Art, luxury, and walks in Royal Deeside
Seeing artwork by former and current monarchs isn't something you might expect when wandering through a hotel.
Unless, that is, you’re visiting Braemar, Scotland, in the heart of Cairngorms National Park and Royal Deeside.
Even if you aren’t staying in one of The Fife Arms' 46 rooms and suites, you can walk into this five-star Victorian inn – perhaps en route to its public bar, The Flying Stag, or newer whisky library, Bertie’s – and view HM Queen Victoria’s 1874 pencil and watercolour drawing of a stag’s head and HM King Charles III’s 1991 lithograph of Balmoral near the reception area.
'A stag shot by John Brown' pencil and watercolour by HM Queen Victoria, photo credit Sim Canetty-Clarke. Photo provided courtesy The Fife Arms
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was a proficient amateur artist, sketching from childhood and continuing throughout her life, often on summer trips to Scotland.
Like his great-great-great grandmother, King Charles III has long been devoted to painting, describing it on a display panel for a recent exhibition as 'one of the most relaxing and therapeutic exercises I know'. This full exhibition of his 79 watercolours, including a number of Scotland landscapes, appeared in London’s The Garrison Chapel in early 2022.
The two royal works are among The Fife Arms' 16,000 antiques, works of art, and objects. Notable pieces also include a 19th century mahogany and pine chimneypiece by Gerrard Robinson, which depicts scenes from Scottish poet Robert Burns’ work, as well as Pablo Picasso’s 1953 painting Femme assise dans un fauteuil (‘Woman seated in an armchair’).
The Fife Arms Drawing Room with Picasso's 'Femme assise dans un fauteuil' ('Woman seated in an armchair'). Photo provided courtesy The Fife Arms
Other royal connections
When Prince Albert bought Balmoral Estate (15 minutes away) for Queen Victoria in 1852, Braemar’s tourist trade expanded, thus creating a greater market for accommodation. The Fife Arms dates back to 1856, the year Balmoral Castle, the Royal Family’s Scottish holiday home, was completed. The multi-gabled stone inn has been a distinctive part of Braemar’s streetscape ever since.
The Fife Arms sits beside Clunie Water, a tributary of the River Dee. Photo credit Sim Canetty-Clarke, provided courtesy The Fife Arms
Iwan and Manuela Wirth, presidents of international gallery Hauser & Wirth, purchased the hotel in late 2014 and closed it about a year later to begin an extensive restoration. In January 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay (now HM King Charles III and HM The Queen Consort) were present to mark its official re-opening.
As for HM Queen Elizabeth II, she never overnighted here, but she did visit on one occasion, to view the renovation. If she had stayed, though, she could have brought one of her corgis along, as the hotel has dog-friendly guest rooms – each decorated to tell Braemar’s many stories – on the first floor. Fur babes receive a dog bowl, Fife Arms dog bed, treats, and a turn-down gift, and are welcome in certain areas but prohibited in others.
I’m staying in a Victoriana suite, which reflects the building’s history as a 19th century coaching inn. The décor is sumptuous: antique furnishings, period wallpaper, original artwork, and a freestanding cast iron bathtub. I especially love the desk, situated at a bay window and overlooking Braemar and the surrounding hills.
The Prince Albert suite is one of The Fife Arms' Victoriana suites. Photo courtesy The Fife Arms
And I smile when I notice the complimentary decanter of Royal Lochnagar whisky. This distillery, less than 2km from Balmoral, has gone by that name since 1848, when Queen Victoria granted it a Royal Warrant. The latter recognises the regular supply of goods to the Royal Household and entitles the holder to use the Royal Arms in connection with their business.
Braemar diversions
The Fife Arms sits just beside Clunie Water, a tributary of the River Dee, which runs past Balmoral Castle. Crossing it and turning right, I reach the remains of Kindrochit Castle. Built in the 1300s for royal hunts and once a strategic power base for Scottish kings, it fell into ruin by 1618. One gruesome legend says that when a plague broke out inside it, the residents of Braemar used cannons to destroy it with the inhabitants trapped inside.
A three-minute walk away, on Glenshee Rd, is a building with a cheerier history: the stone cottage where author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) wrote the first 15 chapters of Treasure Island (originally The Sea Cook) in September 1881. The novel was born from a colourful map Stevenson drew to amuse his 12-year-old stepson.
Today, one of The Fife Arms’ Nature & Poetry rooms, which are inspired by writers and poets as well as the Highland landscape, is dedicated to Stevenson.
Aside from drawing and writing, I’m unsure what other diversions Stevenson pursued while in Braemar. Still, it’s fun to imagine him dreaming up plot lines while strolling around the village, having a dram in The Fife Arms public bar, and possibly checking out the Braemar Gathering, Scotland’s most famous Highland Games.
The latter are always held the first Saturday of September at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park in Braemar and have been run in their present form since 1832. The reigning Monarch and members of the Royal Family have regularly attended them since 1848; Queen Elizabeth II only missed the event on four occasions during her 70-year reign.
A path fit for a king
I’m here in late October, so I’ve well and truly missed the Gathering ... but this is a wonderful time for walking. My first leg stretch, the 5.5km Lion’s Face and the Cromlins circuit, takes me fairly close to 17th century Braemar Castle, about a kilometre north of the village and due to re-open in July 2023. Described on the Walk Highlands website, the walk begins just beyond the village and leads through pine forest, up to viewpoints over the Cairngorms, past a rocky crag known as the Lion’s Face, and across the road from the castle on the route back towards Braemar.
It's a lovely outing, but I’m more excited about my next outdoor adventure. When I ask for recommendations on area walks, a staff member mentions Loch Callater, a freshwater loch 8km south of Braemar, noting it’s one of HM’s favourite walking areas. (One of HM’s watercolours features Glen Callater.) Intrigued, I drive 3km to the trailhead parking area at Auchallater.
The 11.5km-return route follows a wide track – part of a historic route known as Jock’s Road – alongside a cascading river. In dry weather, it’s possible to extend this journey and continue all the way around the high loch, wading the river above it, but I’m content to observe from its northern vantage, taking in the steep hills surrounding it and mountains such as 958m Tolmount, which sits at the head of the glen.
A moody day at Loch Callater
With a few brief exceptions, I have this path to myself. As I amble, stark Highland beauty envelops me. Even on a moody day such as this, the hills captivate one’s spirits and attention, inspiring wonder, onward footsteps, and, in some, concentration and creativity.
For more info, visit: thefifearms.com, braemarscotland.co.uk, and walkhighlands.co.uk.
Kara Murphy visited The Fife Arms and Braemar with support from Visit Scotland and Visit Britain.