The New Zealand Spectator and Cook’s Strait Guardian, Wednesday, April 16, 1862
A Wail From The North
A Wail From The North.
The Banffshire Journal of yesterday says: “To us in the North of Scotland, the Prince was most familiarly known, and—apart from his position as the husband of our gracious and now sorrowing Queen—best appreciated as a Highland landlord. Our friends of Aberdeenshire have indeed lost a neighbour of whom they were, as well they might be, proud. As proprietor and tenant of the stately granite Castle of Balmoral, a royal residence that has yearly attracted thousands from far and near to Deeside, the Prince Consort was regarded as the very model of a country gentleman; for while he possessed and practised the rare accomplishments which so well became his regal rank, it is matter of fact that with the Highland farmers and cottars, His Royal Highness was the kindly-hearted and jocular laird. With the mountaineers—those who regard themselves by name and descent as clansmen of the Duffs, the Farquharsons, the Forbeses, and the Gordons—‘Prince Albert,’ for this always continued to be his title with them, was an especial favourite. His out-door feats and manly appearance were alike dear to them. A capital shot, a keen and successful hill and forest sportsman, and clad generally, when meeting with the Highlanders, in the garb (the plaid, the kilt, and feathered Glengary bonnet) to which their hearts warm so readily, and which his tall and graceful figure displayed to such great advantage—it is not too much to say that the Deeside and Strathdon Highlanders would, had the temper of the times called for such loyalty, have followed the lamented Prince anywhere. His presence at the [gap — reason: illegible] gathering was always looked anxiously for [gap — reason: illegible] clansmen, and only once or twice since the Royal Family took up their autumn abode at Balmoral, has the Consort been absent from the sports; showing, by his applause and more substantial awards, his admiration of the strength and agility of the various competitors.
Though His Royal Highness did not take any active part personally in local country matters, yet he was no unobservant spectator of what was going on in this respect in the shire—his excellent and able resident commissioner, Dr. Robertson of Indego, being the medium through which he was consulted and represented. It is well known that His Royal Highness was very proud of Balmoral Castle. He took a lively interest in its progress while building, and every year has seen important improvements made on the outhouses and the laying-out of the grounds, as well as over the estate generally. The latest addition to the Royal ‘Highland Home’ is the erection, within the present season, of a handsome farmsteading, the completion of which with the ‘stocking’ of the farm, the agriculturists of Aberdeenshire had already begun to speak of with interest, in connection with the likelihood of meeting the Prince Consort as a worthy competitor and rival at the local cattle shows.
Nor was His Royal Highness less respected and esteemed in the city of Aberdeen. His courteous manner to the spectators at the railway station, as he passed to and from the Highlands, warmly ingratiated him with the citizens, and as we have already noticed one of his very ablest public addresses was given to the Aberdonians on the occasion of his honouring them by opening their fine new Music Hall, on his appointment as President of the British Association there in 1859. Thus in many respects the connection of the late illustrious Prince with the North of Scotland was one from which flowed not a few happy influences, and we do not wonder therefore to hear from our correspondents in Aberdeen and along Deeside that the mournful tidings of his death have been received with deep and unaffected sorrow. the memory of the departed Prince will long be cherished in the Highlands of Scotland.