The Queen got up close to a caber as she made a surprise visit to a Highland Games event.
She paid a private visit to the Aboyne Highland Games, held annually in the Aberdeenshire village, on their 150th anniversary.
A new caber had been commissioned for the occasion, with the Queen dedicating it by pouring whisky on it.
A warm welcome to Her Majesty The Queen who has just arrived to officially open the games. #AboyneGames #Highland #QueenElizabethII pic.twitter.com/mfqOVsZW5w
— Aboyne HighlandGames (@AboyneGames) August 5, 2017
Local athletes Jamie Dawkins and John Fyvie lifted the heavy wooden item in front of her and she also met its maker Murray Brown and other members of the Games’ committee.
The royal visitor was welcomed to the Games by the event’s chieftain Granville Gordon, the 13th Marquis of Huntly, and its chairman Alistair Grant, whose granddaughter, 11-year-old Carlie Esslemont presented the Queen with a posy.
It is the first time the Queen has visited Aboyne Highland Games, and Mr Grant said: “It was an honour and a privilege to welcome Her Majesty to Aboyne Highland Games to mark our 150th anniversary.
Her Majesty the Queen arrives at @AboyneGames. Her arrival marks the 150th anniversary of the Games. ???? #Northsound1Summer pic.twitter.com/9ialWUFeXH
— Northsound 1 (@northsound1) August 5, 2017
“She took a real interest in how our new Aboyne caber was crafted and seemed particularly taken to learn about the visits her ancestors had made to the games.
“Our first royal visit was in 1873, when the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, attended, and it is wonderful to continue that long association with the royal family today.”
He added: “We have had a superb crowd on the green who have been kept thoroughly entertained by our packed programme of 98 events.
The Opening of the 150th #AboyneHighlandGames #Bluesky and #Sunshine pic.twitter.com/RvcqXyQoWv
— Aboyne HighlandGames (@AboyneGames) August 5, 2017
“The atmosphere has been excellent. Visitors have travelled from near and far, which goes to show the huge appeal that Highland Games still have. That is really positive for the future.”
Founded in 1867, the Aboyne Highland Games is a traditional Scottish Highland Games held annually on the first Saturday in August, with thousands attending each year to watch activities including highland dancing, tossing the caber, piping and fiddle competitions.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here