Queen Victoria's "Expedition to Loch Maree, Sept 12 - 18, 1877"
In the account of her time in Scotland, More Leaves from the Journal of A Life in the Highlands (Smith, Elder & Co., 1884), Queen Victoria describes one of the more adventurous journeys she took in her time in the North, a trip to Loch Maree. Visitors to this remote part of Ross-shire had increased somewhat once the railway from Dingwall to Stromeferry had been opened in 1870 (it was extended to Lochalsh in 1897). The small station at Achnasheen provided a convenient halt for access to Loch Maree, a magnificent stretch of water overlooked by Ben Slioch.
Victoria left Balmoral on the 12th September on an excursion that was scheduled to take over one week to complete. She was accompanied by her daughter Beatrice, the Duchess of Roxburghe and of course her faithful servant John Brown though he was somewhat incapacitated by a leg he had injured some four weeks previously. "He looks pulled" she observed. It was raining all the way to Ballater where they embarked by train, but gradually the weather improved. Clearly, Victoria liked precision: she wrote "Stopped at Dyce at nineteen minutes to twelve", and also noted that the corn had already been cut near Aberdeen - "unusually early." Another detail she thought worthy of mention was how "at one o'clock we had our luncheon, and dear Noble [her collie dog] came in and was so good and quiet."
At 1.25pm they stopped at Keith, where "the corn was sadly destroyed, but around Elgin it was better.", and they passed Forres at "eighteen minutes past two." At "three minutes past three" they reached Inverness, and at "twenty to four" they were met at Dingwall by Sir Kenneth and Lady Mackenzie and their three children. "He is a pleasing, courteous person, and wore a kilt." The train then took them through Strathpeffer, and they arrived at Achnasheen "at a quarter to five." It was a twenty mile drive in "the sociable (Brown and Cannon on the box), the two gentlemen and three maids following in the waggonette, and the other servants in 'traps.' " Such was the entourage that accompanied the Queen on such expeditions, she in her 4-wheeled open "sociable" carriage. They endured heavy showers as they passed through the "desolate, wild , and perfectly uninhabited country", but she was able to delight in the long descent to Loch Maree through Glen Dochart, finding the loch "grand and romantic." At Kinlochewe Hotel, they changed horses, but there was still ten miles to go to their destination, the Loch Maree Hotel. More heavy showers sped through, providing them with "a most brilliant rainbow, with the reflection of a second, quite perfect", and she found the scenery "beautiful in the extreme." They arrived at Loch Maree Hotel at "a little after seven" where she found "a very nice little house, neatly furnished....[and] my dear little sitting-room, looking onto the loch, and to Ben Slioch and the road; it is very full with my things."
Thursday , September 13.
Keen artist that she was, Victoria started sketching the very next morning, "though there was no light and shade." She took a walk with Beatrice, and at Kinlochewe, by the bridge over the Talladale, "was a cottage, a miserable hovel, in which an old man lived; he wore a coat and a high hat, and was much pleased to see me, but said he 'had very little English' which is the case with most people here. We gave him something, and when Brown took it to him he asked the old man the names of some of the hills."
The weather became hot and close, and she spent the afternoon painting, reading and writing, taking a ride further down the loch in the sociable after tea.
Friday, September 14.
A bad storm overnight limited their morning activities, but eventually the Queen and her daughter set off for a walk. On returning, she observed "The view from my little sitting-room is quite beautiful. Ben Sleach on one side, and the splendid loch, with the other fine rocky mountains and green island on the other. One would like to sketch all day."
In the afternoon the three ladies headed off in the carriage, first to Shieldaig, then on to Gairloch via Flowerdale.
One other observation: "The post comes in at a quarter to four, and at half-past nine." After dinner Victoria and Beatrice played the piano together.
Saturday, September 15.
"There is a perfect plague of wasps, and we are obliged to have gauze nailed down to keep these insects out when the windows are open, which as the climate is so hot, they have to be constantly. I had to put on quite thin things again." They decided on an expedition to Torridon, and set off in the carriage with "general Ponsonby and Brown on the box", but not before they had managed some more sketching and painting.
Victoria marvels at the sight of "Ben Liughach [Liathach] which the people pronounce Liarach." At Upper Loch Torridon, "village there really is none, and the inn is merely a small, one-storied 'harled' house with small windows."
In this vicinity the Queen meets some of the locals. "An old man, very tottery, passed where I was sketching, and I asked the Duchess of Roxburghe to speak to him: he seemed strange, said he had come from America, and was going to England, and thought Torridon very ugly!" [See Dixon, Gairloch in North-West Ross-shire, 1886, for more on this incident, or my reference on page 131 of The Immeasurable Wilds].
She continues "we walked along , the people came out to see us, and we went into a little merchant's shop, where we all bought some trifles - just such a 'shoppie' as old Edmonston's, and the poor man was so nervous he threw almost everything down. I got some very good comforters [long, wide scarves], two little woven woolen shawls, and a very nice cloak. We had spoken to a woman before, but she could not understand us, only knowing Gaelic, and had to ask another younger woman to help."
Further on, she observes " a row of five or six wretched hovels, before which stood barelegged and very ill-clad children, and poor women literally squatting on the ground. The people cheered us and seemed very pleased. Hardly anyone ever comes here." One wonders all the more what the locals made of the Royal visitors!
Her final comment on the day: "We... enjoyed our expedition very much...much interested by our adventures."
Sunday, September 16.
Another hot day.
In the morning the Queen and Beatrice took a walk in the direction of Kinlochewe, passing "two very poor-looking low cottages. We looked into one, out of which came a tidy-looking woman, but who could hardly understand or speak a word of English. We then looked into the second, where Baldry lodged; it was wet and muddy, almost to the door, and the inside very low and close, but tidy. The 'gudewife' came up and spoke to us, also like a foreigner, with difficulty. She was a nice, tidy-looking woman, and gave her name as Mrs. McRae, and the place is called 'Sliorach'. She knew us - at least Brown told her it was the 'Bhan Righ' [Gaelic, 'King'] with her daughter, and gave her some money."
They returned to the Hotel where they said prayers, it being Sunday. "There is no church nearer than Kinlochewe and Gairloch, and people had been seen passing on foot as early as half-past seven to Gairloch. At half-past four, Beatrice, the Duchess of Roxburghe, and I started in a four-oared gig, steered by Hormsby the landlord, a very nice, quiet, youngish man, and rowed to the Isle of Maree...The boat was pushed on shore, and we scrambled out and walked...to the well, now nearly dry, which is said to be celebrated for the cure of insanity. An old tree stands close to it, and into the bark of this it is the custom, from time immemorial, for every one who goes there to insert with a hammer a copper coin, as a sort of offering to the saint who lived there in the eighth century, called Saint Maolruabh or Mulroy.....We hammered some pennies into the tree, to the branches of which there are also rags and ribbons tied. We then went on to where there are some old gravestones; two belonged to the tomb of a Norwegian or Danish princess, about whose untimely death there is a romantic story. There are also modern graves, and only eight years ago one of the family of the McLeans was buried there, the island being their burying-place."
As they returned to the Hotel, the Queen admired the "four very respectable-looking men (one a very good-looking young farmer) [who] rowed the boat."
The well on Isle Maree
Monday, September 17.
More sketching in the morning, then the walk with Beatrice to Talladale "where the horses for the coach are kept. This coach is like a great break, and is generally full of people; we met it each morning when out walking."Then they walked on further, "where lives the old man to whom we spoke on Thursday, and whom we saw get off the coach this morning, having been to Gairloch for church of which he is an elder. Here, three or four very poorly-dressed bairns were standing and sitting about, and we gave them biscuits and sandwiches out of the luncheon-box."
Victoria was troubled by the midges [I am always surprised at how few of the travellers' accounts mention this problem]. Here at Talladale "the midges are dreadful, and you cannot stand for a moment without being stung...". Later in the afternoon, as they look down on the Falls fo Kerrie, she again mentions that "we were much molested by midges."After lunch, they travel to Kerrie's Bridge "to meet good people who had asked permission to come over from Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, to see 'their beloved Queen'...As we approached Kerrie's Bridge, we saw a number of people standing on the road, and we drew up to where they were and stopped the carriage. General Ponsonby presented the minister, Mr Greenfield, who had come over with them. They sang 'God Save the Queen' with most loyal warmth; and their friendly faces and ringing cheers, when we arrived and when we left, were very gratifying. It took them three hours to come over, and they were going straight back. There were two hundred and fifty of them of all classes, from the very well dressed down to the poorest, and many fishermen amongst them. We met many of these on Saturday coming back from having sold their fish, and also on the coaches. As we returned, we met the coach where there was only just room to pass."
Victoria mentions that she "got a few trifles from Gairloch, though very few were to be had, to give as souvenirs to my good people. Brown;s leg, though he had to stand so much, did not hurt him, which I was thankful for, and he has waited at all our meals, made my coffee in the morning, etc."
Queen Victoria had enjoyed this trip to as remote a corner of Scotland as she ever visited. "I was sorry it was our last night here, and would have liked to stay two or three days longer; but dear Arthur has been since Saturday at Balmoral, and he must leave again on the 29th. Have enjoyed this beautiful spot and glorious scenery very much. The little house was cosy and quiet, and there were no constant interruptions as at home. Only Beatrice suffered much from rheumatism, which was very vexatious."
Tuesday, September 18.
"At a quarter to nine, we left with regret our nice, cosy little hotel at Loch Maree, which I hope I may some day see again." The weather was misty as they made their way back to Achnasheen and the train. "Dear Noble [the dog] was so good on the railway, and also at Loch Maree, where he came to our meals; but he was lost without his companions."
They arrived back at Balmoral at six, where they found Arthur, who "had been out deer-stalking these two days, but got nothing."
Victoria sketching at Loch Callater, near Balmoral
Loch Maree Hotel. To and above the right of the door can be seen the coat of arms which still proudly reminds visitors today of the Queen's visit.