Introduction

John Brown was born in Crathie in 1826 and worked at Balmoral, first as a ghillie, before becoming Queen Victoria’s personal attendant after Prince Albert’s death. He died at Windsor Castle in 1883 and was buried in Crathie Kirkyard, close to his parents and siblings. His grave is one of the kirkyard’s best-known memorials, with an inscription that records him as Queen Victoria’s “devoted and faithful personal attendant and beloved friend”. For visitors, it is a small but memorable place, away from the scale of Balmoral itself, where royal history feels more personal and local. The old church ruins and present Crathie Kirk are close by, with the River Dee just below.