Royal Caledonian Ball Magazine 2007

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THE ROYAL CALEDONIAN BALL

2007 ANNUAL REVIEW

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TheRoyalCaledonianBall2007 The Ball will be held under the patronage of: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS ROYAL THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT

President: IONA, DUCHESS OF ARGYLL

Vice Presidents: THE EARL OF ERROLL Mrs HAY DRUMMOND

Chairman: VISCOUNT DUPPLIN

Members of the Executive Committee: The LORD BIDDULPH Mr GUY DAWSON Mr JOHN SHIELDS Mrs NICHOLAS FANE Miss ANNABEL GLYNNE-PERCY Mr HENRY LOWSON

Col ALASTAIR MATHEWSON Mr ANDREW MURRAY Mr FRASER ROBERTSON Miss ALEXANDRA TWEEDIE Mr PATRICK COLQUHOUN

Members of the Scottish Committee: Mrs JAMES FRASER Mr BRIAN ROSS

Mr RODDY MARTINE Mrs JON STRICKLAND

Ball Secretary: Mrs NICHOLAS BARDSWELL 24 Onslow Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 6QF Tel: 020 8940 8079 Email: secretary@royalcaledonianball.com www.royalcaledonianball.com

In aid of The Royal Caledonian Ball Trust Charity no. 213074 Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London W1 Friday 4th May 2007

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Patronesses The Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensbury Iona, Duchess of Argyll The Duchess of Argyll The Marchioness of Huntly The Marchioness of Lothian Jennifer, Marchioness of Bute The Countess of Dalkeith Lady Louise Burrell The Countess of Dysart The Countess of Erroll The Countess of Buchan The Countess of Eglinton and Winton The Countess of Moray The Dowager Countess of Strathmore DL The Countess of Kinnoull The Countess of Dalhousie The Countess of Lindsay The Countess of Mansfield and Mansfield The Countess of Elgin and Kincardine Lady Strathnaver Lady Doune Viscountess Stormont Viscountess Dupplin Lady Dalmeny Viscountess Chelsea Lady Louisa Stewart Howitt Lady Diana Godfrey-Faussett Lady Melissa Edwards Lady Iona Ind

Lady Anne-Louise HamiltonDalrymple Lady Georgina Bullough Yr of Culcreuch Lady Elspeth Hordern HIRH Archduchess Sigismund of Austria The Lady Saltoun The Lady Kinnaird The Lady Mary Biddulph Sian, Lady Biddulph Jean, Lady Tweedsmuir Joan, Lady Clydesmuir The Lady Eden of Winton Baroness Alexandra von und zu Guttenberg The Hon. Mrs Thomas Lindsay The Hon. Mrs Humphrey Drummond of Megginch The Hon. Lady Maclean of Duart The Hon. Mrs Nicolson

The Hon. Charlotte Drummond of Megginch The Hon. Mrs Herdman The Hon. Mrs Fraser The Hon. Mrs Macnab of Macnab The Hon. Mrs Jonathan Forbes The Hon. Mrs Robin Gurdon The Hon Mrs David Dalrymple 2

Lady Hope of Craighall Lady Agnew of Lochnaw Lady Grant of Monymusk Lady Edmonstone of Duntreath Fanny, Lady MacGregor of MacGregor Lady MacGregor of MacGregor Lady Campbell of Succoth Lady Lowson Lady Innes of Edingight Lady Macpherson of Biallid Lady Butter of Pitlochry CVO Mrs Christopher Arkell Mrs Richard Baillie Mrs Nicholas Bardswell

Mrs Nicholas Bastin Mrs Christopher Boyle Mrs Evan Bruce-Gardyne Mrs Anthony Brumwell Mrs Ewan Cameron Mrs David Campbell of Strachur Mrs Nigel ChamberlayneMacdonald Mrs Angus Cheape Mrs Malcolm Colquhoun Yr of Luss Mrs Roderick Corrie Mrs Charles Craig Mrs Mark Cubitt Mrs Guy Dawson

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Mrs Richard de Klee Mrs Mark Fairbanks Smith Mrs Nicholas Fane Mrs Colin Farquharson of Whitehouse Mrs James Fraser Mrs Simon Fraser Mrs Robin Garrett-Cox Mrs Alexander Galitzine Mrs Angus Gilroy Mrs Gladstone of Capenoch Mrs Gordon of Lude Mrs Andrew Gordon Mrs Dominic Grieve Mrs Hay Drummond Mrs Alexander Hay of Duns Mrs Humphrey of Dinnet Mrs Micky Ingall Mrs Roderick Ingham Clark Mrs Jamie Landale

Mrs Alastair Leslie Mrs Karen Liddell-Grainger Mrs Ranald Macdonald Yr of Clanranald Mrs Macdonald of Tote Mrs Charles Macdonald of Tote Mrs Andrew Macdonald Mrs Iain Macdonald Mrs Guy Macpherson-Grant

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Mrs MacGregor of Cardney Mrs Antony Mackenzie Smith Mrs Jeremy Marsden Mrs Alastair Mathewson Mrs Jeremy Mead Mrs Methven Way Mrs Houston Morris Mrs Andrew Murray Mrs Harry Nickerson Mrs Fiona Olesen Mrs Oliphant of Oliphant

Mrs Niel Redpath Mrs David Reid Mrs Fraser Robertson Mrs Oliver Russell of Ballindalloch Mrs Iver Salvesen 3

Mrs John Stansfeld Mrs Robert Stansfeld Mrs Thomas Steuart Fothringham Mrs Walter Steuart Fothringham Mrs Ralph Stewart-Wilson of Balnakeilly Mrs Roderick Stirling Mrs Jon Strickland Mrs Robin Stormont Darling Mrs Alastair Struthers Mrs Barnaby Swire Mrs Mark Tennant Mrs Roger Tym Mrs Charles VyvyanMrrs Mrs Paul Wakefield Mrs Charles White Mrs Justin Young

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Her Majesty The Queen

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Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal

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The Royal Caledonian Ball History

by Auriol Hay Drummond

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he Royal Caledonian Ball started sometime in the 1840s as a private gathering given by the Duke and Duchess of Atholl for their Scottish friends who resided in London. By 1849, still at their invitation, it became a subscription dance for the purposes of collecting funds for Scottish charities, albeit with a decidedly Highland bias. Records show that the ball has been held annually ever since; cancellations only occurring with events beyond the committee’s control! No balls took place during the Boer War, following the death of Edward VII in 1910 and during the First and Second World Wars.

Over more than one hundred and fifty years it has grown into one of the highlights of the London Season and a most successful vehicle for raising large sums of money. It must by now have a good chance of ranking as the oldest charity ball in the world.

Since the days of Edward VII the ball has been honoured with the Patronage of the reigning Monarch, and the ball can celebrate over 50 years of Patronage by Her Majesty The Queen. Our president had traditionally always been the current Duke of Atholl, who annually attended the dance and usually brought with him his own private army, The Atholl Highlanders, to play before the ball and to pipe onto the floor everyone taking part in the ceremonial set reel before performing an eightsome reel. This is a dance of Atholl origin and was introduced in 1890, before when it was the practise to arrange quadrilles. However, as the present Duke of Atholl lives in South Africa, we have been fortunate in securing the services of firstly the Earl of Erroll as our president and now Iona, Duchess of Argyll.

From 1930 the ball has been held at Grosvenor House, this hotel having the largest ballroom in London and capable of dealing with up to a thousand Scots who descend on the capital to reel the night away. A record attendance was achieved in the 1980s of more than thirteen hundred, but this is unlikely ever to be overtaken with the modern fire regulations in place. Indeed at the time everyone agreed that it was rather too many for the Great Room to cope with, rather a squash, leaving many participants hot and bothered.

In the 1930s, as a treat, it was a very popular custom for children with their nannies to be allowed on the balcony to watch their parents dancing in the set reel, which formally opened the ball, in the Great Room below.

The money raised by the Royal Caledonian Ball allows a substantial sum to be given to Scottish charities each year.

The Committee feels that it is more important to give aid to people rather than things and so it is the young, the elderly, the homeless, the cancer sufferers and the disabled and disadvantaged, who receive help to improve their lives through our donations.

An article on charity balls published in a leading daily newspaper some years ago gave the impression that only about ÂŁ10 from every ticket sold actually went to good causes. For many years the ball has succeeded in giving the majority of the cost of a ball ticket to chosen charities and, thanks to gifts towards the expenses of this dance from generous sponsors, we hope to be able to continue to improve on this percentage.

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Louisa Scott Portrait paintings – charcoal and oil mediums

Tel: 07876 352955 Also available for animal portraits and landscapes

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Charities supported by The Royal Caledonian Ball Trust

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several years: a school where the parents of pupils must be, or have been, members of the regular forces serving in Scottish regiments, or regiments serving in Scotland.

he charitable origins of The Royal Caledonian Ball date back to 1849, when the 6th Duke of Atholl decided to raise funds for Scottish charities; the Ball subsequently became an annual event and a charity in its own right. The constitution of the Trust states that its charitable gifts have to be related to Scotland, with a bias towards military causes.

Over the last ten years the Royal Caledonian Ball Trust has donated well over £500,000 to worthy Scottish charities and causes; in the last few years 50% of the ticket price was donated.

Capability Scotland works with children, adults and families who live with disability, to support them in their everyday lives. Artists at Capability Scotland’s Upper Springland service in Perth are working with the National Museums of Scotland on a project that will culminate in a dramatic medieval procession through the grounds of Upper Springland.

In 2006 The Royal Caledonian Ball Trust supported a wide selection of worthy causes: Firstly St Catharine’s Convent of Mercy, run by Sister Aelred, for the homeless in Edinburgh.

She describes the organisation as ‘a place of hospitality and mercy, a place of outreach and refuge for the most broken and needy in our society’.

The charity continues to fund a pony, named ‘Cally’ by the riding school, for the Riding for the Disabled Association in Glasgow. Every week over 200 mentally or physically disabled children and adults come to ride or enjoy carriage driving at the riding school.

Borderline, a charity for homeless Scots in London, aims to find them safe and secure sleeping accommodation and provides them with the resources to take up employment or ‘meaningful activity’.

Donations to Drumpark School in Glasgow have enabled not only secondary school pupils to travel to Europe, but also provided play equipment for classrooms and playground within the primary department’s Behaviour Support Service.

The main objective of the Dumfries and Galloway Befriending Project is to recruit, train and match adult volunteers with vulnerable young people who are experiencing problems at home, school or in the community. The young people benefit from the energy and enthusiasm of their befrienders and gain confidence from forming a positive relationship with a supportive adult.

Queen Victoria School in Dunblane has been supported for

Treasurer’s Report Riding for the Disabled (Glasgow Group)

£1,000

Drumpark School

£3,000

Borderline

£3,000

St. Catherine’s Project, Edinburgh

£3,000

Upper Springland Capability, Scotland

£3,000

Skye and Lochalsh Young Carers Respite Care

£2.000

2006 Ball

Dumfries and Galloway Befriending Project

£1,000

Ticket Price £80, of which 37% was distributed as follows:

Islay & Jura Sick Children Fund

£1,000

Queen Victoria School, Dunblane

Total

et out below is a brief summary of the results over the last three Caledonian balls. We are delighted to report that £64,000 has been dontated to charity by the Royal Caledonian Ball Trust over the last three years.

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2004 Ball

£20,000

2005 Ball

£24,000

£3,000 9

£20,000

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The Royal Caledonian Ball 2007 GENERAL PROGRAMME

DANCE PROGRAMME

10.00 pm The Pipes and Drums of the Black Watch

Procession and Set Reel 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

10.30 pm The processional march of the Set Reel into the Great Room 12.30 am Breakfast will be served

Dashing White Sergeant Reel of the 51st Division Waltz Eightsome Reel Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh Foxtrot Hamilton House

Breakfast

3.30 am Carriages

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

THE PIPES AND DRUMS OF THE 3RD BATTALION ROYAL REGIMENT OF SCOTLAND (THE BLACK WATCH) BY KIND PERMISSION OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JAMES COWAN THE SIMON HOWIE BROADCASTING BAND

Duke of Perth Waltz Speed the Plough Mairi’s Wedding Quickstep Reel of the 51st Division John Peel

Carriages

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TheRoyalCaledonianBall2007 SET REEL ARRANGED BY Mr GUY DAWSON Order of Procession and Plan President’s Reel Viscount Dupplin Lord Dalmeny Mr Giles Herdman The Hon Humphrey Drummond Mr Roderick Corrie Mr Alexander Crawford Mr Randle White Mr Houston Morris

PATRONE

Iona, Duchess of Argyll Lady Dalmeny The Hon Mrs Herdman The Hon Mrs Humphrey Drummond Mrs Roderick Corrie Mrs Alexander Crawford Lady Emma Mahmood Mrs Houston Morris

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Highland Reel 1 Mr Patrick Wolridge Gordon Mr Gareth Rhys William Mr Jon Strickland Mr Julian Steele

Mrs Patrick Wolridge Gordon Mrs Gareth Rhys William Mrs Jon Strickland Mrs Julian Steele

3

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Scots Guards Reel Major James Kelly Major Andrew Speed Captain Viscount Marsham Captain Jean-Paul Pitt

Miss Allanah MacDonald Miss Iona MacDonald Lady Laura MacDonald Mrs Jean-Paul Pitt

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Scots Guards Reel 2 Captain William Maitland-Makgill-Crichton Captain Robert Murray-Thriepland Captain Oliver Barnett Lord Ramsay

Miss Alice Verney Miss Francesa Mathieu Miss Iona McDougall Miss Emily Evans

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STAIRS

The Borderer’s Reel The Lord Biddulph The Hon William Maitland-Biddulph Mr Peter Mather Mr Neil Redpath

Mrs Karen Liddell-Grainger Miss Catherine Campbell Mrs Emma Holloway Mrs Neil Redpath

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Order of Procession 2 Highland Reel 1 3 Scots Guards Reel 1 5 Durham Caledonian Society 7 The Black Watch 9 Highland Reel 3 10 The Borderer’s Reel

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Highland Reel 2 Mr Guy Dawson Mr Christopher Sanger Mr David Maitland Makgill Crichton Mr Theo Bell Mr William Scaldwell Mr Dominic Bayne Mr John Walker Mr Harry Horsfall

RONESSES

Mrs Guy Dawson Mrs Christopher Sanger Miss Caroline Ratcliff Mrs Sarah Illingworth Miss Jennifer DeWitt Mrs Dominic Bayne Miss Martina Westin Miss Helen Hutton

Highland Reel 3

1

Mr Edward Fryer Mr Mark Charsley Mr Adrian Hogarth Mr Sebastian Merriman

Miss Laura Speirs Miss Charlotte Hankey Mrs Adrian Hogarth Miss Louise Ratcliff

5 RMA Sandhurst Mr Dominic Ruck Keene Mr Edward Hodgskin Mr Thomas Davie Mr Ross Anderson BAND

4

6

Miss Jemima Lofts Miss Alice Dobbie Miss Fenella Boyle Miss Flora Rose

Durham Caledonian Society Mr William Glynn Mr Thomas Davidson Mr Andrew Walker Mr Michael Addington

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9

Miss Rosie Wintour Miss Alexandra Tweedie Miss Julianne Hicks Miss Jennifer Watson

The Black Watch Major David Kemmis-Betty Mr David Boulter Mr Andrew Colquhoun Mr Harry Gladstone

1 4 6 8

President’s Reel Scots Guards Reel 2 Highland Reel 2 RMA Sandhurst

Highland Reel 4 Mr Iain Macdonald Mr Russell Macdonald Mr Dougal Macdonald Mr Jack Nott Bower

Mrs Iain Macdonald Mrs Russell Macdonald Mrs Philip Smith Miss Sarah Flower

11 Highland Reel 4 15

17.04.07

STAIRS

CORRECT ON

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Miss Laura Irwin Miss Lucy Corby Miss Camilla Greenway Miss Katie Riddell

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Acknowledgements

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Mr and Mrs Norman Robertson N M Rothschild & Sons Miss Jenny Southgate Tesco Jean, Lady Tweedsmuir Mrs Wareing Mr & Mrs Matthew Westerman Mr & Mrs Ward McKimm Mr Randle White Miss Ann Wolfe

he Executive Committee of The Royal Caledonian Ball Trust would like to thank all those who have so kindly donated prizes and sponsorship: The Glenlivet supplied by Chivas Brothers Ltd. Natural Mineral Water supplied by Hildon Ltd. Particular thanks to: Lieutenant-Colonel James Cowan for kindly allowing the Pipes and Drums of the Black Watch to play at the ball Tesco plc for their sponsorship of the Pipes and Drums of the Black Watch N M Rothschild & Sons The Allen & Overy Foundation Goldman Sachs Mrs James Troughton and Mr Andrew Bruce Wootton for the Macnab at Blair Atholl Hamilton & Inches Miss Louisa Scott

Photograph of Her Majesty The Queen by Mark Lawrence Š www.royalimages.co.uk Photograph of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal by Ian Coates Photographs of The Royal Caledonian Ball by Dafydd Jones www.dafjones.com Images provided by Christies Images Ltd, courtesy of Mrs James Hood Printed by The Colourhouse

We should also like to thank the following companies and individuals who have given their generous support through donations and gifts:

Thanks also to Spitfire Technology Group for hosting www.royalcaledonianball.com and Mrs Oliver Gardiner and Mr Guy Dawson for designing the website

Allen & Overy Iona, Duchess of Argyll The Duchess of Argyll Mr Euan Baird Mrs Nicholas Bardswell The Buccleuch Charitable Foundation Mrs Malcolm Colquhoun His Honour William Crawford The Countess of Dalhousie Crossflight Limited Demijohn Limited Viscountess Dupplin Mr David Fido Miss Georgina Finlay Grosvenor House Goldman Sachs Hiscox plc Mr Terry Kemp The Countess of Kinnoull Lady Macdonald Mrs Jeremy Marsden Montblanc UK Mr David Reid Miss Chloe Randall

If you would like to be added to our mailing list, have moved or changed your name, please contact the Ball Secretary: Mrs Nicholas Bardswell Tel 020 8940 8079 Email: secretary@royalcaledonianball.com www.royalcaledonianball.com

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Blair Atholl … the Macnab

by Guy Dawson ach year the Blair Atholl Estate donates the opportunity of a Macnab to be auctioned off at the ball. Named after events in the John Buchan book ‘John Mcnab’, the estate offers the opportunity to bag a stag, a grouse and a salmon in twenty four hours. If ever there was a test of Scottish field sportsmanship, the Macnab is surely it. In all the years that I have attended the ball I have never quite had the courage to bid, but 2006 was to be different.

E

A year ago today, if you’re reading this after midnight, I found myself to be the winning bidder in the Macnab auction. I was very pleased if a little surprised. My wife however was stunned into silence. Probably a first! Having won the congratulations of the entire dance floor and the envy of our friends and the under bidder I had to think about taking up the challenge.

The first task was to contact the Estate manager which, following an introduction from the ball chairman, was easily done.We quickly agreed a date and I was given the names and contact details for the keeper and ghillie that I’d have on the day.

Time quickly passed and the great day approached. On the night before we arrived at the Atholl Arms Hotel and I contacted the keeper and ghillie. An early start was arranged with the ghillie to try for a salmon before breakfast.

Ronnie Hepburn and Daniel Walker range. A 2” red target disk was placed about 100 yards away and I sighted up on it, and then with a squeeze of the trigger I put a hole in it. I took a second shot and put that on the target as well.All was well and we headed after our quarry.

At 6am in the morning my alarm went off. Quietly I dressed and crept out of the room and headed for the river, there I met my ghillie,Willie MacGregor, on the Pol Dornie beat of the River Garry. In true Scottish fashion, the weather was awful! Willie guided me along the beat with supreme knowledge, he knew exactly which rocks, pools and eddies were holding fish and I was able to drop my fly just as I pleased. Unfortunately the fish were not biting, there were occasional leaps and I could see movement but my line stayed slack. Then came the bite and the strike, the rod arched over and my blood rose, but soon the fight was over and a decent brown trout was landed. Time was pressing on and I returned to the hotel for breakfast with my fish. I gave my fish to the hotel staff to be prepared for breakfast the next day.

Just as Willie knew his river, Ronnie knew his moor. Using his telecope Ronnie found two groups of stags, one very high on the skyline and the other lower down in a hollow.

It was agreed that we would stalk the lower group as the high group had a commanding view of the moor.

We drove away in the Land Rover and then got out to walk back towards the stags.Walking in the bottom of a glen we were able to walk up towards the lower group, the air was incredibly still and every sound the stags made could be heard. Eventually the cover of the glen ran out as we moved up towards the stags, to get to the cover of the next shoulder involved a crawl of several hundred yards on our bellies. The earlier rain had made the moor very wet but there was nothing for it but to get down and crawl, I’ve a good idea of some of the things I crawled on and over and see no need to name them. It was a good job that by this time my blood was running!

After breakfast I met up with my keeper for the day, Ronnie Hepburn. We talked about the Macnab, the ball and my shooting background. I think Ronnie wanted to make sure I would not make a fist of things when my chance to take a stag came. Ronnie, his lad and I headed into the hills in a Land Rover and stopped off at the target 18

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We made it up the next shoulder and took a moment to rest. Walking round the back of the shoulder we saw that the stags had moved up the hill to join the high group.

Time to push on again! Now, we had to move further round the hill to take advantage of yet another shoulder from which we should be able to get a shot, however, to get to it involved a crawl in plain view of the stags. So we got down and crawled again trying as hard as we could not to look like humans. Luck was with us and we managed to make it to the shoulder without the stags moving on.

We chambered another round and went to find the stag. I was pleased that a good shot had made for a quick kill and the extra round was unnecessary. Ronnie set about the gralloch and I paid close attention. Once done Ronnie contacted his lad who would bring the stag off the hill and we headed off in the Land Rover to get a grouse.

We drove deeper into the moor and steadily higher, and then transferred to an ArgoCat to get even deeper into the moor. Suddenly a pair of grouse got up and made off at great speed, we stopped, I loaded and the hunt was on again. The day had brightened up and the views to the south were wonderful, it was great just to be in such a wonderful place that I did not mind the steady march across the moor. Several more wild birds got up before one sat tight just a little too long and I was able to claim my grouse.

A few moments’ rest and then we were off again.This was to be the final walk to the point at which I would be able to take a shot. As we walked up the shoulder it flattened out into deep heather, we stopped again and dropped off our bags and got the rifle out of its cover. Ronnie took the rifle up to the heather, lined it up and then moved to one side, I crawled up and took the rifle.

I eventually got back to the hotel at about 6pm having spent 10 hours or so on the river and moor.The day’s bag was a brown trout, stag and a grouse.While I had not quite managed a Macnab, I do at least have an excuse to try again. All that is left to do is mount the antlers!

With Ronnie using binoculars and me using the sight we started to select a stag, the adrenaline was huge. Slowly and calmly Ronnie scanned the group and I followed, in due course we selected a stag and waited for it to stand up.

Just as it did so, it turned away from us and the opportunity of a shot was lost.We resumed our search and selected a second stag. He stood, I adjusted and made sure of my aim. As I did so I saw another stag coming in from the right, I squeezed the trigger and a shot rang out, the stag lurched and fell to the ground. I was exhausted.

I would like to express my thanks to the Blair Atholl Estate, my ghillie Willie MacGregor, my keeper Ronnie Hepburn and his lad for taking such good care of me.

So, if you’re thinking of bidding for this year’s opportunity of a Macnab, I for one, can strongly recommend it.

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Inveraray Castle

by Eleanor Argyll On the edge of Loch Awe is a small island and through the trees on a winter’s day it is possible to glimpse the high walls of a ruined stronghold. This is Innischonnell Castle, the original home of the Campbell Chiefs until it was abandoned at the end of the 15th century. The 1st Earl of Argyll moved the clan to the River Aray, founded the Burgh of Inveraray and began the long process of opening up the West Coast of Scotland.

and iron, known also as Paddington Station, was erected for the ceremonial occasion of the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Louise to the Marquess of Lorne.

Two centuries later, after the creation of the Dukedom, the second Duke decided to build his mansion in the style of a castle. The great house we see today is a remarkable phenomenon – radiating from it are links with Baroque, Palladian and Gothic forms and with architects Vanburgh, Morris, William Adam and his sons John and Robert, Mylne and Salvin; and even with its French influenced conical spheres on top of round towers, Inveraray Castle is unmistakably Scottish.

Since then, the castle saw little change until the devastating fire in 1975.The fire destroyed parts of the castle, ravaged the Salvin top storey added in the 1800’s and destroyed pictures and furniture.The vast torrents of water from the fire-fighters cascaded through the state rooms damaging the decoration.

The young 12th Duke and his wife Duchess Iona chose to face the gargantuan task of restoring the ancestral home and today the restored Inveraray Castle is probably in better condition than it has ever been and remains one of Scotland’s greatest treasures.The castle is now lived in by his son, now the 13th Duke and his young family.

As part of his Grand Conception for the redevelopment of Inveraray, the 3rd Duke resolved to move the town away from his new castle.The site chosen was half a mile down the loch and the plans were developed by John Adam. The town was one of the first planned towns in Scotland and today the town shows remarkably little change from the original designs.

In 1872 Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, who collaborated on building Paddington Station in London, designed the entrance porch on the north side of the castle.The fine edifice of glass

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Scottish Food

by Claire Macdonald number, and that they work against almost unbelievable odds imposed on them by Brussels and sanctioned by politicians responsible (!) for Agriculture and Fisheries don't for one minute think these odds are imposed for the sake of conservation, they are not. Fishing fleets from other nations are permitted to fish where our vessels are not, and are also permitted the use of smaller meshed nets.

Food Produced in Scotland - Top Quality t is a wonderful fact that to the rest of the world, when it comes to produce, the word 'Scotland' means the very best food to be sourced. Sadly, when it comes to cooking, other nationalities tend to laugh. These sad critics are, of course, decades out of date. There are now so very many really great chefs, both male and female, throughout Scotland. It is perfectly possible to travel the length and breadth of Scotland, mainland and islands, and eat as deliciously as you would anywhere else in the world.These chefs and cooks are using Scottish produce and marrying it with ingredients not from Scotland - olive oil, to give just one example - in dishes which give their own individual interpretation of showing off the excellence of the foods available to us all.

I

Here in Skye and Lochalsh I think we were the forerunners of what is to be found all over Scotland these days - growers of salad leaves, herbs, soft fruits and vegetables, most growers have their organic status. Despite the availability, locally grown can still mean a round trip of three hours to collect produce in this part of the world but our LEC started a Food Link Van which collects and delivers throughout the district, and which is now paid for by all of us - growers and customers.Throughout Scotland there are similar schemes, and a growing awareness of the importance and quality of locally grown, raised and produced foods. Farmers' Markets play an important role in providing a marketplace for food producers, and they are increasing in number and in regularity. I am proud to be both patron of Scottish Farmers' Markets as well as patron of Scottish Food Fortnight, the two weeks at the beginning of each September when the quality of Scottish food is highlighted by the Education Trust of the Scottish Countryside Alliance. To be launched on September 1st at the Countryside Weekend at Glamis Castle, this is a fortnight to be noted by food fanatics throughout Scotland.

I am passionate about Scottish food, and feel free to trumpet its excellence with no fear of immodesty, because I am not a Scot, only married to one.The Scots have, I think, an innate modesty and do not proclaim the excellence of their foodstuffs as do, say, the Irish.This is a pity, not to mention a wasted marketing opportunity by Visit Scotland who, until recently, would use golf and genealogy as lures to visitors to Scotland, but not food. Admittedly, there are very many people who love golf and genealogy, but not everybody.Yet food lures more people to a place than any other single subject - after all, all other mainland European countries have fascinating histories, mountains, lakes, scenery every bit as lovely as in Scotland, we are not unique in these qualities, but Scotland produces by far the best food. Just think about meat - the five best beef breeds in the world are Scottish,Aberdeen Angus being the best known, closely followed by Highland, Galloway, Longhorn and Shorthorn.These breeds are slow to mature - about 36 months - and are mainly grass fed, butchered with skill and hung properly, for up to 5 weeks for the best results, and Scottish lamb is more delicious than lamb raised anywhere else in the world. Pork should never be forgotten - and our venison is sought after throughout mainland Europe as well as in Britain.The dairy industry in Scotland is an exciting scene, with family businesses such as Grahams producing full fat milk, skimmed and semi skimmed, and organic milks in all three types too. Cheeses are being made throughout Scotland by enterprising entrepreneurs which rival and in many cases surpass in quality those to be eaten in mainland Europe - cheeses made from cow's, sheep's and goats' milks, cheese hard, cheddarlike, soft and creamy, or blue veined - all delicious.

So, this is a time for those who love to eat - and I would put myself at the head of the list - to rejoice in all that we have available, to those of us fortunate enough to live in Scotland. There are three recipes which each celebrate basic produce to be found in Scotland.

MARINATED SALMON AND SMOKED SALMON IN LIME WITH PINK PEPPERCORNS AND CUCUMBER Serves 6 450 g/1 lb organically farmed or wild salmon, skin and bone removed, and sliced into neat dice, about thumbnail size Rind and juice of 4 limes or 2 lemons instead, well washed to remove preservative and dried before grating 1 /2 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthways and seeded 450 g/1 lb best quality smoked salmon, diced thumbnail size 2 avocados, peeled and diced thumbnail size 2 tsps pink peppercorns, drained of their brine 1 tbsp torn dillweed Black pepper

Then there is fish - oh what a cornucopia of fantastic fish and shellfish we have to choose from! But politicians are the enemy of the Scottish Fishing Fleet, and we should both be aware of the fact that the Scottish Fleet is vastly depleted in 21

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Put the diced fresh salmon into a wide dish and pour in the lime rinds and juice. Mix thoroughly, cover the dish with clingfilm and leave for 3-4 hours minimum, or overnight.

Try to mix the diced salmon around in the marinade once or twice during the hours it sits, and store it in the fridge.

The fish will become opaque in colour - it literally cooks in the acid lime juice.

4 oz/112 g flour 1 oz/28 g icing sugar a few drops vanilla extract Put the above ingredients into a food processor and whizz to the texture of fine crumbs. Press this firmly around the sides and base of a flan dish (metal or ceramic) measuring approx. 8"/ 20 cm diameter. Put the flan dish in the fridge for at least 1 hour, then bake in a moderate oven for 20-25 minutes, until the pastry is biscuit-coloured. Should the pastry slip down the sides of the dish during cooking time, just scrape it back up with the back of a metal spoon. It sometimes does this if the pastry isn't cold enough, or if the oven is a bit cooler than it should be.

Cut the seeded cucumber into neat, fine dice and put these into a mixing bowl. Add the diced smoked salmon, the avocado, pink peppercorns and torn dill. When the fresh salmon has marinated for several hours, drain off the lime juices and mix the fish in with the contents of the bowl.

Serve, heaped on a white dish, and accompanied by warm bread or Melba toast.

For the crème patisserie: /4 pint /420 ml single cream 5 large egg yolks 1 level teaspoon cornflour 3 oz/84 g caster sugar a few drops vanilla extract or a split vanilla pod

RUMP STEAK STIR-FRIED WITH SPRING ONIONS

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Serves 6 21/2 lbs (1.125kg) rump steak, cut into thin matchsticks about 12 spring onions, each trimmed, and cut in half, then sliced lengthways in 3 strips 1-2 fat cloves of garlic, skinned and chopped finely about 1 teaspoon finely chopped – or grated – ginger 2 red peppers, each cut in half, the seeds thrown away, and the peppers sliced very thinly into strips 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 /2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes 1 tablespoon sesame oil 2 tablespoons dark soya sauce 3-4 tablespoons chopped coriander

Heat the cream with the split vanilla pod or the extract. Beat the yolks, cornflour and caster sugar together well, and beat in some of the hot cream.

Gradually mix all the cream into the yolks mixture and either cook this vanilla custard in the bowl over a saucepan containing simmering water, which does take about 35 minutes to thicken the cream, or cook it in a microwave oven. Microwave - put the bowl on high for 1 minute, then take it out and beat the hot creamy mixture. Put it back in for 30 seconds on medium, take it out and beat the creamy custard, and reheat cooking for 30 seconds on medium heat, until the custard is thick. By proceeding with caution, you won't curdle the custard. When it is cooked, by whichever method, if you have used a vanilla pod, take it out, first scraping it well to include as much of the interior of the pod in the crème as you can. Cool the custard, and when it is quite cold and very thick, pour it over the base of the baked pastry case.

Heat the olive oil in a wok or a large sauté pan and heat to a high heat. Cook the steak fillet strips, in batches, so as not to reduce the heat within the pan or wok, and as they brown, scoop them into a warmed bowl. When all the meat is browned, lower the heat slightly, and add the thinly sliced red peppers, the spring onions, and the ginger and garlic to the wok or pan. Stir fry till the pepper softens.

Stir in the chilli and the sesame oil, replace the browned steak strips, and cook all together for a minute. Then serve, on warmed plates. If you want to serve an accompaniment, boiled Basmati rice is the one thing for which I would make an exception.

To finish: 11/2 lb/675 g raspberries 8 oz/225 g redcurrant jelly, melted in a saucepan over a moderate heat

RASPBERRY TART

Arrange the raspberries in circles over the pastry and its cream. When all the raspberries are used up, and the entire surface of the tart is covered, carefully brush the melted redcurrant jelly glaze over everything – raspberries, and the pastry edges of the tart. This gives the tart a most professional appearance.

Serves 6 You can use any fruit, or a combination, instead of only raspberries, it is equally delicious with strawberries, but if I use fresh apricots I poach them very gently for barely 5 minutes, in a light sugar syrup first. Made with raspberries and glazed with a homemade – preferably- redcurrant jelly, this is the perfect summertime pud.

You can make the crème pâtissière - the vanilla custard – a day in advance, so on the day you want to eat the tart you only need assemble it.

For the pastry: 4 oz/112g butter, hard from the fridge cut into dice 22

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Pigs in the Heather

by Chloe Randall Back in 1814, a gentleman by the name of Robert Henderson wrote in his famous treatise “On The Breeding of Swine”: “I would recommend it to the inhabitants of these islands [the Hebrides] that they should immediately introduce this stock [swine] into their respective abodes. . . . Nowhere do I know a country so well adapted for rearing swine as the Western Isles, where there are large tracts of pasture lands, in which swine will feed all the summer months among their cattle and sheep, and will resort to the shores and pick up sea-weed and shell fish, which are excellent food for them.”

Back in 2000, Bruno Schroder – uninspired by this work, as he had not, alas, encountered it – invited a number of aristocratic pigs from Cranborne Estate in Dorset to join him in the management of his woodlands on the Isle of Islay, Argyll.

The first troupe of pigs did sterling work for Dunlossit, although at times their attentions were slightly too pressing to be beneficial – a serious attempt to root up the lawn at Dunlossit House was not particularly appreciated.

Nonetheless, the principle of pig-forestry became wellestablished as an eco-friendly way to maintain the estate’s woodlands.

voiced over the frailty of the rare breed pig population.

Various petitioners approached Dunlossit and asked whether the privileged island situation could be exploited for the creation of a pig colony which would probably stand a better chance of surviving such scourges as footand-mouth, swine fever, and the over-zealous attentions of the ministry bureacrats whose mission in life seems to be to exterminate small scale – or indeed, any scale – of pig keeping.

And so the Middle White Pig Trust was born: a charity registered in Scotland dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about the breed of the Middle White Pig, and the need to, and method of, ensuring its survival. (And other rare pig breeds – there is no racial prejudice within this organisation.)

Thoughts turned to the recruitment of additional pigs to maintain the work programme, and it seemed good to the management to pursue the concept of renewable energy, not to mention sustainability.

Two promising young boars were flown to the estate in Bruno’s Pilatus PC12 (private flights being much the preferred mode for pig travel). The first of the flying boars – Piggles and Ginger – fulfilled their early promise and the patter of tiny trotters soon enchanted the estate.

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At about this same time, serious concerns were being 24

For those of you wondering why pigs of varying shape, size, colour and demeanour should be worthy of these attentions, let us explain that: • the British pig breeds contain something like forty percent of the world’s range of pig genes experiments show that these traditional breeds have deep – and largely unrecognised – resistance to disease the vast range of flavour and texture available in pork has very nearly been lost through standardisation of the industry to the point where two, at the most, three breeds were all that were thought to be appropriate

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“… if there were plenty of swine fed,no doubt markets would soon be established in different districts”

these breeds are part of our heritage, and the retroussé snout of the Middle White ranks alongside such icons as St Paul’s Cathedral, the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Kielder Water dam

are already being realised: the pig marketeer has repeated requests for heather-fed pork from gourmet restaurants in Edinburgh, London and Campbeltown.

The trustees of the charity have applied themselves vigorously to their objectives, with notable progress: • the breeding stock in the Dunlossit herd has expanded to represent no less than five breeds • pig demonstrations convinced the Forestry Commission of the value of scarification work to the extent where that august body was prepared to grantaid pig activities • further experiments (mostly accidental) revealed that the power of the pig could be harnessed to tackle the growing problem of bracken infestation on moorland • as a result, satellite pig communities have been established in Argyll and further afield which will further stablise the breed populations

And if you want to do your bit? It is pretty easy, really:

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when you buy pork, look for the name of the breed when you eat pork in a restaurant, ask the chef for the name of the breed when you visit country shows, ask for directions to the rare breed section and above all, start to appreciate the huge variety of pork which is our birthright . . . .

Bon appetit!

For more information (or if you are passing – please call in!) contact:

More recently, trustees of MWPT have been instrumental in supporting and encouraging the planning for an abattoir for Islay, capable of slaughtering pigs of all shapes, sizes and colours (nasty rumours that black pigs are to be banned from mainland abattoirs are causing serious consternation in rare breed circles). Cattle and sheep will also be welcome, of course, as they play their own valuable parts in conservation grazing, and similar difficulties are being faced by those who prefer to use slow-maturing native breeds for their land management exercises. This project may not change the face of the world, but in its own small corner it will – to return briefly to 1814 – make it possible that:

The Office of the Middle White Pig Trust Dunlossit Estate Office Knocklearach Ballygrant Isle of Islay Argyll PA45 7QL recognised Scottish charity SCO34860 e-mail: office@dunlossitestate.co.uk tele: 01496 840232 All text and photographs are to the Middle White Pig Trust 2007, but freely given for the use of the Royal Caledonian Ball 2007.

“… droves of swine might be sent from these islands …” and there is already such a growing clamour for the taste of heather-fed pork that the prophetic words of Robert Henderson:

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The Middle History of the Covenants

by William Crawford The Covenanters – The Middle Years, 1660-1679 After the Restoration, the mood in both England, and, surprisingly, Scotland, turned to Episcopalianism.

Memories of the Kirk’s ascendancy, and of Cromwell’s more benign, but still oppressive rule, were still fresh.

The Rev. Robert Baillie, a prominent Scots minister, wrote, in November 1660; “Many of our people are hankering after Bishops, having forgot all the evil they have done, and the nature of their office. An exceeding great profanitie and contempt, both of the ministry and of religion itself, is everywhere prevalent.”

Charles II’s own memories of his time in Scotland, in 1648-9, were entirely disagreeable. The ministers who had in 1649 both crowned him King of Scotland, and forced him to sign the Covenant, had also required him to listen to as many as seven sermons in one day. He never returned to Scotland after the Restoration. He appointed as Secretary of State for Scotland John Maitland, second Earl, and later Duke, of Lauderdale, and as Lord Commissioner, John Middleton, later Earl of Middleton, and left them jointly to rule Scotland. Both were capable men, who had signed the Covenant; had turned against the rule of the Kirk, and had joined Charles in exile in Holland. Between the two, there was continuous rivalry, rancour, and latterly hatred. Middleton was the senior.

He drove through the passage of the Rescissory Act, which invalidated every Act passed between 1634 and 1660. It had the effect of restoring Bishops, and making all ministers of the Kirk, even though they could continue to worship according to the Presbyterian rite, subject to the Bishops. If the tragedy of the Covenanters can be ascribed to any one single cause, that cause was the Rescissory Act. Middleton’s motives, in achieving the passage of the Act, were partly to limit the power of the Kirk, to which he had conceived a strong distaste, and partly, out of sheer spite, to score over Lauderdale, whom he rightly saw as the man most sympathetic to the Covenant in Charles’s government.

in Covenanting circles as the Turncoat, or the Arch-Traitor, and which was ultimately to cost him his life. For the moment, he assisted Middleton in the government of Scotland. The ministers of Dumfries and Galloway were not so pliant. Thirty four out of thirty seven ministers walked out of their churches, rather than accept the Bishop installed above them. Government-appointed curates, referred to

by Bishop Burnet as “the dregs and refuse of the northern parts”, were put in their place. The congregations remained loyal to their ministers, and followed them into the fields and hills. There, at conventicles, the great preachers of Covenanting lore,Welsh, Peden, Blackadder, Rutherford, Arnot and Dickson would attract huge audiences and congregations. Many of the congregation would live out-of-doors, and move from conventicle to conventicle.

The authorities became nervous.

Middleton’s response was to make it an offence to attend or hold or officiate at a conventicle, or indeed to fail to attend the curate’s service. This, predictably, did nothing to diminish attendance at conventicles. Fines were

The Kirk had sent down to London to plead their cause the Rev. James Sharp, the minister of Crail, in Fife. Able as he undoubtedly was, he could make no headway either against the prevailing tide of Episcopalianism, or indeed against such men as Middleton. Unable to beat them, he joined them, and returned to Scotland as the Archbishop of St Andrews, a decision which led to him being branded 26

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the only people who deserved torture were the ministers who had encouraged the uprising. Dalyell, who had learnt his soldiering in Russia, a rough school, went on to Galloway to harry known Covenanters.

imposed on those breaking these laws; the fines were not paid. Troops, under the command of General Sir William Turner, were sent to levy the fines. Thus began, in November 1666, the Pentland Rising. In Dalry, Maclellan of Barscobe, a Covenanting laird, saw soldiers preparing to roast a farmer called Grier on a gridiron, for failing to pay fines. Maclellan, with his friends, rescued Grier, captured the soldiers, and went on to Balmaclellan, where a conventicler was in progress; those attending joined them; a further scuffle took place with other troops nearby, and one soldier was killed. The group then set off for Dumfries. There, they roused General Turner at 5.30am; some of the hotheads wanted to shoot him, but Neilson of Corsock, a famous Covenanting laird, would have none of it; they made him accompany them on their march to Edinburgh, where they proposed to petition the authorities. As they approached Edinburgh, the Fencibles emerged and drove them away. They retreated to the Pentland Hills, (whence the name of the rising), where Col.Wallace of Auchans attempted to drill them, roughly 900 strong, into some semblance of military order. Most of them were farm lads and labourers, armed only with pitchforks. Against them came General Tam Dalyell of the Binns with 2,000 infantry and 600 cavalry. Bravely as Wallace’s little army fought, the result was not in doubt.

Fifty men were killed on the field; many more were lost in the Pentland bogs. Many were captured; 36 were hanged, including Neilson of Corsock, despite a letter from Charles, requesting clemency for the captives. It is said that Archbishop Sharp kept the letter in his pocket until the executions had finished. Torture was used freely on the captives, causing the Marquis of Lorne to protest that

Middleton meanwhile, rapacious as well as spiteful, was seeking to grab the Argyll lands and properties forfeited to the Crown on Argyll’s execution. At the same time, he tried to mount a coup against Lauderdale. He failed; Lauderdale, who always had the King’s ear, suggested that Middleton was usurping royal power. Charles dismissed Middleton immediately, and in due course sent him off to be Governor of Tangier, where he died after falling down a cliff after dinner.

Lauderdale was now effectively the sole ruler of Scotland.

He himself would probably have preferred a moderate Presbyterian settlement, but Middleton’s actions had made this impossible. The threat of civil disorder in Southern Scotland was real. The savage treatment of those involved in the Pentland Rising had hardened and strengthened opinion in favour of the Covenanters. The majority of ministers were still “outed”. Conventicles were still in full swing. Lauderdale tried to divide those ministers who were prepared to accept that certain things could properly be rendered unto Caesar, from those who thought this a wicked, Erastian proposition. In 1669, he granted Indulgences, a permissions to ministers to return to their parishes on certain conditions which made it clear that the Bishop’s authority was only nominal. Only 43 accepted in the whole of Scotland. The carrot having failed, Lauderdale tried the stick, and passed in 1670 the

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so-called Clanking Act against conventicles, which decreed the death penalty against ministers presiding at them, and heavy fines for those attending them. The conventicles continued, with even larger numbers in attendance. In June 1670, the Rev. Blackadder preached to a huge crowd on the Hill of Beath, near Dunfermline.

Among those guarding the conventicle was Maclellan of Barscobe, who had escaped the carnage at Rullion Green.

In 1672, a further Indulgence failed like the first. In 1674, lairds were made responsible for the religious conformity of their tenants and servants. This was widely ignored.

Ratcheting up the pressure, an Act of Council in 1677 required lairds to sign a bond for the loyal behaviour of all persons residing on their land. Most lairds refused to sign a document that it was beyond their powers to fulfil. Not so Robert Grierson, the Laird of Lag; on 18 Feb; 1678, he required his tenants at Lag and Rockhall to sign a document which “faithfully binds and obliges us, our wives, bairns, servants and cotters, shall be no ways present at any conventicles or disorderly meetings in time coming, but shall walk orderly and in obedience to the law under the pains and penalties contained in the Acts of Parliament made there against, and further that we shall not reset, supply, commune with forfault persons, intercommoned ministers, vagrant preachers, but shall do our utmost endeavour to apprehend these persons”. That same year, the general failure of the bond led to the Highland Host; parties of highland soldiers being billeted on suspected Covenanters. The Highlanders were responsible for many atrocities, rape, pillage and the like, and they did much damage and destruction in the few months they were in residence. They left Ayrshire looking as if it had been sacked. But still the conventicles continued; that year, on Skeoch Hill, above Irongray, where the Communion stones may still be seen, a huge gathering, some say as large as 14,000, listened in rapt silence to the preaching of Welsh and Blackadder. The following year, 1679, saw on the 3rd May the murder of Archbishop Sharp. He was returning from Edinburgh across Magus Muir when he was seen by a group of Covenanters, was dragged from his coach, and despite the presence of his daughter, was brutally stabbed to death.

Following the murder, tension was heightened on all sides.

On 29th May, 1679, when bonfires were lit to commemorate the Restoration, 80 armed Covenanters entered Rutherglen, and publicly burnt all the Acts which they believed were in conflict with the Covenant. This attracted adherents; they marched down to Ayrshire, and at Drumclog, near Strathaven, they routed a government force led by Graham of Claverhouse. Three weeks later, the tables were turned at Bothwell Bridge; Monmouth and his troops were victorious, 400 Covenanters being slain, and 1,200 captured. The captives were kept in Greyfriairs Kirkyard in Edinburgh; a number were hanged, most were released on their promise not to take up arms again, but

250 who refused to give any promise were ordered to be transported, and perished when their ship went down off the Orkneys.

It was evident now to all that Lauderdale had failed in his attempts to divide the Covenanting movement, and thereby to weaken the extremists. They, in the person of the Rev. Richard Cameron, at Sanquhar, were about to show their hand. But Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge were enough to cause Lauderdale’s dismissal. Now old and ill, he was no longer part of the Cabal of which his name had formed the final letter, nor did he enjoy that degree of access to the King which formerly he had done.

Coarse, voluptuous, sensual and corrupt (Thirlestane owes its magnificence to him), he was nonetheless enormously able. It was his misfortune to have to administer a policy which he himself deplored. The Covenanting historians speak surprisingly kindly of him, blaming his severities on his second wife, Bess, Countess of Dysart, who certainly did wield great influence over him. They speak much less well of his successor as Lord Commissioner for Scotland, the Duke of York. He was Charles II’s brother, a Roman Catholic, and soon to be King James VII and II. The Killing Times were about to begin.

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