58 ON THE GRAMPIAN HILLS. 



and many sports, which are so heartily entered into 

 and contested with so much spirit and good-tempered 

 rivalry, by the sturdy clansmen who assemble in con- 

 siderable numbers on the occasion of this popular 

 gathering. 



Braemar being within a comparatively short dis- 

 tance of Balmoral, the proceedings have often been 

 honoured by the presence of Her Majesty ; a fact that 

 adds largely to the excitement of the scene, and calls 

 forth the most strenuous exertions on the part of the 

 competitors to bear off the honours of the day. It was 

 an exceedingly bright morning in the early part of 

 September last (1881), when I started for the Spital 

 of Glen Shee, to drive a distance of fifteen miles to 

 attend these Highland pastimes ; but notwithstanding 

 <f the merry, merry sunshine/' the cold was severe, a 

 sharp wind blowing over the wild country, giving a 

 foretaste of winter and a hint of the sort of weather to 

 be expected now that the autumn was on the wane. 

 My companions were two stalwart Highlanders, who 

 were going to join the men of Invercauld, habited in 

 full costume, and representing good specimens of the 

 clan to which they belonged. After journeying some 

 three miles we stopped for a few minutes at the 

 keeper's lodge. At that time of the year a residence 

 in so retired a locality may be all very well ; but when 

 Glen Beg is blocked up with snowdrifts and the roads 

 are impassable for many weeks at a time, I can readily 

 believe in the loneliness of the inhabitants. However, 

 Robertson and his wife, with the companionship of ten 

 children of all ages, manage to weather the storms 

 and tempests of the winter season, and seem thoroughly 

 contented with their lot in life. 



