The Washington herald., 1913-09-19
Copyright, 1sD. BY A. D. JacObsou.l

There is a touch OF romance in the po-
sition OF King George as the Chieftain OF
Deeside. Often in the days gone by have
the hills about Balmoral echoed the
pibroch's shrilI note. while in the valley
mustered the Gordons, the Farquharsons.
and those who served the Thane that was
called Macduff! But now those fighting
days are over, and the descendant OF the
formerly hated house Of Hanover each
autumn goes to his white castle beneath
the towering heights OF Dochnagar, and
sojourns among Highlanders who serve
him as faithfully as their forbears
served the Inflated Stuarts. Disaffected
clans have given place 20 a people who
pride themselves on being loyal subjects.
I The King goes TO Scotland now, how
ever. not as a King. He leaves the at
mosphere Of the Court OF St James be-
hind him. Dressed in the kilt and the
"bonny Glengarry," he becomes a Scot
tish chieftain. He climbs the hills, fishes
in the Dee, kills his stag in the forest OF
Ballochbuie, and lives q hardy life
among the "bracken and heather" In
the evening he returns to the castle with
the spoils of the chase. and dimes to the
strains OF the pipers marching to and
fro in their kits Of royal tartan plaid.
On occasions Scotland's namely fare
finds a place at the royal table, for the
King is not unnindfuI of the gustatorial
virtues OF a "haggis," and the Queen re-
gales her friends with scones peculiar to
the land o. cakes" 4 favored dish
with royal shooting parties is trout
cooked with oatmeal Such trout! A
luxury handed down from the days of
John Brown, who served il for his royal
mistress Plain-spoken John lies in the
little churchyard by the Dee, his tomb
stone engraved with Queen Victoria's
tribute to an honest mans fidelity,
though the statue she erected to his
memory in the Balmoral park was re-
moved by her son as soon as he ascended
the throne.
The people who served the King on
his highland estate have sprung chiefly
from pure Celtic stock Picturesque and
commodious cottages for the royal re-
tainers dot the landscape, and near the
castle itself are the "Balmoral cottages"
which have taken the place Of the rude
huts, with the smoke from the peat fire
issuing through a hole in the thatched
roof, in which the peasantry lived when
Queen Victoria came to the Highlands.
Nearly every family in the parish has
lived there for generations, and the heads
of many of the households of today
played with the King when he was
"wee laddie," trying his luck with his
rod and line in the Dee, over against
Abergeldie.
Every year of his life. with few ex-
ceptions, when his naval duties kept him
away, the King has passed the fall at
Deeside. The old people have known him
from the days when he and his "brither''
rode about the glen in panniers on either
side of tiny pony. Things were more
primitive about the countryside then, and
the King remembers the time when there
was no bridge over the Dee to Abergeldie,
and parcels for the castle occupied by his
parents Gas Prince and Princess of
Wales) were conveyed across from the
opposite bank by a quaint arrangement
of cords and pulleys. Now a little sus--
pension bridge spans the river and af-
fords amusement for the Kings younger
children, for it has a glorious sway when
one stands in the center and sets it
oscjllating.
One of the best-remembered stories on
Deeside relates to the Kings boyhood.
He and the late Duke of Clarence had
wandered far from the castle on a fish
ing expedition and hired a trap to re-
turn home. The driver was a boy from
"above Ballster," and he did not know
the princes.
VIVA may you chapS DeE ne asKeo'
as they drove along the country road.
IT am Prince Albert Victor" said the
Duke of Clarence.
'Humph," said the lad with a grin,
and after another pause he queried:
"Aand wha is t'other chapT'
prince George" was the reply, "and
the Prince of Wales Is our father"
"Ahd maybe Queen victoria's your
grandmother retorted the lad, sarcas-
tically. ..
Eyes, she is" replied the young
princess.
The boy gave another prolonged stare.
and then said: "P'haps you'd like to
know who I amp
"Yes, we should" was the good
humored reply.
well, then said the boy, with a
CLEAN of triumph, I'm the Shah of
Persia"
Even in matters of religious worship
the King is at one with his Scottish SUBJ
jects when he sojourns in the High
lands. On Sunday morning he and his