In June, 1898, a team representing the Queen's Park made their first Continental tour, visiting Denmark, on an invitation from the Committee of Organisation in connection with the International Carnival of Sports and Gymnastics, to be held at Copenhagen from 30th May to 2nd June of that year, to take part in the carnival. The invitation was for the purpose of popularising and improving football in Denmark, where already there were quite a number of good clubs. The committee desired a visit from the Queen's Park, to play one or at most two games, against representative teams from Denmark, or other countries participating in the carnival. The Organisation Committee offered a. guarantee of £100 for the expenses of the trip. The offer was accepted, and an effort made to get together a really representative eleven—a matter of some difficulty, as the season had just ended. The club decided to send thirteen players, only one of the regular team remaining at home. Messrs. A. Hamilton and H. Barnett were to accompany the team. The former acted as referee, and the latter, with Messrs. D. and W. Stewart, once each, as linesman. Mr. Charles Campbell received a courteous invitation to participate in the trip. A splendid reception was accorded the party, and they met with extremely hospitable treatment, and generally had a most enjoyable time. The two matches played were as under :—

Goals.
May 30, 1898.—Queen's Park versus Danish Baldspiel Union—won 7 — 0
June 1,1898.—Queen's Park versus Danish Baldspiel Union—won 3—0

The reception accorded the Queen's Park on this tour was most enthusiastic. A great dinner was given to all the athletes, from all nations who took part in the carnival, to the number of 900. When the prizes came to be presented, the members of the Queen's Park team individually were received with manifestations of delight, particularly R. S. M'Coll, the captain of the team. At another dinner next day,. "doon the water" at Skotsborg, Mr. Melchior, who proposed the "Scottish Football Team," said many kind things regarding the visitors. Mr. C. Campbell, in reply, spoke in his usual effective and fluent style, and the team on his call, in drinking the health of the Danish team, gave it with Highland honours, much to the astonishment and amusement of the Danes, who at first stared, then stopped applauding, and on the finish of the performance the team, rather than the toast, were accorded quite an ovation. The company laughed and chattered, and seemed to be immensely tickled with the whole show, especially the ladies, who were as anxious as the males to drink the health of the Scots.

In connection with this match, a curious incident occurred which impressed the Danes, and demonstrated to them what the real art of football meant when played by exponents who had developed passing to perfection. R. S. M'Coll commenced the game by kicking off. The ball passed forwards, backwards, and to the sides, from Queen's Park player to Queen's Park player, the Danes rushing here and there to intercept it, in vain. After several minutes a pass came to M'Coll, who without a Dane having touched the ball so far, sent it flying through the home goal, to the astonishment and admiration of the Danish players, who were so delighted at this clever exhibition that they freely congratulated their opponents on their skill. The Queen's Park has in its board room at Hampden a memento of this match in the shape of a plaster pig, which is preserved in a glass case, with a ribbon round its neck, in the Queen's Park colours. It is knowm as "Tam's Pig," and written on the porker's back are the dates and results of the matches played. A printed card relates, it is a memento of that tour, and gives the date of the visit to Copenhagen.

In 1899 a communication was received from Mr. L. Sylow, secretary of the Copenhagen Bold Klub, dated 20th April, regretting that the Queen's Park were unable to visit Copenhagen in the beginning of June unless under £100 guarantee, while he was in a position to offer only £50, and also owing to the fact that the Queen's Park would not play one of the matches on a Sunday. The Copenhagen club were building a new lawn tennis ground at a cost of £600, and consequently could not guarantee more than £50. As the Queen's Park had expended £150 on the previous trip, it was decided to let the matter drop for that season. In September and November, 1899, Mr. Sylow returned again to the subject in two letters, guaranteeing £100, two matches to be played on 21st and 24th May, 1900. Some difficulty was experienced in getting the First Eleven to undertake the trip, as all were not in a position to arrange their holidays to suit. Ultimately a party of fourteen departed on tour, the arrangements being left in the hands of the match committee. This trip was even more enjoyable than the first. Two games were played, which were so attractive to the Copenhagen public that the gates produced £100 and £250 respectively. The games played were :—

May 21.—Queen's Park versus Danish Football Union—won 6 — 1
May 24..—Queen's Park versus Danish Football Union— won 8 — 1

Evidently the visits of the Queen's Park to Copenhagen were greatly appreciated in that city, as in October, 1902, another invitation came from the secretary of the Copenhagen Bold Klub, to again favour the Danish capital with a visit, and play a series of matches there in the following spring, giving a guarantee this time of £150, but should the expenses be under that sum the balance was to be refunded to the Bold Klub. These terms were accepted. The matches were played on 1st, 3rd, and 5th June, and a party of sixteen participated in the excursion. The permission of the S.F.A. was asked, and obtained. The team had a very enjoyable time, and returned safely to their base, having been victorious in all.. David Mitchell (Rangers) acted as coach to the Danish club, and helped to give the visitors a good time.

In April, 1908, two letters were received from Mr. Buntzen on behalf of the Copenhagen Bold Klub, inviting Queen's Park to send a team to play three matches at Copenhagen between 13th and 20th May, 1908, for which they offered a guarantee of £120. The Queen's Park wished a guarantee of £150 for two matches, before accepting the invitation, again on the strict understanding no games were to be played on Sunday, and, as the Glasgow Charity Cup competition would probably be in progress on the dates named, the club could not give a definite undertaking in the meantime. However, it was found convenient to visit Copenhagen, and to play three matches between 15th and 20th May, with a guarantee of £140. The club endeavoured to arrange matters with the Glasgow Charity Committee, as to the dates on which these Lies would be played, to suit the convenience of the Queen's Park. The three matches played at Copenhagen resulted as under :-

May 15, 1908.—Danish Select - - - -. - draw 2 — 2
May 18, 1908.—Copenhagen Bold Klub (1893) - - won 9 — 0
May 19, 1908.—Danish Select - draw 1 — 1

On 30th May, 1908, Queen's Park and Celtic contested the final for the Glasgow Charity Cup at Hampden Park, Celtic winning.by 3-0.

In the commencement of 1912 the question of a Continental trip was considered, and here again the club was determined to play no football on Sunday, though it was pointed out that other Scottish clubs, while touring on the Continent, had made no scruple on that point. Matches were probable in Holland and Belgium, and it was agreed that should these be arranged the full team were prepared to undertake the journey. This was new ground, and the tour was looked forward to with pleasurable anticipations. Two games were played—the first at Rotterdam, 27th May, 1912, against Swallows, on the Sparta ground, the Queen's Park being defeated by 3-0, and the second, on the Leopold ground, Brussels, against the Racing Club, which was won by 3-1. The Hague and other towns in both Holland and Belgium were visited on a sight-seeing expedition, and the tour proved to be one of the happiest yet undertaken by the Queen's Park team. An invitation was received from the Copenhagen Bold Klub (1893) in January, 1913, to again visit Copenhagen in the beginning of June, but this invitation had to be declined.

The last Continental trip which the Queen's Park players had was again to Copenhagen, where, on the invitation of Mr. Buntzen, secretary of the Bold Klubben (1893), two matches were played on 29th May and 1st June, 1914. Mr. Eddie S. Garvie, one of the early victims of German atrocity, was the life and soul of the party, and while touring acted as musician-in-chief. The games played were :—

May 29, 1914.—Queen's Park versus Copenhagen Bold Klub (1913) -- lost 1 — 5
June 1, 1914.—Queen's Park versus Orgryte Idriots Bailshap (Gothenburg) - - won 2—0

At Copenhagen, 10,000 witnessed the game, a great many of whom were ladies. Football is supported in Denmark by the classes only. It has yet to touch the masses, as in Scotland and England. The Queen's Park team were: G. Kerr ; J. West and R. M. Young ; E. S. Garvie, J. Haydock, and J. Roberts; E. Cresswell, J. Walker, B. Cunningham, A. D. M'Laren, and R. Risk. It appears the Orgryte Athletic Club was started twenty-five years before, by an ex-Queen's Park member resident in Gothenberg, so that the introduction of the game into Sweden was inaugurated, practically by the Queen's Park.

Were the Queen's Park committee anticipating the war as far back as 1901 that in the August of that year they refused an application, dated 18th July, from a Mr. Bensemann, for the Queen's Park to play a German International team, at Hampden Park, on 30th September, guaranteeing them £60 for travelling and hotel expenses? The prospect did not please, and it was decided not to entertain the application. It would have been a sore thought to look back in the after years, and remember, that the classic slopes of Hampden had been desecrated by the foot of a Hun, in an encounter which might be, and probably was, a spying expedition. The vileness of the race was not then known, or even suspected. We are truly a confiding and simple nation. Mr. Bensemann, however, on the same date, wrote requesting the Queen's Park to play a series of matches on the Continent during the close season of 1902, with a guarantee of £250 or £300. This was looking too far ahead, and the consideration of the application was delayed in the meantime. However, Mr. Bensemann, in a letter dated 19th October, 1901, inquired whether the club had yet decided to send a team to the Continent in 1902. The secretary was. instructed to obtain full particulars as to the dates of the various matches, the nature and amount of the guarantee, the distance to be travelled, and the length of time likely to be occupied by the tour. It was to be clearly understood no matches would be played on. any account on Sundays. Mr. Bensemann visited Glasgow, and had an interview with the match committee. His programme consisted of four matches-two at Buda-Pesth, one in Prague, and one in Berlin—with a guarantee of £240 for the trip. After the club had consulted Messrs. Cook & Sons in regard to expenses, which it was found, with extras, would considerably exceed the sum quoted for a party of eighteen, the secretary was instructed to communicate with Mr. Bensemann, and get any further particulars possible. The additional information gathered was that the guarantee was not to be more than £230, so negotiations were off in the meantime, and were not resumed.

Another invitation was received, 30th June, 1904, from Mr. Hugo Bergwein, president of the German Athletic Association,, to tour in Austria and Hungary between 27th May and 4th June, 1905, for the purpose of playing six matches, and asking what guarantee would be required therefor. The excursion did not appeal to the committee, who were unanimous in declining the invitation. As a matter of fact, all the Continental trips undertaken by the Queen's Park were confined to Denmark, Holland, and Belgium. The Danes, after the war, invited Queen's Park to visit Copenhagen in 1920. As Germany and Austria were excluded from the International Football Federation at the instance of the British Associations, and as Denmark, doubtless for political reasons, was not prepared to abstain from playing clubs from the enemy countries, Queen's Park had no option but refuse the invitation, in loyalty to its own Association.