The village of Aboyne situated in the heart of Royal Deeside approximately 30 miles from Aberdeen on the A93. The attractive village has evolved since being laid out in 1676 around the large village green, where now the famous Highland Games are held annually in August, attracting visitors from all over the world.

Belying its small size the months of July and August find Aboyne being the home of the Royal Deeside Festival featuring music, art, drama, films and celebrities

Aboyne boasts a selection of shopping facilities, an excellent 18-hole golf course, bowling green and tennis courts. There are a vast number of outdoor pursuits available in the area including hill walking, horse riding, gliding and fishing. Close at hand to the village are the beautiful Glen Tanar Estate and Braeloine Interpretative Centre, and to the north are the Lumphanan Peel Ring and the Tomnaverie Stone Circle

During the colder months Aboyne is within easy reach of the winter sports facilities at both Glenshee and the Lecht.

To cater for the many visitors the local charms and facilities attract, accommodation within the village includes hotels, guesthouses, and bed & breakfast establishments. Around the village are self-catering cottages and chalets, a number of guest-taking farmhouses, caravan parks and camping facilities.

Local Memorials in the Village of Aboyne.

To celebrate the Millennium the committee of the Aboyne Games obtained planning permission to erect a handsome iron gateway to the Green of Charleston where the Annual Aboyne Games are held, the area chosen was the handsome red granite "fountain" opposite the Huntly Arms Hotel, as featured in the picture above. The fountain was proposed as a memorial to Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in l897 though there was some delay in its erection and an additional celebration was proposed for the Coronation of King Edward VII, eventually the fountain was completed in 1904 and Lady Brooks the second wife of the late Sir William Cunliffe Brooks the 11 th Marquess of Huntly's father-in-law. Her speech was reported in the Aberdeen Daily JournaI of 18 th June 1904. A slightly shortened version of the speech was as foIlows:

"We have come together to do honour to the memory of Queen Victoria. Life moves quickly in these busy days, and in the years which have gone since Queen Victoria passed away other interests have arisen, other names fill the daily records. She has become a memory and today we pause in the battle of life and turn our thoughts back to her. We recall the homely and gracious ways which endeared her so much to the people of this district. We remember her devotion to duty, her love for her people, her sixty years of steadfast toil for her country's good. It is right that we should remember Queen Victoria and that we should give to that remembrance an outward and tangible form. From the earliest days it has been customary to dedicate a well or a fountain, to call it by a name, and it is curious to note how seldom or ever the name is that of a fighter or one whose life was strenuous or militant. A well is generally dedicated to and named after some woman, Queen Margaret for example, or some saint or hermit whose cell was hard by. A gentle quiet life, spent in doing good is the most fitting to be linked to a well of water. The counterpart of life is found in the silent but everflowing spring whose overflow can be traced by the verdure of its grass, the strength of the plants which are nourished by its waters and the wealth of animal life which gathers around. So it was with Queen Victoria. Her Royal life was in many ways simple, not attended with much pomp and circumstance as compared with that of some other crowned heads - but the course of her reign was marked by a gradual growth and strengthening of what is good, by the protection of the weak, and especially by a sense of security which is only felt when the reins of power are held by an even and steady hand. Not a winter torrent, violent and destructive at one season, and dry at another, but the quiet and certain flow of a perpetual spring. So it is fitting that our remembrance of Queen Victoria should take the form of a fountain, made of our native granite, of all stone, the most enduring fed by water, the purest which could be found, taken from springs which have never been known to fail. A worthy memorial of the love of the people of Aboyne for a great and good Queen."

It should be noticed that the fountain had a number of cups attached by their own chains so that they could be used by any passing traveller (or resident) and the lower troughs could be used to water horses. The new gates to the Green are adjacent to the fountain and carry suitable emblems which bring attention to the historic Gathering.

The next important memorial in Aboyne was the Victory HaIl, this of course had nothing to do with Queen Victoria (the HaIl in Ballater is the Victoria Hall and is in fact a memorial to Queen Victoria). The Aboyne Hall is a memorial to those who fell in the first World War, it contains a shrine with stained glass windows and the names of aIl the fallen in both World Wars and some who fell in more recent wars. Inside the building there is a board with the names of aIl those who served in the wars. During the last two years the hall has been brought up to date generously financed by many residents and organisations such as the Aboyne Games who contributed. Prince Charles visited the area last October and amongst several other visits to encourage local enterprises and the training of young craftsmen, he did Aboyne the honour of opening the refurbished Victory HaIl and planting a tree near the entrance and unveiling a plaque.

The various articles within this site are taken from previous issues of the official Aboyne Highland Games programmes and are used by kind permission.

The offficial Aboyne Games Photographs taken from the programme are copyrighted and credited to Jim Henderson AMPA ARPS and Anke Addy ARPS.

A principal sponsor of the Games is the Glenfiddich Distillery

Aboyne Highland Games is a member of the Scottish Games Association