The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-16 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY at BLAIR ATHOL.
BLAIR ATHOL, FRIDAY.
There is little to record of the movements of her
Majesty and the Court here beyond the mere ordinary
routine, so strict is the privacy desired and obtained,
For the purpose of retirement a more favourable spot
could scarcely have been obtained, combining as it
does such exquisite natural beauties with such abso-
lute quiet and seclusion from the bustle and turmoil
of the world.
Athol House itself is a building of the most un-
pretending character. It is a plain structure, all
white from the great entrance to the out• offices, and
planned without the slightest assistance from the rules
of architectural beauty. It is, however, commodious,
and the interior has been prepared, under the direc-
tion of Lord Glenlyon, by upholsterers from Lon-
don, in a style rendering it a fit abode for the Queen
in the retirement which she seeks. It is delightfully
situate in the centre of a glen, or, more properly
speaking, a valley, surrounded on all sides by high
hills, one of which, Ben-y-glo, almost aspires to the
rank of mountain. • Some of these hills are clothed to
the tops with fir, relieved by masses of rich verdure ;
others are more barren, but strikingly grand. At
all hours of the day—from the early morning, when
the summits of the hills are hidden in mists, to the
night, when their bold outlines form a grand amphi-
theatre enclosing the domain—the scene is beautiful
in the extreme. Repose and seclusion are, however,
claims it possesses in an extreme degree, and which
give it apparently a value in the eyes of her Majesty
in addition to its great natural advantages. The in-
terior of the grounds afford extensive walks and
drives, of which her Majesty avails herself, and the
Prince is enabled to enjoy shooting on the hills.
Deer-stalking will, it is said, be added to his Royal
Highness's amusements. The utmost care is used to
exclude all strangers from the house and grounds.
A guard of the Athol Hthlanders, under the com-
mand of Captain Drummond, mount guard over it,
and there is a body of the London police, under the
orders of an inspector Steed, who also lend assistance
in maintaining order and preventing intrusions from
the curious. The views in the neighbourhood, it is
needless to say, are full of beauty and interest.
Every guide-book to Scotland teems with their
praises, but scarcely does them justice. It is under
stood that her Majesty will from time to time visi
them all.

Very little beyond mere Court routine has to be
recorded.

Yesterday (Thursday) only the Prince and Queen
walked on the hills adjoining the house, accompanied
by the Princess Royal. Her Royal ighness also
took walking exercise in the afternoon. The Queen
and the Prince in the afternoon drove out in the pony
phaeton.
The dinner party yesterday consisted, besides the
Queen and Prince Albert, of Lord and Lady Glen-
lyon, the Earl of Aberdeen, the Earl of Liverpool,
Viscountess Canning, Lady Caroline Cocks, the Hon.
Charles Wellesley, Sir Edward Bowater, Sir James
Clarke, and Mr. Anson.
This morning (Friday) her Majesty and the Prince
breakfasted at half-past eight. They then took walk-
ing exercise in the grounds, accompanied by the
Prince then
wentforßoyal,u
was provided. The
attended by Sir E.
Bowater, and accompanied by Lord Glenlyon. Her
out shooting,
Majesty drove out in the pony phaeton, accompanied
by Lady Canning.
The escorts of Scots Greys have been dismissed for
the present. Her Majesty is now under charge of
the Athol Highlanders.
Her Majesty will attend divine service on Sunday
at the church of the parish. A large pew has been
fitted with ottomans, and covered with crimson cloth,
to receive her Majesty and suite, and there are crimson
coverings to the rest of .the pews.
During Friday afternoon, when the Queen and
Prince drove out, they went to the old village of
Blair, where the sheep-shearing was going on, with
which her Majesty was much amused. She also par-
ticularly noticed some Scotch terriers. They then
proceeded towards Glen Tilt, where, near a marble
quarry, where there is a beautiful vein of green mar-
ble, they entered a hht The gude wife was spinning,
and the Queen sat ddWn and conversed with her very
affably for some time: The inmates did not know the
rank of their visitors, and, in accordance with the
custom, they put a bottle and glass on the table, and
asked them to taste the mountain dew.

BLAIR AT/lOLL, SATURDAY MORNING.

There appear to be, some indications this morning
of a change in the weather, and if the sun should be
compelled to retreat before the rain and mist which
have begun to invade the present abode of royalty,
there is but little likelihood that her Majesty wil
prolong her visit to the end of the month. Within
the last few days, however, there has been a fresh
influx of visitors and tourists, who are anxious to
combine the pleasures of seeing their Sovereign and
the beauties of Scottish scenery. The two hotels,
the Blair of Atholl ;Inn and the Bridge of Tilt Inn,
are completely inundated—people are glad to be
allowed to lie down indiscriminately under the dining
tables like " four-and-twenty blackbirds all of a
row ;" every bed-room boasts of three or four occu-
pants, and when they wake in the morning they find
themselves placed by the side of some drowsy
stranger, with whom they had not the honour of any
previous acquaintance, and who had been billeted
upon them by an unceremonious landlord during
their peaceful slumbers. Misery, however, makes us
acquainted with strange bedfellows, and yet the most
exorbitant charges must be submitted to from " mine
host," who levies a sort of black mail on the unwary
travellers, by means of this ingenious, but somewhat
Irish, method of multiplying accommodation.
In the course of the afternoon of yesterday, her
Majesty drove out in a pony phaeton along the high
road to Inverness as far as the Falls of Bruer, but
unfortunately a shower of rain prevented her Majesty
from alighting to view the most picturesque portion
of this beautiful waterfall. The beauties of the Falls
of Bruar have been considerably enhanced by a rich
clothing of fir and oaks, fringing its rocky banks,
which were formerly as bleak, bare, and desolate as
the summits of the surrounding hills, amidst which it
lies embosomed. These plantations were formed by
the late Duke of Athol], in compliance with the cele-
brated poetical epistle of Burns, who begged that
m and the fragrant birks are now dressed in woodbines,
and e
the craggyclothng might, be placed upon the naked rocks ;
cliffs are now adorned with the firs
some
and thorns for which Scotland's poet petitioned in
such glowing language.
It is, however, positive that her Majesty will make
a second effort to view these Falls during her sojourn
here. In her drive yesterday her Majesty was ac-
companied by Prince Albert, who had returned early
from grouse shooting on the hills, where his Royal
Highness bad some excellent sport ; several black cock
were sent to the Castle by the Prince, in order that
theymight be prepared for her Majesty's luncheon,
an at half-past three his Royal Highness rode back
to the Castle, and drove her Majesty out in the pony
phaeton, preceded by outriders—Lord Glenlyon and
Sir Edward Bowater rode on either side of the
carriage, the Highland chieftain wearing the two
eagles' feathers in his bonnet. On the return of
her Majesty to the Castle, a Scotch peasant, who
had been evincing his loyalty in copious libations
in honour of the Queen, staggered into the Castle,
and entered the room where the illustrious party were
assembled with far less ceremony and discrimination
than were displayed by the " boy Jones." The in-
truder was forthwith handed over to the tender
mercies of the localpolice, who appear to perform
their onerous duties with that energy and vigour for
which the renowned followers of Dogberry and
Verges were so eminently distinguished.
A vast
havenum
yon's clansmen and
foresters
bbeerenofouLt Lord Gen
ringlthl
the night driving the
deer into the Glen Tilt, in order to enable the Prince
to have a shot at them as they
bound through the
passes. His Royal Highness, accompanied by his
noble host and a large party, mounted on shooting
ponies, left the Castle this morning for the Glen,
where there is every probabity that they will have
some excellent sport as the wind is favourable.
Her Majesty will attend Divine service to-morrow
morning, at the village church of Blair Atholl; the
chieftain s pew in that sacred edifice has been fitted
up with scarlet lining and tapestry, for her Majesty's
use, and great preparations are making to beautify
and adorn the church for the reception of her Majesty.
The Seceders have, unhappily, attempted to inculcate
their pernicious doctrines within these peaceful do-
mains, and a wooden "free kirk" has been erected by
them at the further extremity of the village, but they
have, hitherto, failed in their efforts to lead away the
peasantry from those places of worship in which
their forefathers have, from time out of mind,
assembled. The ancient chapel of the Atholl
family is now
most
in ruins
and forms
one of the picturesque objects within
the grounds of the Castle. This ruin is rendered
doubly interesting, as being the-burial place of every
Highland chieftain of ancient descent and lofty
lineage; but the chief object of interest within its
moss-grown walls is the tomb of the celebrated
Claverhouse, whose body was brought to Blair
Atholl after the battle of Killiecrankie, and received
honourable interment from the Atholl family, against
whom he had so long combated with such terrific
energy and effect. Every traveller and tourist makes
a pilgrimage to the tomb of this celebrated hero, and
the descendants of the Covenanters still shudder at the
bare mention of the name of the bloody Claverse.
Her Majesty appears to be in the enjoyment of ex-
cellent health and spirits, and evidently derives the
greatest gratification from her present secluded mode
of life.- Puck