But  the  overcrowding  was  not  the  worst  of  the  infliction.  Un-
mindful of  the  sacredness  of  the  place  and  day,  as  well  as  of  the
respect  due  to  Her  Majesty,  they  persistently  stared  at  her  straight
through  the  service,  even  bringing  opera-glasses  for  the  purpose.
I  remember  hearing  a— lady  say  that  of  course  she  stared  at  the
Queen.  It  was  exactly  what  she  drove  over  from  Braemar  to  do.
Her  Majesty,  who  observed  keenly,  and  who  at  once  detected  the
presence  of  even  one  stranger,  was  conscious  of  and  evidently
annoyed  at  her  staring,  she  said.      "But  what  did  she  care  for

that?"

But  an  enterprising  Englishwoman  even  eclipsed  the  per-
formance with  the  opera-glasses.  She  visited  the  church  on  Sacra-
ment Sunday,  and  in  order  to  get  as  near  as  possible  to  Royalty-
it  is  difficult  to  be  charitable  in  view  of  what  follows— in  order  to
be  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Royalty  and  force  the  atten-
tion of  the  Queen,  she  joined  in  the  solemn  service,  and,  as  the
Queen  left  the  table,  arose  from  her  seat  and  swept  a  low  courtesy.
"Mad!  mad!"  said  the  scandalized  individual  who  told  me


328  THE  CASTLE  IN  THE  HIGHLANDS.
tlie  tale.  But  it  is  a  common  madness.  The  Royal  pew  was  in
the  gallery,  a  plain  seat  differing  in  nothing  from  the  others.  The
gallery  was  deep,  like  that  of  an  amphitheatre,  affording  admirable
facilities  for  staring.
