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BraemarScotland’s Quintessential Highland Villageby Barbara Ballard
Braemar is full of history. It was the site of the Jacobite Rising of 1715 where the standard was raised to put the house of Stuart back on the British throne. The actual spot is now the Invercauds Arms Hotel. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the first part of Treasure Island in a Braemar cottage in August, 1881. Today, many of the village’s historic cottages offer bed and breakfast accommodation.
A visit to the Highlands Heritage Centre located in the village is an informative and interesting journey through Braemar’s tradition and history. Exhibits feature the Highland Gathering, Queen Victoria, Balmoral Castle (just 8 miles down the road) and the history of the area. It contains a clan heritage shop sure to tempt those of Scottish descent.
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Braemar, a tiny village in the Grampian Highlands of Scotland, is the
Scotland you expect to see—rivers rushing over ancient rocks, hills of heather,
a turreted castle, mountains reflecting purple in the distance. The beauty of
the Scottish countryside surrounds Braemar and there is much to revel in. 
The lovely stone village at the junction of the rivers Clunie and Dee is
a wonderful place to relax or, for the more ambitious, to tackle hill trails
abounding in the area--within a short distance of Braemar there are twenty
hills with peaks over 3000 feet.
But Braemar is
probably best known for its annual Braemar Gathering, the Highland Games at
their best. The Braemar Games were established in 1832 and received royal
approval from Queen Victoria in 1848. The royal family continues to attend
every year—Queen Elizabeth is the patron of the games. On the first Saturday in
September massed pipes and drum bands cry out with centuries old music,
presenting a spectacle for eye and ear. Pipe and drum competitions, highland
dancing, caber-tossing, shot putting, hammer throwing and other traditional
events take place. 
Two castles add to the
atmosphere of the village. Kindrochit Castle, built in 1390 and now a ruin,
stands in the centre of the village. Braemar Castle, ½ mile to the north, is an
L-plan tower house built as a hunting seat by the Earl of Mar in 1628. It
burned 60 years later and was rebuilt with turrets and crenellations
surrounding the original tower house.
Scattered in a
mountain valley at the junction of three glens, Braemar is the quintessential
Scottish Highland village, sure to please all who visit.