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The Games returned after the 1914-1918 War on 4th September 1919 and everyone celebrated that return.   The Aberdeen Journal of 5th September that year celebrated with the following article (so long that it had to be reproduced in two sections) and another long account on a different page.

There were also articles on who was there – the creme de la creme of course since the King and Queen were there – and what they were wearing, who presented the prizes and comments on the sport.   

The photograph below speaks for itself. The distance from Aberdeen to Braemar was estimated at 60 miles and according to the Journal, it was crowded all the way with motor cars and buses.   There were of course several accidents – eg. one at Dinnet where one car collided with another and, because he was looking at that one there was another collision at the same spot when the inattentive driver ran into another car.   Then a motor cycle and sidecar came a cropper at the Pass of Ballater with both occupants being thrown off, one car with two wheels missing was left at the side of the road and several others were being towed.  

Unfortunately the numbers of marchers were down on 1913 – the Duffs and Farquharsons were fewer in number with many of their ranks having been lost in battle.   ‘They had lost nothing of their ardour’ however.   Numbers generally were high though.   

The Games were, and still are, a local event as well as a national, and at times international feature of the week – and although there was no Veteran Harriers Club, or Masters competition or age group awards, there were still enthusiasts like the septuagenarian below.

The report on the sports is below and it is very brief compared to the coverage of the royal party and the other attractions on the day – although we have to remember that it was not called the Braemar Gathering for nothing.   The whole day, indeed week, was involved with social events, many day trippers, special trains were packed and char-a-bancs were all in action – with taxi drivers offering their services for the occasion, the Games were only part of the celebrations.   The Aboyne Games were traditionally held on the Wednesday with Braemar one day later, always on the Thursday, and that added to the week’s fun.   1919 in particular after the dreadful carnage of the War with its huge loss of life was forgotten – or almost forgotten – for the time being. 

The actual results of the meeting were as follows:

Although the weather had been fine in the morning, it dulled down a bit at the start of the afternoon and then there was some drizzling rain.   The Royal Party stayed on for a bit before leaving, serenaded by the pipes and cheered by the crowd of spectators.   The Gathering and the Games were back!

Royal patronage for any business is rewarded with the appropriate crest above the door and is an honour not easily gained.  100 years of royal patronage was  prized by the Braemar Games orgnaising committee and the Games aspect of the Gathering really celebrated the connection.   The Press & Journal published this article on 9th Septelber, 1948.

1948 was, as has been said, the centenary of the royal patronage of the Gathering and it was a notable one.   There were lots of photographs of the occasion – almost entirely of the Royal Family, and mostly in the Aberdeen Press & Journal.    The paper even printed a photograph of Queen Victoria at Braemar in in the article above in 1855).   The difference with the photograph below is easily seen – posed but not as obviously as in the 19th century picture, no small children, and taken in the Royal Box rather than posed with a rustic background.   The connection and tradition carried on.

The King and Queen were presented with a gift from the people of Braemar in recognition of the occasion – the gift was of two hill walking sticks with carved rams horn handles, as shown in the photograph below. One for the King and another for the Queen as a silver wedding gift.  Spectators came from all over the countryside and from beyond too.   There were spectators from France, the Argentine, Kenya and some from Denmark who arrived on horseback from Bridge of Earn.   Noted as a picturesque figure was 26 year old Linden Dial from Long Beach in California, a Mormon missionary who cycled from Aberdeen via the Aboyne Games, wearing a white baseball cap.   Another to merit individual notice was Mr Edward Beckingham from British Columbia who was Scottish born and had emigrated in 1919.

Locally, there were many from all over Scotland  eg there was a huge contingent from Fife, and the manager of bus company W Alexander said that bookings for Braemar were so tremendous that they could not possibly accommodate all the parties that wanted to make the trip.  The first bookings were made just after the New Year and they increased steadily as the summer approached.   A total of 75 buses left the towns and villages of Fife on the day.   There were 300 people from Perth and two buses from Auchterarder had 11 spectators over the age of 70.   As the French party said, “It was ‘formidable'”.

A record crowd of 30,000 had been present at the 1947 Games but that was exceeded by an estimated 5000 additional spectators.   The royal party stayed for 90 minutes and at the end the pipers played “Happy we’ve been a’ th’gither”.

The weather on the day was brilliant sunshine and all that the competitors could want, there was a big crowd, the opposition was there too and the atmosphere must have been electric. 

The competitions were as close as ever with several established athletes taking part – the headline performer was George Clark who was a regular at the Games as a heavy athlete, his close rival James McLellan was there again as was A Stewart from Oban, and note that T Scott (Inchmurrin) was second in the long jump.   

• Replying to a questionnaire in September 1986, Tom McNab had this to say of George Clark: 

 “I met George Clark, one of the throwers of that period, a couple of years back.   He was putting 46′ and throwing 120′ in the hammer back in the 1920’s and 30’s.   He was still competing in the early 1950’s and was the first throw the Braemar Caber when he was over 50.   A wonderful man!   Clark is a classic example of the ‘agricultural strength’ of the classic Highland Games athlete.

Agricultural strength?

Yes.   It’s the type of strength gained through daily manual labour, quite different from the elastic strength of the modern weight-trained athlete.   I asked Clark if there was any athlete of his period who could compare with the modern throwers.   He said only one, the great AA Cameron who had retired by the 1920’s when Clark was coming to his best.   Cameron was credited with a putt of 55′ 8″ back in the early 1900s.

Do you accept this?

No, if only because it in no way relates to his other putts which were in the sub-50′ area.   Indeed there is no record of Cameron ever putting over 50′ with a genuine 16 lb shot on level ground.   But he was clearly a magnificent athlete, regularly clearing 5′ 0″ in the standing high jump.

• And of course Tom and his brother Jay would be successful competitors on the circuit for many years to come with Jay in particular being a superb all-round athlete.   McNab has this to say of Jay: 

  What was Jay Scott capable of?

  He cleared about 1.90metres in the high jump, just short of 7 metres in the long jump, and just over 14 metres in the triple.   But he could also throw 14 metres in the shot, run a hundred yards in close to evens, and toss the shafted hammer about 37 metres!

  These are good marks but dn’t look fantastic by today’s standards?

  No, but you must remember the conditions under which they were performed, football pitches or more often rough farmers’ fields.   Jay Scott was, in my view, one of the greatest Scottish athletes of all time: no question of it in my mind.

  He seems to have made a great impact on you?

  Jay Scott had a wonderful athletic charisma.   He was the essence of athleticism, tall and good looking, with a beautiful animal quality in all his movements.   He was simply marvellous.

The two pictures below give some impression of the numbers – one from inside the ground and the other from a low flying plane.

There was even a parking map printed in the P & J for the guidance of the many motorists who were expected to attend.

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Picture from Press & Journal

The 1946 Gathering prompted a letter from the Marquess of Aberdeen, Lord Lieutenant of the County, complaining about the traffic arrangements for those attending by motor car.   A Committee was set up.   The Games went ahead, but with steady rainfall throughout.   It was the first Games after the War though and their majesties were present, welcomed by the Marquess of Aberdeen, for just over an hour.   The Scotsman for Friday, 6th September, 1946, started its report as follows.

The Duchess of Kent with her children, the Duke of Kent and the Princesses Michael and Alexandra, were there too and seemed to enjoy the sport.  The results however as published by the ‘Scotsman’ –

Despite the weather, the meeting was a success – certainly if the smiles of the Royal couple below are anything to go by.    

The Royal tradition from the early days of Queen Victoria’s reign in really significant.   The royals all seem to enjoy the day (picture above from 1947), and it does indeed make the Games part of the Gathering different from any other in the country.   There was one disappointment on the day however as the P & J says below

The clothing coupons were the bane of everyone’s life at the time.   Athletes were having difficulty getting vests and shorts – how do you tell your family that they can’t get a pair of much needed shoes, or trousers or skirts or whatever because you were using the clothing coupons for a harriers vest?  There were some ways round it – asking former runners to hand back their old vests was one, but it was much more difficult getting the full highland rig out on coupons.   The March of 1000 pipers is one of the features of Cowal Games and the pipers are always popular; losing the march from the programme was unfortunate.

The weather in 1947 was better than in 1946, but the Royal Family were present, and the march was back.   And as a piece of social history, have a look at the number of cars in the picture above that were used by the local population to get there.    

Picture from The Courier & Advertiser

The Royal family was there again on a dull day which turned to drizzle in the afternoon, but nevertheless the crowd was estimated to be at about 30,000.   The King’s interest was in evidence when he started up a discussion with Mr John Michie, President of the Royal Braemar Society, about having more events confined to local athletes – the number of events for them that year was only 4 in a programme of 45 events.    The march of clansmen was not in evidence but the march of the pipers was there to ne seen and had over 100 pipers.   Interest in the Games was intense – note the following from the Forfar Dispatch.

The various newspapers provided many photographs despite the prevailing weather and some from the Aberdeen Press & Journal are reproduced here.   Results:

A good time was had by all but what was to come in 1948 – the centenary of Royal patronage of the Gathering?

Another General View, from The Scotsman this time.

The 1911 Games, held on Thursday 7th September, had 13 athletic events on the programme.   On the track there were a girls race, a boys race, a 200 yards race, a 350 yards race, a half mile, two miles, an obstacle race and a sack race; Heavy events included open events at throwing the hammer, putting the stone, tossing the caber and local events at throwing the hammer, tossing the caber, the Society’s stone and hammer; the jumping events had open competition in the long leap, high jump and vaulting.   The entire Glasgow Herald list is reproduced below but there was a long article on the social side of the meeting at which the King and Queen again in attendance elsewhere in the paper and a good attendance of local people.   Special trains brought people from Aberdeen and Deeside and all roads led to Braemar with other sports including shooting abandoned for the day.   The Royal family were interested in the events and particularly the tug o’war between the Highlanders and the chauffeurs which was won by the Highlanders.   They were present between 3:30 and just after 5:00 pm. 

Another very good day for the Games.   Into 1912 and 

From the Aberdeen Daily Journal, September 5th, 1913

“A brilliant chapter was added to the history of the Braemar Gathering yesterday.   From daybreak until the day closed there no untoward circumstance marred the success of the meeting.   The weather – all important for such an event – was ideal for the great assemblage of spectators, if somewhat warm for the athletes who struggled for supremacy on the green sward of the Princess Royal Park. …….. The beautiful weather seconded the desire of many to be present to witness the clandmen’s welcome to the King and Queen and their family and from all directions – on foot, in horse-drawn vehicle, on cycle, foot-pedalled or motor driven, in motor car or motor ‘bus – thousands of people of both sexes, young and old, converged on the picturesque village of Braemar, nestling in the heart of the mountains. ……. The march of the warlike clansmen, in full Highland garb, led by swaggering pipers, with stalwart bearers holding their standards aloft; the beat of the drums, the skirling of the pipes, the glitter of claymore, Lochaber axe, and pike; the proximity to the historic braes of Mar, all reminiscent of the days when Highlanders fought and bled, and suffered for the Stuart cause, thrill even the time hardened visitor who has seen the muster and the march often before.”   That’s only a taste of the report in the Aberdeen Press & Journal on the day.   It does recreate the sense and atmosphere of occasion – and that’s before the royal family appear on the scene.   Braemar still has the sense of something special and athletes of the 21st century are heirs to that tradition.   The results of the actual games were as follows:

And in the local events –

From the Aboyne Games but the scenes, away from the Royals, at Braemar would not have been much different

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Hostilities in the First World War began in September, 1914 so there were no Games or Gathering then.   The Aberdeen Press & Journal reported thus:

The Games were of course restarted after the War.

Willie Day (Falkirk Victoria Harriers) winning the road race at Strathallan in 1973

The Strathallan Road Race was not just a feature of the Gathering held in Bridge of Allan or a race loved by the road running fraternity, but one of the stepping stones towards the full marathon distance.   The Scottish Marathon Club had been active after the war encouraging sports meetings with no road race to put one on, and in encouraging those with a road race to make it of a distance that helped progression to the full 26 miles marathon distance.   Hence the 12 miles Balloch to Clydebank, the Sprimgburn 12, the 14 miles at Shots, at Dunblane, at Babcock’s, the 16 miles Clydebank to Helensburgh, the 18 at Rothesay, several around the 20 – 22 miles distance such as Strathallan and the Edinburgh to North Berwick.   Strathallan was also part of the four race SMC championship series which consisted on the 12 at Springburn, 16 at Helensburgh, 21 at Strathallan and the full SAAA marathon championship.   

Over the years however the original 22 miles race which went out from the Games Park at Forglen Road to Tillicoultry and back along the Hillfoots, became 21 miles, then 14, then 10.   The winners where known are listed below and it will be noted that many of them were Scottish international athletes with Commonwealth and/or Olympic Games honours.

There are several missing results and if anyone can fill in any of the gaps, please send on the information.   It was a good race on a good course in a lovely part of the countryside and held at a well run and organised meeting.   All the runners liked it – note how many big names above came back more than once – Don Macgregor, Gordon Eadie, John Lineker, Jim Dingwall – and the distance at 21 or 22 miles provided a much-needed step towards the marathon distance.    We could do with it back.

This account of the first gathering was published in the Aberdeen Press & Journal of September 4th, 1913.   A romantic tale which differs from Queen Victoria’s account which is retold at the end.

Looking for reports of the Braemar Gathering in the Press at the start of September, 1890, none were discovered.   Not in the Elgin Courant & Courier, not in the Dundee Evening Post, nor in the Morayshire Sentinel nor even in the Scotsman.   There were some minor Royals in residence, there was a gathering of sorts of local aristocracy but there was little in the way of shooting or picnics reported on.   In 1901 the Greenock Telegraph said briefly that ‘The Braemar Gathering is not likely to be revived.’   That was it in total, verbatim.   What was reported in the Press was the progress of the Boer War which lasted from 1899 to 1902.   The hostilities started effectively in October 1899 so were the Games held in that year?   

The September issue of the Dundee Courier had headlines such as “NEARING WAR”,  “SENSATIONAL SIGNS”, and “AN ULTIMATUM”, “WAR IN 48 HOURS”, “ACTIVE PREPARATIONS”, “INDIAN TROOPS FOR THE CAPE”.   But the Games side of the Gathering did indeed take place as the following extracts from the Courier (first) and the Aberdeen Journal indicate.   

The competitions took place, and there were many of them, and the list of results and presentations from the Journal are below.

The 1899 Gathering was a success by any measurement: Royal presence, march of the combined clansmen, number of spectators, appropriate weather, good competitive athletics and an appreciative crowd plus, of course, the social part of the Gathering for all regardless of status.    As we have seen, there were no Games at all in 1900 or 1901 but in 1902 ….

The Dundee Courier of 12th September, 1902 had one and a quarter full, closely printed columns covering the event.   Under the heading of “THE KING AT BRAEMAR” there were two more announcements – “ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION”  and “THE GATHERING OF THE CLANS”.     The King and Queen were there with the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Fife.   The Courier remarked that various reasons caused the postponement of the Gathering for the previous two years.   An understatement.   The well attended Games were held at a slightly different venue – at Clunie, two or three miles from Braemar, on a large field close to the banks of the river Dee.   As ever the clansmen were early arrivals: the Balmoral Highlanders, the Farquharson men, and the Duff Highlanders were all there.   The King and Queen were to arrive at 3:30 and were preceded by outriders in scarlet coats, the various Highlanders were drawn up into an avenue down which the Royal carriages passed.   When they arrived at the ground, the massed pipe bands played the Invercauld March and the Royal carriages arrived at exactly 3:30.   The Games were back and everyone was happy.   As for the athletic and other events, “Among the concluding contests of the day was a hurdle race, part of which took the competitors through the River Dee”.   The King was so interested in this one that he walked down to the river to get a better view where he held a conversation with the headmaster of Winchester College.   The Royal party left at about 5:20 pm.   They had shown an interest in all the events – watching the two miles race ‘lap by lap’ and showed a great interest in all events with the King walking round the ground for a better view of several of them.   The results were as follows.

The 19th century had started in style: The war was over, the Games aspect of the Gathering was also back, Royalty was still interested and involved.   The traditions of the Games, many still followed in the 21st century, were continued.

If we jump forward to 1875 , the Gathering had a wonderful press with details of accommodation available for all thoise wishing to attend the event, of the various groups of the aristocracy and their guests and, of course, the royal party whoch consisted of the Queen, HRH Princess Beatrice, HRH Leopold, the Lady Abercrombie, Hon. Miss Stopford, the Hon Miss Phipps, and more.   The full list of notables took up about a third or more of a column in the Aberdeen Journal of 1st September.    The gentlemen of the Press were also welcomed by now and the coverage was quite extensive compared to the 1850’s.   The results –

The list of events was also quite extensive in all disciplines – there was even a sack race and a three legged race. One of the teams there included William McCombie Smith who was a good athlete and member of the Aberdeen University team who had been disqualified from competition on the grounds that ‘he had taken part in public or professional meetings.’   He also won the Queen’s Prize for the Two Mile Race, won the Hammer Throw and was second in Putting the 28 lb Weight and was third in the running long leap.   There were other Games or Gatherings taking place on the same day – the Lonach Gathering had been on the same day for many decades, and there was also a Stonehavne Highland Games and all had their own traditions.

The Gathering of 1880 was not graced with royalty (the Queen wasn’t there) although there was a good number of the aristocracy for what was one of the highlights of the social season.  As for the Games aspect of the week, the Aberdeen Journal gave the following information in its 10th September edition.

The race over 13 hurdles and through the river Dee sounds interesting, maybe especially as the race is over a quarter of a mile.  Results below indicate that there were 5 competitors.   The introduction of races for Girls and boys under 15 years of age and the comment that like events could be introduced into sports meetings in England.   The actual results of the events are noted below.

Another good meeting with all events being contested – McCombie Smith again present but with less success than previously.

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Came 1885 and the Queen herself was at Braemar, her arrival noted by the Edinburgh Evening News as follows –

The range of events from sport results via dancing and presentations for length of service, wearing of highland garb was as wide as ever – but there is no mention of the quarter mile over 13 hurdles followed by the swim across the Dee!

Of all the highland gatherings and games, Braemar is perhaps the most notable.   That is of course down to the presence of the reigning monarch or their representative.   Lip service is paid to the age of the games, connections to royalty, legendary figure to have competed there but little is normally written about the actual Gathering which encompassed the whole weekend.   This was not always the case – as an acknowledgement of the history and the coverage of the event we will reproduce here some of the reports from bygone Gatherings.   We will start with the Games of 1844.  As ever they were held in the first week of September.  Although Queen Victoria was in Scotland at the time visiting many ‘tourist attractions’ such as the Falls of Tummel, she does not seem to have been at the actual Games – the weather was probably the cause of her absence from the field.   The report of the day however,in the Perthshire Advertiser read as follows.

Two years later, on 27th August 1846, coverage in the Elgin Courant read as follows.

You will note the comprehensive coverage of the entire gathering with the social aspect taking priority over the athletics, but we do learn what events were contested and that the time of the winner of the hill race was taken and kept from year to year.    Two years later, September 1848, the coverage in the Aberdeen Herald was even more fulsome taking up almost an entire column of broadsheet newspaper which started – 

But what of the actual athletics?   

The Queen had given Mr Farquharson 5/- to be given to the winner of the hill race.   100 years later that would have made him a professional while the other prizes were in kind – snuff boxes and silver brooches – which would have kept their amateur status!   

The Queen returned in 1850 to the Royal Braemar Gathering – the Royal title had been granted in 1846 – along with a large and distinguished retinue.  The Games progressed satisfactorily –

A bit more detail in this report on the 1850 Gathering in the Montrose, Arbroath and Brechin Review which also informed everyone of every detail of the week including the march of the competitors, the arrival of the royal party, the ball held afterwards, picnics on the river, shooting on the estates of the Duke of Inmvercauld, etc.  There was not however a great deal of change in the events mentioned although the awards after the Games were in a wider range of categories than there are now.   The modern athletes are however following in this tradition.