Orient Kiwis three ;
then the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise,
by an Angel, with the sword of,violence." Lastly,
came the Bruce—
" * ** that ever was bold in stour,
Richt awful strang, and large of portraitour,
As noble, dreadful, michtie champion."
Then followed a procession, of " four-and-twenty
maidens young," all clad in green, with white hats,
and " of marvellous beautie"—
" Playand on timberallis, and singin richt sweetlie."
In fine—
" At her coming, great was the mirth and joy;
For at the Cross abundantly ran wino :
Unto her lodging the town did her convoy;
Her for to treat they set their haill ingine;
A rich present they did to her propino,
A costlie cup that large thing would contain,
Covered, and full of coin-ed gold richt fine:
Be blyth and blissful, Brugh of Aberdeen !"
The gold in the cup amounted, to ,two hundred
ppunds.
In 1537, James V. visited the city, and was sump-
tuously entertained in it for the space of fifteen days.
The unfortunate Queen Mary visited Aberdeen about
August, 1562, when she was received with every
mark of loyalty and attachment. She was also here
i the end of October that year, when the Earl of
Iluntly was defeated by the Earl of Murray, in the
battle of Corrichie, fought in one of the glens of the
till] of Fare, in this county. The Gordon chief and
many of his followers were slain ; and many prisoners
were conveyed to Aberdeen, including Huntly's second
son, the gallant and handsome Sir John Gordon, for
whom the Queen is said to have had at one time a
strong attachment. lie was beheaded, in Castle-street,
on the 2d of November, to the profound grief of the
Queen, who was so situated as not to have the power
of saving his life. James VI. often found a loyal re-
ception and comfortable quarters in Aberdeen, be-
tween'the years 1581 and 1600. On all these occa-
sions ?,se received propines of money, and sometimes
levied it needful contribution. Oa the occasion of his
marrage with Anne of Denmark, the citizens fitted

Out a vessel called the Nicholas (after ;the
patron saint of the city), which was commanded by
one of the baillies, and sailed from Aberdeen, to join
the royal squadron bound for Denmark, on the 16th
of April, 1589. The vessel was completely armed,
and decorated with " ensigns, flags, and streamers of
war, red side-cloths, and gilded tops." It would ap-
pear that James contemplated a visit in 1617; for the
rotiakclsntrastes received a dispatch, recommending " that
"ur
:gi g 8 be prepared in the most handsome, civil, and
'well meted-
tIY 114fluar ;with good bedding, well-washed and
cient largenzerie ; clear and clean vessels, of suffl•
Suitable prepara't. plenty of provisions and vivres."
no. farther north
than Sir were
Castle. In 1620 one
Pearl,
aTtiomas Menzies, presented to his
Majesty a large , found in the brook of Kelly,
which runs intoshe
.Ythan, not far from Haddo
House, and which
Crown of Scotland paid to be " the top pearl in the
. or this gift the King stoWed on 'Menzies the hone.ur of knighthood.
be-
The next and last gover who visited Aberdeen
was the " merry monarche4gCl
meat
11. During his
, Cenlytkh:vin
first exile, the Scottish Parliamh
issloners, one of
him iiimg of Great Britain g proclaimed
whom was Provost Jaffrey, ef Aberdeenwere dis-
patched to bring him over from the Con
embarked under convoy of a Dutch fleet, anerfa lie
at Speymouth on Monday, the 4th of July, In6dZed
After resting at Bog of Gight, now Gordon Castle
he arrived in Aberdeen on the 7th, and took up his
residence in Castle-street, which some conceive to
have been that which is now called the " Bursars'
House." His visit to the city was intimated to the
magistrates in the following letter from the Commis-
sioners, of date 23d June, 1650 :
" Worsehipfull and good triendis, we have directed
these to let you know, that the Kiog is saiflie arryved,
and intend is, if God permit, to be at Abirdein on Thurs-