QUEEN FROM SCOTLAND

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 94, 7 May 1937, Page 21 (Supplement)

QUEEN FROM SCOTLAND

Elizabeth's Charm Endears Her to Millions • SIMPLE NATURAL GRACE i) " ' " ■. The -youngest but one of ten children, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was born on August 4, 1900 . The " youngest daughter" who marries the te King's ton" isahgure so gloriously reminiscent of fairy tales ot our childhood that on her wedding day Her Majesty could scarcely have failed to appeal to popular imagination, but the prominence of her position and the glare of scrutiny gave quite as much facility for fmlnre as for success. The becoming limelight might well have tarned to a disparaging searchlight. The fact that she has given such enduring satisfaction and, in so doing, has become one of the delights of the Empire, testihes to much more than her undeniable natural advantages.

Qaeen Elizabeth is thus described by » pereonal acquaintanee, -who wrote a descriptkm of her for a London newspaper: — "In appearaiice she is petite, frith & neat figure. Her' dark hair- is wora ' parted ia the middle and with a frinfee on-the forehead. Her deep blue eyeti are deeply fringed With blaek lashes. Her complejion is beautiful Sho-ia possessed of that most excellent thihg,' a low-toned, charming speaking Toice. She has little that is modern in her appearance, and yet is always, eharmingly dressed,wifh a touch of the picturesque, and of her own individumlity, in her clothes. But what stands ont more vividly than these beauties of feature and colonring is her partieularly happy, even radiant, exprestion. It speaks of what all her friends know her to be possessed of — an unselfish nature, simple and affeetionate; a xnind and character incapable of unIdndness of thought or ac'tion; a complete lack of afi£eetationv or pose; a candid sincerity, 'and an ingrained geptleness; These qualities form the basis of her personality." Charm and Kindness. Before her marriage Queen Elizabeth was Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon. She is the * youngest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Lord Strathmore (the fourteenth earl) married Hina Cecila, daughter of tlie lato Bev. Charies William Frederick Caven-dish-Bentinck, grandson of the third Duke of Portland. The pair had 10 children* six of whom were sons. Four 8ons and three daughters are now living, the two elder daughters being the Baroness "Elphinstone and Lady Eose Leveson-Gower. Lady Elizabeth was educated entirely at home, and it was in her home that her interests centred nntil hor marriage. While she was still quite young her mother arranged for her to be taught at home by French and Gerraan governesses, and the , fact that she

speaks fluent French and German and was "prepared for and passed various examinations set in eonnection with the Oxford' a'nd Cambridge Joint Board, shows that thesd arrangements were not made in ,vain." Wide Interests. Apart from reading, the Queen has many interests. Her fondness for riding has already been noted. In addition to" this/ she" is 'an ' enthusiastie dancer, having, indeed, the reputation of being one of the best dancers in English society. Golf has never attracted her; but she is a keen tennis player. In all these pursuits she and her husband have common ground for enjoyment. The love of old china and antiques generally they also sha.re. The Queen is extremely musical. She was taught . for some time by Madame Mathilde Yerne at the Royal College of Musie; has a charming voice, and sings a good deal. Also, she is clever with her needle. But she has by -no *means« allowedtennis and music and dancing to bound her outlook on life, or] her activities. As long ago as 1914, when she was still in the sehoolroom, she made herself wonderfully, useful -in the private war hospital her mother organised at Glamis Castle. 5 Most of the wounded who went to this hospital were Australians. Af ter the " marriage of her sister, Lady Eose, Lady Elizabeth un-' derwent a course of training in a London hospital, and took an active paTt in the management at Glamis. She has had many letters from former patients, a great many of them reminding her of the cricket matches she used to play with tliera during their convalescence. • - . There was never any doubt as to her capabilities as a hostess. She constantly entertained largo liouse parties in Scotland before hor mn\riage, with the utmost ease* and charm. It was in the autumn of 1921 that, on the occa sion of Queen Mary's visit to Glamis,

Lady Strathmore was suddenly taken ill, and left on her younger daughter 's hands the task of acting as ha-tess to the Koyal party, which in cluden fr'rincess Mary and the Duke of. York. Queen Elizabeth has always been a close friend ' of Princess Mary, and acted as one of her bridesmaids at the 1 atter's marriage to Yiscount, Lascelles. During Lady. Strathmore 's long and severe illness, her daughter had to deputise 'for her in other spheres than the domestic, and this led to the discovery of a talent for pjiblic speaking. Queen Elizabeth is said to suifer, like most speakers,'from nervousness. before she begins; but once on her feet she proves entirely equal to her task, and speaks with ease and finish. Ths prose of a. speech sho made in receiving a wedding present was described at the time as being "nobly Johnsonian. " Incidentally, one of the first things she did after the announcement of her bethrothal was to deeline a wedding present from her County of Forfar, because she thought it an inappropriate time for money to be spent upon her, whe'n so many men were out of employment. Glamis Castle. Glamis Castle stands in the middle of the valley — or "howe" as it is called locally — of Strathmore, about nve miles from the loch and town of Forfar. It is ' approached by avenues of trees on the north, south and east, and is surTounded by richly-wooded trees, in the midst of which its turrets and battlements .make a delightful picture. The main gate way is a triple-arched structure, battlemented and surrounded by carved lions — the hqraldic designation of the Lyons. The general plan of the castle is reminiscent of a sixteentb century French chateau. At .Glamis Castle Macbeth,. "the Thane of Glamis," is reputed to have murdered Duncan in a chamber known as the King's Eoom. Hard-keaded histo-xans have contended that the present castle •did not exist in Macbeth 's day, but the tradition may still be true of an earlier building. Some parts of the existing castle are - said to - date from the eleventh century. Malcolm II of Scotland is said *o have been assassinated at Glamis in. the opening years of that century, his murderers fleeing across the frozen fields and falling thrOugli the ice into Forfar Loch, whero they were drowned. It is knowu for certain that there was a Koyal residence at Glamis at a very remote period. From the eleventh to . the. fourteenth centuries the King and Court lived there from time to time.

Royal Blood. It was in 1372* that Sir Jolin Lyou of Forteviot, Great Chamberlain of Scotland and Kecper of the Privy Seal, had a grant of lands in Glamis from King Eobert II. When he married Jean, the King's daughter, ko obtained also the thauedom of Tannadyce, which appears in the roll of the Lyou tillcs — Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, V'iscount Lyon, Baron Glamis, Tannadyce, Sidlaw, and Strathdiehtie. These titles were fixed by Koyal Charter in 1077. The present Earl is descended in unbroken male succession from the allianco of Sir John Lyon and the King's daughter, and thus Koyal blood flows in his veins, and in those of his daughter, Queen Elizabeth.