20–26 September 1875

We had a family dinner at twenty minutes to nine. At a quarter past ten left Balmoral with Beatrice and Jane Churchill, Brown on the rumble. We reached Ballater by eleven, when we took the railroad. General Ponsonby and Sir W. Jenner met us there. Emilie, Annie, Morgan (for Beatrice), Francie Clark, and the footmen, Cannon, Charlie Thomson, and Heir, went in attendance, as well as Baldry and three men of the police. The horses (six) with Bourner, Hutchinson, and Goddard with the luggage, had gone on in advance. We started immediately, and very soon after lay down. We went steadily and slowly, but I did not sleep very well.

At eight we reached Tyndrnm, a wild, pic- turesque, and desolate place in a sort of wild glen with crreen h;]^ risjna- around. Here we break- fasted in the train, Brown having had the coffee heated which we had brought made with us, and some things coming from the nice-looking hotel. The morning was beautiful, just a little mist on the highest hills, which cleared off. There are a few strag^lin^ houses and a nice hotel at this station, where we got out and where Lord and Lady Breadalbane met us, as this is his property. The day was beautiful. We got into the sociable (that is, Beatrice, Jane Churchill, and I) with a pair of posthorses, Brown and Francie Clark on the box, the two gentlemen and four maids in a waggonette following, and further behind the unavoidable luggage with the footmen, etc. The road lay up a broad glen, with oreen hills on either side, on one of which are lead mines belonging to Lord Breadalbane. It was very winding, very rough, and continually up and down, and we went very slowly. Looking back, behind Tyndrum was a fine range of hills which are in the forest of the Black Mount. Passed the entrance of a broad glen with many trees called Glenorchy (the second title of Breadal- bane), and saw all along where the railway is beiiiL; made. A small stream flows at the bottom. To the left we saw Ben Luie; then as we descended, the country became more and more beautiful, with trees and copsewood sprinkled about, till we came to Dalmally, lying embosomed in trees, with Ben Cruachan and its adjacent range rising close be- fore us, with the bluest shadows and tints on all the heights, and the sky pure and bright with a hot sun, though a good deal of air. Looking back we still saw the other green hills from which we had ccme. As it approaches Dalmally the road goes under trees till you reach the inn, which stands quite alone. The church is beautifully situated at the bottom of the glen, and is surrounded by trees. There was no large crowd here, and the people behaved very well. Dalmally is thirteen miles from Tyn- drum. Four horses were put on here to drag us up the first hill, which was long and high, and brought us In view of Loch Awe, which looked beautiful. Here the leaders were taken off. Loch Awe extends back a good way, and we could just see Kilckurn Castle, of historic celebrity, and the beautiful head of the loch with high hills on the right, and the islands of Innishail and Ardchone, besides many smaller ones. On the first-named of these is said to be buried an ancestor of the Argylls. The loch is thirty miles in length, and as it stretches out and widens the hills become much flatter. We drove quite round the head of Loch Awe, then passed Cladich, and here the ground became very broken, and high hills were seen in the background, towering above the nearer ones. Bracken with birch and oak, etc., grow profusely among the green hills and rocks, much as they do near Inverlochy, Loch Eil, etc. Here and there were small knots of people, but not many. About five or six miles before Inveraray, at a place called Crais-na-Schleacaick, at the foot of Glen A ray, where the Duke's property begins, four of our own horses were waiting, and here dear Louise and Lome met us, looking pleased and well. Lome rode, and dear Louise got into her pony-carriage and drove after us. \Ye soon after came to an arch with a Gaelic -inscription — " Ceud mille Failte do'n Bhan RhiVhinn do Inerara" (A hundred thousand welcomes to the Queen to Inveraray). A very stout tenant's wife, Mrs. McArthur, presented me with a nosegay, which a child she held in her arms ofave me. On we went along Glen A ray, the road as we approached Inveraray Castle being bordered on either side by trees. When we reached the gate there were two halberdiers, whilst others were posted at intervals along the approach, dressed in Campbell tartan kilts with brown coats turned back with red, and bonnets with a black cock's tail and bog-myrtle (the Campbell badge). With them were also the pipers of the volunteers. In front of the house the volunteers in kilts and red jackets, and the artillery volunteers in blue and silver, of whom Lome is the colonel, were drawn up, and a good many spectators were assembled. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll and their six girls were at the door : the outside steps are now under glass and made into a sort of conservator)-. The Duke and Duchess took us upstairs at once to our rooms, part of which are Louise's ; very comfortable, not large but cheerful, and having a beautiful view of Loch Fyne. It was one when we arrived, and we lunched at two, only Louise, Beatrice, and Lome, in a nice room (in fact the Duchess's drawing-room) with tapes- try, at the foot of the stairs. Brown (who has attended me at all the meals since we came here) waited, helped by two or three of the Duke's people. After lunch we went into the large draw- ing-room, next door to where we had lunched in 1847, when Lome was only two years old. And now I return, alas! without my beloved Husband, to find Lome my son-in-law ! In the drawing-room I found Lord and Lady Dufferin (who are staying here) as well as Sir John and Lady Emma McNeill. She is the Duke's only sister, and he a very fine old man (now eighty), who was formerly my minister in Persia. Went upstairs to rest and sketch the splendid Ard- kinglass Hills, from the window of the little turret which iorms my dressing-room. Then had tea, and at half-past five drove out with Louise and Beatrice by the lodge called Crcitabhillc, through part of the wood or forest where the beeches are splendid, as also the spruces, on past Ballacha- nooran, by the upper road, green hills, trees, oaks, ferns, and broken ground all along, like at Loch Eil, past Achnagoul, a little village lying close under the hill, to the Douglas Water, a small rapid stream. Here we turned back and went along this pretty little mountain stream, past some cottages and a small farm, and then came upon the shore of Loch Fyne, the drive along which is lovely. As we drove, the setting sun bathed the hills in crimson, — they had been golden just before, — the effect was exquisite. Looking up and down the shores, the view was lovely, and the reflections on the calm surface of the lake most beautiful. We drove back through the small town of Inveraray, which is close to the gates of the Castle, and looks pretty from my window with its small pier, where we landed in 1847, and near to which there is a curious old Celtic cross. There are two inns, three churches, and a jail, for it is a county town. On coming home we walked a little in the garden close to the house, and came in at ten minutes past seven. Resting. Writing. Dinner at half-past eight in the room in which we lunched. The Duke and Duchess, Louise, Beatrice, and Lady Churchill dined with me. Then went for a short while into the drawing- room, where, besides the family, which included Lord Colin, were Dr. MacGregor, Mr. Donald Macleod, and Mr. Story (all clergymen staying in the house), and the following gentlemen : Lord Ardmillan (who was there for the assizes), Mr. Campbell, of Stonefield (Convener of the county of Argyll), Mr. and Mrs. Hector Macneal, of Ugadale, etc. Mr. Macneal showed me a brooch which had some resemblance to the Brooch of Lome, and had been given by King Robert Bruce to one of his ancestors.

This sad anniversary, when my beloved sister was taken from me, whom I miss so continually, returns for the third time. A fine morning. Breakfasted in my sitting- room at a quarter to ten with Louise and Beatrice. My sitting-room is generally Louise's bedroom, which had been specially arranged by her for me, and in the recess the Duchess had placed a picture of Balmoral, copied from A. Becker's picture. This opens into a small apartment, generally used as Lome's dressing-room, in which my maid Annie sleeps and the two maids sit, next to which comes the bedroom, at the end of which is the nice cozy- little turret-room with two windows, one of which looks on the loch with the very fine Ardkinglass Range in front, and the other on the front door, the bridge, and splendid trees. My dresser, Emilie Dittweiler, is next door to my bedroom, and Beatrice next to her in Louise's sitting-room. At a little after eleven I walked out with Louise and Beatrice along the approach, and then turned up through the wood and up the lower walk of Dunaquoich, the hill opposite the house, which is wooded nearly to the top, on which is a tower, and walked along under magnificent trees, chiefly beeches and some very fine spruces, that reminded rne of Windsor Park and Rein- hardtsbrunn. We walked on some way, passed a well and a small cottage, where the poultry is kept, where there is a funny good-natured woman called Mrs. McNicholl, who kissed Louise's hand and knelt down when I came up, and said to Louise, when she heard I was coming, " How shall I speak to her ? " We went into the little cottage, where another old woman of eighty lives. She looked so nice and tidy with a clean white mutch. We then walked down and came back along the river, which flows quite close to the house into the sea, and is full of fish. We were in at twenty minutes to one. Luncheon at two, just like yesterday. The day was dull, but quite fair and clear. Drawing and painting. At a quarter-past four drove out with Louise, Beatrice, and the Duchess, in my waggonette, driven by Bourner. After going for some distance the same way as yesterday afternoon, we turned into a wooded drive, leading to the Glen of Essa- ckosan, where there are the most beautiful spruces, and some silver firs which reminded me in height and size of those on the road to Ebei'stcin, near Baden, and on by what they call the Queens drive, made for me in 1871, past Lechkenvohr, whence there is a fine view of the loch and surrounding hills, Ben Een, Ben Bute, etc. The road is very steep going down to the Curling Pond and Black Bull Cottage ; then over Carlonnau Bridge down to some falls, and back along the approach to the Dint Loth, under the avenue of fine old beeches, which, joining as they do, almost form an aisle. Eleven, alas ! were blown down two years ago : they were planted by the Marquis of Argyll two hundred years ago. You come rapidly upon the Dhu Loch, a small but very pretty loch — a com- plete contrast to our Dim Loch, for this is sur- rounded by green and very wooded hills, with the extremely pretty and picturesque Glen Shira in the background, which is richly wooded. We drove alone the right bank of the Shira River, up as far as the small farm of Drum Lee, most prettily situated en the hillside some way up, passing one or two other farms — one especially, a very strange old building. We took our (made) tea, and Elizabeth (the Duchess) greatly admired the convenient arrangement (viz. the bag into which cups etc. are fitted), and then drove back the same way and along the shore road. Home at ten minutes to seven. A charming drive, but there was a very high and cold wind. Louise, Beatrice, the Duchess of Argyll, Lord and Lady Dufferin, and Sir John and Lady Emma McNeill dined with me, as yesterday. WTent again for a short while into the drawing- room, where the Duke presented some other people — the sheriff, Mr. F. A. Irvine of Drum (in Aberdeenshire), Mr. J. Malcolm of Poltalloch (a fine-looking man, whose son, a tall large man, dined here yesterday, and whose daughter has just married Mr. Gathorne Hardy's son), and Sir G. and Lady Home, who live just outside the town : he is sheriff-depute, and she a niece of Sir F. Grant. Went upstairs with Beatrice and Jane Churchill, Louise always remaining below.

Raining and blowing. Breakfasted with my two dear daughters. The rain ceased, and at a little past twelve I walked with Louise and Beatrice up by the lodge at the stables, which are in the " Cherry Park,' and looked at our horses and Louise's, and saw a little dog, the daughter of Louise's poor old Frisky ; and then walked along at the back of the stables, where the trees are very fine — most splendid silver firs — and then back by the kitchen-garden and the straightest path, past a magnificent Scotch fir of great height and circumference. In at twenty minutes past one. It was dull and dark. At a quarter-past five, after tea, started with Louise, Beatrice, and Jane Churchill in the rain, which turned to a heavy downpour. We drove up the way we had previously walked, by the private road, under trees the whole way, to Lynn a Gluthen, the highest fall of the Aray, which is very pretty. There we had to get out to walk over a wooden bridge, which Louise said they did not like to drive over, and came back by the hio-h road. By this time the weather had quite cleared, and so we drove on past the inn of Inveraray, through a gate which is always left open, and up what is called the " Town Avenue" consisting entirely of very old beeches joining overhead and nearly a mile long, at the back of the town. We came back by the lime avenue in the deer park, and in by a gate close to the plea- sure-ground at half-past six. The halberdiers, all tenants of the Duke, kept guard the whole day. We dined at a quarter- past eight on account of the ball — only Louise, Beatrice, Jane Churchill, and I. Went into the drawing-room for a moment, where the Duke presented Sir Donald Campbell of Dunstaffnage and his wife, and J. A. Campbell of New Inverawe {Loch Awe). Sir Donald Camp- bell is deputy-keeper of Dunstaffnage Castle, and wears a key in consequence. He is between forty and fifty, and wore a kilt, as did also Malcolm of Poltalloch and the other gentlemen. At a quarter- past ten we drove across to the temporary pavilion, where the ball to the tenants was to take place. Louise, Beatrice, and Jane Churchill went with me in the Duke's coach. The Duke, Lome, and Colin received us, and the Duchess and all the girls and the other ladies were inside at the upper end on a raised platform, where we all sat. It is a very long and handsome room, I believe a hundred and thirty feet long, and was built at the time of Louise's marriage. It was handsomely decorated with flags, and there were present be- tween seven and eight hundred people — tenants with their wives and families, and many people from the town ; but it was not like the Highland balls I have been accustomed to, as there were many other dances besides reels. The band could not play reels (which were played by the piper), and yet came from Glasgow \ The ball began, however, with a reel ; then came a country dance, then another reel. Louise danced a reel with Brown, and Beatrice with one of the Duke's foresters ; but the band could only play a country dance tune for it. Another reel with pipes, in which Jane Churchill danced with Brown, and Francie Clark with Annie (Mrs. Macdonald, my wardrobe maid), Louise and Beatrice dancing in another reel with one of the other people and Mr. John Campbell. Then came a " scJiottische" which seemed to be much liked there, and more reels, and lastly a "tempete" in which Louise and Beatrice danced. In the early part a Gaelic song was sung by some of the people, including Mr. John Campbell. I remember some which were sung by the boatmen on Loch Tay in 1842. After the " tempcte" we came away at nearly half-past twelve.

A pouring morning. Breakfast as usual with my two dear children — dear Louise so kind and attentive, so anxious I and all my people should be comfortable, thinking of everything. It cleared, and at half-past eleven I walked out with Louise (Beatrice walked with Jane Churchill and the girls) to the kennel, along the River A ray, which had risen a great deal since Thursday, when it was as low as possible. We went to the kennel and saw the dogs and the eagle ; from here we went to the kitchen garden, which is large. There are very fine peaches and a wonderful old laurel and thuja, which have spread to an immense size. Home at twenty minutes to one. Luncheon as before. Louise introduced me to a good old lady, a Miss McGibbon, who was too ill to come out and see me ; she patted Louise on the shoulder and said, " We are all so fond of the Princess ; she is a great pet." Louise said, " Lome was her great pet ; " and she answered, " Yes ; he is, and so you are a double pet." At ten minutes past four drove out with Louise, Beatrice, and the Duke in the waggon- ette, and took a charming drive, the afternoon being very fine and bright. We went out the same way we had been on Wednesday, and once or twice besides, along the avenue called Balla- chanooran, by the deer park (a great many gates having to be opened, as they must be kept locked to prevent the deer getting out), and struck into the Lochgilphead Road beyond Cromalt. We then passed, as on the first clay, Dalchenna and Killcan, Achnagoul and Achindrain. The last two places are old Highland villages, where a common old practice, now fallen into disuse, con- tinues, of which the Duke gave me the following account : — They are said to be the only two villages of the kind in existence in the Highlands. The inhabi- tants are very exclusive, and hardly ever marry out of their own villages. We went on between curious, rather low, grass hills on either side, some higher than others, and several of which have small lochs at the tops with excellent trout, as the Duke told us. He showed us some farms and other <>lens, and had something- to say about each place. We next turned to the left, where we got into oak woods, passing some powder mills belonging to Sir G. Campbell, and a small village called Cuniloddcn, or rather a row of huts in which the people employed at the mills live, and from here turned to the village of Furnace, inhabited by the men who work the Duke's great quarries close to the sea, and which is so called from a number of furnaces which were used in the last century for smelting down lead brought from England. The Duke showed us one remaining, though in ruins, and we passed a quarry. The drive went by the shore of Lock Fyne, much reminding me of the drive along Lock Eil beyond Banavie, between trees on either side, oak, ash, beech, etc., with much underwood, hazel, bramble, etc., and we stopped at a point called Pcnnymore, where there is a small battery where Lome's volunteers practise ; and here the view, looking down the loch towards the sea and the Kyles of Bute with finely-shaped hills, was very beautiful. The more distant hills were those above Ardriskaig. I tried to sketch here after we had taken our tea. We went alone by Kenmore, Kilbryde, and Dalchenna (again), and it was a lovely evening, with such soft tints on the distant hills, and the town in front backed by trees. I took another sketch (only very slight, in pencil) of this view from the Duchess's new school-house, called Creggan's School. We got home by half-past six. Besides our two daughters and the Duke and Duchess, Lady Dufferin and Colin Campbell dined with me. Went as usual into the d raw incr- room for a little while, and then upstairs to my room. Beatrice remained with Jane and me.