Blair Castle

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atholl, blair athol, blair castle, bonnie dundee, murray, pitlochry

Blair Castle is the seat of the Murrays of Atholl. More than any castle or country home I’ve been to so far, the decor is all about hunting which is understandable when you consider the beautiful grounds it sits on.

Its hard to paint a full picture, but visiting the castle was a highlight of our visit to Pitlochry. One of the first things you notice is the wild man of Atholl. He is absolutely everywhere.

He is part of the Murray family crest, and is usually holding a key and an axe with both his arms raised. According to the legend, the wild man of Atholl was supposed to be a great hunter from the area who was sent after a marauding MacDonald who was stealing cattle and terrorizing the countryside. He brought his quarry back in chains.

The groundfloor hallway is lined from end to end with stag antlers and the grand ballroom is filled with taxidermy. The Murray family have also collected paintings, furniture, and tapestries with a definite hunting theme. The drawing room was filled with stuffed birds and small animals wearing hats.

One of my favourite paintings from the trip – John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl

I couldn’t place where I’d seen it before, but it probably would have been at the National Gallery of Scotland by Princes Street Gardens. Apparently, this was a controversial portrait at the time because the Duke was wearing a kilt at a time when wearing tartan was banned (because of its association with the Jacobite uprising).

You can see the castle in the background, but I like the sleeping dog in the foreground – he looks like he has had a full day helping the master with the hunt.

Blair castle has gone through several transformations over the years, and is still a residence even today. The earliest part of the castle dates back to the 13th century, but it went substantial renovations during the Georgian and Victorian periods.

We walked through each of the rooms, and saw some interesting artifacts including the armor worn by Bonnie Dundee when he died at Killecrankie and a chair made almost entirely from deer antlers on the central staircase. The house and furniture is all very luxurious, and you can imagine that each item has a lot of history.

Outside we explored the woods and made our way over to the old Kirk and Hercules Garden where we could look back for some impressive views of Blair Castle. The surrounding trails on the estate provide some more idyllic views, but since this was a short visit we made our way back to Blair Athol and then Pitlochry.

Visiting Pitlochry

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blair atholl, blair castle, bonnie dundee, jacobites, killecrankie, perth, perthshire, pitlochry, scotland

This past weekend, we took an overnight trip to Pitlochry in Perthshire for a little exploration and adventure.

I’d heard good things about it but was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more to do. The village is very tiny – you can walk from one end to the other in a matter of minutes. The buildings are beautiful and the whole place is filled with hotels and very picturesque. We even had dinner and drinks at the Old Mill Inn. We ended up going for a walk on Saturday and enjoying a little of the countryside. There are some pretty fantastic views within a short walk.

Getting up in the morning, we passed a group of two dozen cyclists – there was literature at the hostel highlighting some of the cycling trails nearby and bike shops in town. We hadn’t made plans to go cycling, so ended up catching a bus to the nearby Blair Castle and Gardens.

I think I’ll do a later post about the castle because it was pretty packed full of history.

After finishing there, we took a walk around the grounds. It was a little strange actually because a lot of North American trees were planted including some big Douglas Firs and California Redwoods. It almost felt like I was walking through a forest  back home.

On the edges of the grounds was the old kirk, resting place of Bonnie Dundee, the Jacobite general immortalized by Sir Walter Scott in the famous folk song.

Bonnie Dundee by the Corries

Bonnie Dundee, aka the Bluidy Clavers, actual name was John Graham 7th Laird of Claverhouse, was a professional soldier, close friend of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and military leader of the Jacobite army. He died at the Battle of Killecrankie which was fought nearby. It was an important victory for the Jacobites, but also a costly one.

Without their leader, Killecrankie was followed up by a major defeat nearby at Dunkeld.

From Blair Castle, we walked backed to Blair Atholl, and then went on to the Killecrankie visitor centre for lunch before starting a hike back to Pitlochry. There was lots of information about the battle including a few interesting sights along the way. Like the name suggests, Soldier’s Leap is the place from where a retreating government soldier leaped from the rocks into the river below to escape pursuing Jacobites.

The railway viaduct was really impressive, and we passed a high bridge with a bungee jumping platform. Its weird because its something I’ve wanted to do for a while but have really got around to.

Lots of people were taking advantage of the outdoors. People were fishing, biking, walking their dogs, and it was a good six mile walk from the visitor centre to Pitlochry. Luckily we had some decent weather to do it in.

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