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1910: THE "TWELFTH" SCENES AT ABERDEEN STATION. RUSH FOR THE MOORS. To-morrow is the "Twelfth", and at dawn of day the sportsman will be on the moor, and the crack of the gun will heard everywhere. During the past few days there has been a big rush northwards of sportsmen from the south, the Midland counties, and the north of England, and it is understood that there have been record bookings of shooting boxes and preserves. The scenes at the Aberdeen Joint Railway Station on the arrival of the trains from the south during the three or four days immediately preceding the "Twelfth" are full of interest. Yesterday was a typical day. Sportsmen arrived by every south train from early morning until late in the afternoon. The most unobservant man in the station would have distinguished them from the tourist and the ordinary passenger as they mingled with the crowd on the platforms. They wore the distinctive tweed shooting jacket and knickerbockers of the sportsman, and in almost every case had along with them dogs of the sporting varieties - Gordon setters, pointers, etc. There were also many ladies' gun-cases among the luggage. Shortly after 6 o'clock in the evening, the tall, commanding figure of Lord Kitchener was noticeable among a group of sportsmen and tourists on one of the platforms. The sportsmen, anxious to arrive at their destination as quickly as possible so that they might spend a leisurely day after the fatigue of travelling and be fresh for tomorrow morning when they commence shooting, spent little time in Aberdeen. They quickly transferred from the trains with which they had arrived from England to those leading to Deeside and and the north Aberdeenshire moors. Porters rapidly conveyed the luggage from the one train to the other, and there was little delay in sending off the trains considering the heavy traffic. More than the average number of sportsmen, one of the railway officials states, have come northward this year. There has been quite a large traffic of those going to the Deeside moors. There is no doubt that the residence of the King at Balmoral will make shooting on Deeside much more popular than usual this year. Most the shootings have been taken by those who had them last year, but the presence of Royalty will without doubt have this effect, that the parties at the different shooting boxes in the district will larger than usual. Source : The Aberdeen Daily Journal Thursday August 11th, 1910
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