Blair Castle and Atholl Highlanders

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Blair Atholl is said to be one of the most beautiful castles in Scotland; its white colour contrasts with a landscape of green mountains, and sometimes, its splendor is darkened by the ever changing Scottish climate.
The castle is situated in the Atholl Village in Perthshire.

The family and the castle history

The Atholl family set up in Strath Garry for more than 7 centuries; the place was dangerous but also strategic, because whoever became its owner, he would have the access control to the Grampian Mountains and the route North of Inverness.
The castle was used to defend this path.

Its construction dates back to 1269 when the Earl returned from the Crusades, he found a neighbour, Mr. John Cumming of Badenoch occupying his land. John had started to build a tower which, still today, carries his name “The Cumming’s Tower”;
This tower is the highest part of the castle.

The history of Blair Atholl is linked to 19 generations of Stewarts and Murrays of Atholl, who helped each other during war and peace times. Both left their mark in the castle.

In 1457 King James II of Scotland gives the Earldom of Atholl to Sir John Stewart of Balvenie who was his half brother.

The 3^rd Earl was responsible for the Great Hall and his son the 4^th Earl welcomed Mary, Queen of Scots there in 1564, the royal entertainment of the time was to hunt in Glen Tilt.

In 1595, the 5^th Earl dies with no children, and therefore, it was not known for a while who would inherit the property; finally, this was resolved in 1629 when it was passed to his relative Mr. John Murray of Tullibardine who became 1^st Duke and the title has remained in the Murray family since then.


The Dukedom

After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, nobody ignored what was happening in England. During the Civil War, the 1^st and 2^nd Earls were on the king’s side. Blair became the first target to be conquered by Oliver Cromwell’s forces.
The castle was taken in 1652 until Charles II regained the Throne in 1660. For his loyalty to the crown, the 2^nd Earl was appointed Marques in 1676.

During the Jacobite Risings in 1715 and 1745 the 1^st Duke and his second son
were on the government’s side, but the eldest William and the youngest George backed the Stewart’s cause. When their father died, James became Duke and his brothers William and George went to exile in France.

In 1745 William came back from France with Bonnie Prince Charlie and lifted the Stewart’s family emblem in Glenfinnan and both of them stayed at Blair Castle.
His brother James, who was living there, left for a while because he didn’t want to have anything to do with that visit. Later, the government forces besieged the castle again.

At the beginning of 1746 the third son, Lord George Murray came back from the Jacobite Campaign in England and when he wanted to besiege his own home, he was called to enroll for the Battle of Culloden. He survived, but died in exile in Holland.
His brother William died in prison in the Tower of London.
His brother James inherited the Isle of Man from his grandmother and with the income he got from it, he started remodelling the castle to the Georgian Style.

James had no sons, therefore, he married his cousin Charlotte so that the property would be in the family and he became the 3^rd Duke in 1764.
James sold the Isle of Man to the government and he and his son got about £417,000.
The 5^th Duke was very ill and his nephew Lord Glenlyon, who later became the 6^th Duke welcomed Queen Victoria to the family residence in Dunkeld in 1842.

Two years later, Lord Glenlyon lent Blair Castle to Queen Victoria so that she could spend three weeks’ holiday there.
In appreciation for the vigilance of the guard of Athollmen who attended her, she granted the Duke and his men her colours and therefore, the right to bear arms. Thus, the Atholl Highlanders became the Duke’s private army.
Victoria’s love of the Highlands helped the spread of the railway, and in 1863 the line passed through Atholl to Inverness, and this gave the Duke an unexpected profit of £33,000.
Thanks to the railway, in 1870, the Duke hired David Bryce, an architect from Edinburgh, to remodel the castle from a Georgian to a Victorian Style as we know it today.
Bryce built a new entrance hall, the front door and the ballroom. Baths, telephones, gas and electricity were installed. The original kitchen was three floors below the dinning-room.

In 1932, the economic effects of the war forced the Duke to turn the castle into a trust and four years later the castle opened its doors to the public.
During the World War II, it became a home to a prep school and Glasgow evacuates.

The 8^th and 9^th Dukes didn’t have any children.

In 1957 the title was passed to Iain Murray, he and his mother turned the castle into the tourist attraction it is today.

In 1996 the 10^th Duke died without children and the property was passed to his cousin living in South Africa. The 11^th Duke died some years ago and today the castle is run by his half-sister, Sarah Troughton.: By Monica Loreto who visited Blair Atholl in July 2001