The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-24 00:00:00

THE COURT ef FASHIONABLE WORLD.

HER MAJESTY IN SCOTLAND.
Sunday week was signalised by the first visit of her
Majesty to the venerable Church of Scotland, in the
Parish Church of Blair Athol!. From the wet and
glOonny state of the weather, it was doubtful almost up to
the last moment whether the royal party would not post-
pone their intention ; at least many entered the church
without any expectation of the Queen being present.
Their surprise may be conceived, when exactly at the
hour appointed for the service, her Majesty and the
Prince quietly entered Lord Glenlyon's pew. The con-
gregation assembled of course kept their seats, and be-
yond a scarcely audible sensation there was not the
slightest manifestation. Nothing could be more decorous
and impressive than the whole scene. The Rev. Mr.
Irvine, minister of the parish, preached a plain and lucid
sermon from the commencement of the 13th verse of the
sth chapter of St. Matthew, " Ye are the salt of the
earth." At the conclusion the old practice which is still
retained in most of tl e northern rural districts of col-
lecting the offering from each individual with the long
handled ladle, was performed as usual, only that the col-
lector did not include Lord Glenlyon's gallery, where the
royal party were seated, and who had given their charity
on entering the church. On the congregation dismissing,
the rain was pelting furiously. A party of the Highland
guard, but unarmed, then took their places on each side the
centre entrance to the church, and lined the few yards
leading to the royal carriage. But so perfect was the de-
corum observed by the congregation, that there was no
necessity even for this slender escort. The Queen, lean-
ing on Prince Albert, made her way to the carriage
through the wet gravel, affording a good opportunity to
some gallant Highlander to imitate Sir Walter Raleigh,
had the day and the occasion been less solemn.
On Monday Prince Albert went out shooting, and her
Majesty occupied the early part of the day in driving and
walking about the grounds.
At three o'clock the Prince drove her Majesty in the
pony phaeton and four to see the falls of Bruar. Her
Majesty was accompanied by Lord Glenlyon and Lord
Charles Wellesley.
The Bruar water, which forms these celebrated falls,
crosses the Inverness-road between two and three miles
beyond Blair. Immediately on the other side of the
bridge over which the high road passes there is a path-
way to the right, leading along the bank of the stream.
At a distance of 40 or 50 yards from the bridge a gate is
placed across the pathway, by the side of a pituresque-
looking cottage, where resides a woman who acts as guide
to tourists and strangers coming to see the falls. The
falls themselves (for they are many in number) form a
really magnificent picture. The sides of the pass rise
abrUptly from the bed of the torrent, which has worn a
path for itself, leaving immense rugged masses of stone
overhanging the stream. The tops, and partly the sides,
of these precipices are covered with fir, larch, and beech,
which clothe them with a bcutiful green. The Bruar
water rushes through this pass in an impetuous torrent,
sometimes turning aside to avoid an impediment, at others
wearing its way through natural arches formed during
long time by its own incessant force, and others leaping
over the masses of rock in falls of from 100 to 200 feet.
From almost every point of view the pass presents a grand
and imposing aspect.
Her Majesty was drawn up the greater part of the path-
way in her garden chair. The party returned to dinner
at five o'clock.
The Princess Royal, accompanied by her preceptress,
took a walk on Tuesday morning in the grounds adjacent
to the Castle. About twelve o'clock Prince Albert, ac-
companied by Lord Glenlyon, proceeded westward in a
gig to the lands of Calovin, a tract of moorland about two
mils above the falls of Bruar, to the grouse shooting,
where in the course of less than an hour, his Royal High-
ness brought down seven brace. The Highlanders are in
raptures with the Prince's skill as a marksman, which
they say has not been equalled, much less surpassed, by
any previous sportsman in Athol. It appears that his
Royal Highness has a perfect command over the rifle and
fowling-piece, having been trained to the use of them
from infancy. About four o'clock her Majesty was driven
by Prince Albert in the pony phaeton to view the Falls of
Tummell. They were accompanied by Lord Charles
Wellesley on horseback, and were followed by Lord Glen-
lyon, Lady Canning, and Lady Caroline Cocks, in another
carriage and four. Four servants on horseback also ac-
companied the party. They drove down through the
pass of Killiecrankie, when the Queen stopped near the
middle of the pass to survey the scenery around, and
talking to her companions, referred with evident delight
to the admiration she expressed for the scene taken from
this point of view when she first entered it from the south.
It is indeed worthy of all admiration. The fertile vale of
the Garry is here bounded and locked in by the meeting
of the mountains which confine its sides, and which,
though comparatively retiring, sloping higher up the val-
ley, here rise in precipitous grandeur, and even appear to
overtop or interlace each other from side. to side, leaving
a narrow gulley through whica the Garry brads and
struggles through the deep deep below. The rocky sides
of these hills are feathered to the very top with the larch,
beech, oak, &c., forming a scene which is perhaps un-
equalled in Scotland for the combination of the wild, the
magnificent, and the picturesque. The royal party were