A Day in Blair Atholl

July 10, 2025

We were holed up in Blair Atholl for two nights so that (1)we could visit Blair Castle and, (2) get our laundry done.

As to the later, the owner of the Firs had agreed in advance to do our laundry and he did so the previour night.

The proprietors dried our laundry outside and they used this gadget to manage multiple pieces. A new one for us.

This morning we had a pleasant breakfast in the sunroom of the Firs and then headed out on our bikes to Blair Castle. Blair Castle is around 750 years old, and is the ancestral seat of the Murray clan and the Earls and Dukes of Atholl. It lies in a strategic location at the road to the Scottish Highlands. John I of Comyn started construction in 1269 but the land and castle went to a number of different nobles until 1629 when John Murray was given the title Earl of Atholl and the castle has been in the Murray family ever since.

It was opened to the public in 1936 and was well-curated with a good audio guide and written information in each room. It did a good job of tying historical events through the ages with the fortunes of the owners of the Castle.

During the 17th Century the Duke of Atholl supported the Royalist cause and Oliver Cromwell’s army took it over. It was returned to the Murray clan after the Monarchy was restored.

During the Jacobite Rebellion the then Duke of Atholl was on the side of the Crown (England) but his two sons were Jacobite supporters, so you can imagine how fun family dinners must have been (But hey, that sounds like today’s current political climate). Blair Castle was attacked and held numerous times by the Jacobites throughout the long and ultimately unsuccessful campaign by the Jacobites to restore the Stuart dynasty to the English throne. The Castle was then used as a hospital during the First World War.

In more recent times, Katherine Murray, the Duchess of Atholl, was the first female Scottish MP in 1923. She supported a lot of social service causes (such as national medical care). She was vilified when she raised concerns about Hitler’s rise in Germany and got the nickname “Red Kate” for supporting the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War (1937 to 1939). She resigned over Chamberlain's signing of the Munich Agreement in 1937 that conceded a portion of Czech territory to the Nazi government.

The current (and 12th) Duke lives in South Africa where he was born and raised and only comes back once a year to inspect the Atholl HIghlanders regiment during its annual parade. The Atholl HIghlanders are the only legal private army in Britain, given that authority by Queen Victoria in 1848 after she stayed at Blair Castle. The regiment is ceremonial only with members being selected for their ties to the estate and area.

We got to listen to a bagpaper at the beginning of the tour - that was fun but a little piping goes a long way.

Our piper in relation to the size of the castle.

There were large gardens - which we didnt’ explore - but there was also a large deer reserve. We had heard rumors of highland coos but didn’t see any.

I am pretty selective about how much sight seeing we do on these trips - but this was a very good castle as castles go.

The entryway with its impressive array of armaments.

The grand ballroom whose paintings celebrated the Athol Highlanders.

We had lunch in the cafe and then spent the afternoon watching the women's semi finals at Wimbledon: one great match (Anisomova defeated Sabalenka) and one bust (Swiatek defeated Bencic).

We had an amusing and pleasantly bad dinner at the pub at the Atholl Arms, which is the local nice hotel. Actually the food was fine but the service was bad. Fortunately we rolled with it and just laughed. The funny thing was that Lindsay, our Firs host, suggested we go into Pitlochry on the bus and have Indian food and he offered to drive us home. We declined - Pitlochry was 12 k away and we just didn’t care enough to do the extra work getting there and back. We wondered afterwards if the Atholl arms had a bad reputation….Whatever.

Tomorrow we are on the road again.

Today's ride: 8 km (5 miles)
Total: 2,543 km (1,579 miles)

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