1846.] YACHTING CRUISE IN THE CHANNEL. 263 all to his liking. In a letter, replying evidently to some allusions to the disagreeableness of the voyage, Lord Aberdeen, writing from Haddo House, says to the Prince, though content with life in that far-off northern solitude, "I confess that in reading of her Majesty's progress, I have sometimes wished to find myself on the Royal yacht, even off the Race of Portland."* When the Royal party arrived at Portland Roads the sea was so rough, and the wind was blowing so hard, that at first it was feared they could not land. Ultimately, they did get ashore, and a salute from the Nothe battery warned the town of their arrival. There was great excitement among the people, who gave their visitors a warm welcome. Her Majesty is reported to have looked fresh and well, but the poor Prince, her consort, bore traces in his pale face of having suffered a good deal. On the 19th, however, the party, including Lord Spencer, Lord Alfred Paget, Baron Stockmar, the Hon. Ann Napier, and Lady Jocelyn, sailed away in fair weather to Devonport. They drove to Astonbury, the seat of the Earl of Ilchester-then absent in the south of France-to see his lovely grounds and curious swannery, and subsequently went on to Weymouth, the Queen again giving orders that she desired as little fuss as possible to be made about her visit. She landed at the steps which had always been used for that purpose by George III. The country folk, through whose villages they passed, despite Lord Alfred Paget's assurances, refused to believe that such a quiet and unassuming party of tourists included the Queen and her Court. A pleasant time was passed as they skimmed over the sunlit waters of the Tamar, and examined the ancient and picturesque mansion of the Mount-Edgecumbe family. They next sailed up the Plym to Lord Morley's seat at Saltram. Then, when Sunday came round, they stood out to sea and steered for the Channel Islands. This was an exceptionally interesting incident in the tour, for, since the days of King John, no English sovereign had till then set foot in the old Norman fief of the Crown. Little wonder that Guernsey was all excitement when they landed. Loyal cheers and addresses greeted the Queen and her family wherever they went; and the young Prince of Wales, by reason of his dress, which was that of a miniature seaman, attracted universal attention. Bands played and guns fired salutes, and pretty girls in white strewed the path of their young Queen with flowers. A brief visit to Jersey threw St. Helier into a frenzy of loyalty; after which the Royal yacht steamed for Falmouth, carrying the little Prince of Wales to see his Duchy of Cornwall for the first time. "A beautiful day again," writes the Queen in her Diary, on the 4th of September-a Diary which is full of charming descriptions, in her own vivid but artless style, of this excursion-"a beautiful day again, with the same brilliantly blue sea. At a quarter to eight o'clock we got under weigh. There was a great deal of motion at first, and for the greater part of the day the ship pitched, but getting up the sails steadied her. From *Martin's Life of the Prince Consort. 1846.] AT ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT. 265 five o'clock it became quite smooth; at half-past five we saw land; and at seven we entered Falmouth Harbour, where we were immediately surrounded by boats. The calmest night possible, with a beautiful moon, when we went on deck; every now and then the splashing of oars and the hum of voices were heard, but they were the only sounds, unlike the constant dashing of the sea against the vessel which we heard all the time we were at Jersey." At eight o'clock next morning (September 5th) the Royal party left Falmouth, rounded the Lizard, and skirted the bold and rugged coast that leads to Land's End. Here, much to the delight of Prince Albert, the sea was smooth. "A little before two," writes the Queen, "we landed in the beautiful Mount's Bay, close below St. Michael's Mount, which is very fine. When the bay first opened to our view the sun was lighting up this beautiful castle, so peculiarly built on a rock which forms an island at high water." The sun shone out gloriously as the Queen passed Penzance, and the smooth sea spread itself like an azure plain under a cloudless sky. "Soon after our arrival," she says, "we anchored, and the crowd of boats was beyond everything; numbers of Cornish pilchard fishermen, in their curious large boats, kept going round and round, and then anchored, besides many boats full of people." They are," says her Majesty, "a very noisy, talkative race, and speak a kind of English hardly to be understood." "During the voyage," adds the Queen, with maternal satisfaction, "I was able to give Vicky (H.I.H. the Empress Frederick) her lessons;" indeed, all through these yachting cruises the Queen insisted, in true English fashion, on acting personally as her children's teacher. In fact, it was only when the pressure of public and social duty became too severe for such labours that her Majesty 66 would ever consent to delegate the tuition of her children to others; and even then, she and Prince Albert bestowed on it most vigilant personal superintendence. In the afternoon the Royal party, "including the children," rowed to the Fairy, and steamed round the bay. They visited St. Michael's Mount and the smelting works at Penzance, which monopolised the attention of Prince Albert. "We remained here," her Majesty writes, "a little while to sketch, and returned to the Victoria and Albert by half-past four, the boats crowding round us in all directions; and when Bertie' (the Prince of Wales) showed himself the people shouted, "Three cheers for the Duke of Cornwall.'' 66 Next day they visited the quaint little town of Marazion, or Market Jew, which lies behind the Mount, where the Jews used to traffic in old times. They inspected the castle, and Prince Albert played on the organ in the chapel, to the great delight of the Queen and "the children;" after which he made what the Queen describes as "a beautiful little sketch" of St. Michael's Mount itself. On the following day (the 7th) the municipal dignitaries of Penryn invaded the Royal yacht, and begged to be introduced to "the Duke of Cornwall." "So," writes the Queen, "I stepped out of the pavilion on deck with Bertie, and Lord Palmerston told them that that was the Duke of Cornwall; and the old Mayor of Penryn said he hoped he would grow up a blessing to his parents and to his country.'" The Fal, winding between wooded banks of dwarfed oaks, and the beautiful Ruan, with its shores clad with foliage to the water's edge, were explored; and at the city of Truro, says the Queen, the whole population turned out on the banks to give her a welcome, "and were enchanted when Bertie was held up for them to see." On the following day the Royal tourists visited Fowey, "driving," writes the Queen, "through some of the narrowest streets I ever England," and proceeding to the ivy-clad ruins of Restormel, a castle which belonged to "Bertie " as Duke of Cornwall. saw in Here her Majesty was bold enough to explore the iron mines. "You go in on a level," she writes. "Albert and I got into one of the trucks and we were dragged in by the miners, Mr. Taylor" (mineral agent to the Duchy) "walking behind us. The miners wore a curious woollen dress with a cap, and they generally have a candlestick in front of the cap. This time candlesticks were stuck along the sides of the mine, and those who did not drag or push carried lights. The gentlemen wore miners' hats. There was no room to pass between the trucks and the rock, and only just room enough to hold up one's head, and not always that. It had a most curious effect, and there was something unearthly about this lit-up cavern-like place. We got out and scrambled a little way to see the veins of ore, and Albert knocked off some pieces." On the way back they visited Lostwithiel; and then they returned to Osborne, vastly delighted and refreshed by their tour. The Queen's new house at Osborne was now ready for occupation, and she and her husband held a "house-warming" ceremony on the 16th of September. |