This vast
baronial mansion has 32 rooms open to the public, ranging from tiny turrets to the large
dining room and ballroom. Every one is packed with the Murray family’s collection of
treasures and lesser artefacts built up over many centuries. These include things as
diverse as Jacobite relics to a Norwegian sleigh.
The Cumming family built the
first castle in 1269 and part of this still survives. In 1457 James II granted Blair to
Sir John Stewart of Balvenie. It passed to the Murrays in 1629. The castle was extended in
1503, but in 1768 it was partially demolished and rebuilt as a Georgian mansion, known as
Atholl House. However, in 1869 David Bryce remodelled the castle in its current
neo-baronial manner and copied the entrance tower from Fyvie Castle. The white-painted
towers and turrets are visible from miles around.
Cromwell’s men attacked
the castle in 1633. In 1746 Blair was attacked by General Lord George Murray to remove the
Hanoverians, the last British castle to suffer a siege. The Duke of Atholl is the only
person in Britain to retain a private army, the Atholl Highlanders, who parade on certain
days throughout the year. |
