Updated 16.1.17 1

Here is the latest list of what Clans are marching on what days for The Touch of Tartan.

There will be a series of Clan Parades that will take place each night of the Tattoo. This will be a major event within the Clan-themed events that will be happening throughout this year, backed by the Scottish Clan Event Fund.

There are 25 performances of the Edinburgh Tattoo. Tickets have been put aside for the clans to buy for each performance to make sure that as many tartan-clad clansmen, women and children attend as possible.  Each Clan has seats allocated at the Tattoo.

For more information please contact  info@clanchiefs.org.uk

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The Atholl Highlanders are Europe’s only legally recognised private army, although merely a ceremonial regiment and not officially part of the British Army they were awarded colours.

Atholl Highlanders at the 2009 Gathering

The Regiment evolved from the 77th Regiment of the Foot who were raised by the 4th Duke of Atholl in 1777 (not to be confused with an earlier 77th – Mongomeries Highlanders or a later one – the Middlesex Regiment) . This date will be familiar to any scholars of American history since this was a time when the Brits were quite busy attempting to deal with those pesky colonial types on that side of the Atlantic. They were also about to have their already full hands made even fuller by the French and Spanish jumping in too.

Enter the 77th! (sort of)

Unfortunately the regiment didn’t quite make it to the heart of the fighting. Formed as a relief regiment they spent most of their time over in Ireland waiting to be called into the fray. Under the conditions on which the men signed up they were supposed to serve for either three years or the duration of the war with America. In 1781 at the end of their term of service the men were all expecting to return home, however they were transported to England and marched down to Portsmouth ready to embark on a long sea voyage to the West Indies. This was too much for the men of the 77th who promptly mutinied and refused to go. Exasperated their commanders marched them back to Berwick and the regiment was disbanded in 1783, thus ended the less than glorious history of the 77th.

And that would have been the end of it had it not been for, of all people, the Earl of Eglington. In 1839 the Earl had been rather miffed that the year before Queen Victoria’s coronation had been a rather drab affair by normal standards and the traditional banquet had been cancelled after George IV’s coronation nosh up ended in most of the silverware going missing afterwards.

The Earl decided to put on a tournament at Elgington house in Ayrshire. This being the height of the Gothic revival the while thing was to include a medieval jousting competition. Alas this early forerunner of ‘The Gathering’ ran into several problems including the weather and the events own popularity which ended up with most of Ayrshire gridlocked.

Nevertheless one of the ideas planned for the tournament was for a ceremonial guard, The 6th Duke of Atholl, also Lord Glenlyon offered to supply this and the regiment was reborn as the Atholl Highlander’s. As a purely ceremonial guard the  regiment performed several duties such as escorting Queen Victoria during her tour of Perthshire in 1844 and while a guest at Blair Castle.

In recognition of the service performed by the Highlanders, All local volunteers raised from around the estate the Queen agreed to award them with colours and this was presented by Lady Glenlyon.

The only private army in Europe have withstood the times and indeed are still there albeit 100 strong when many other famous Scottish Regiments have long since disappeared. Many of those who have volunteered with the regiment have seen active service elsewhere, for instance serving with other regiments during both world wars.

So if you ever get into a standup fight with the Duke of Atholl and feel tempted to utter the phrase ‘oh yeah, you and whose army?’ you might want to rethink that strategy.

The post You and Whose Army? The Story of the Atholl Highlanders appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

The Castle, which has been the home of the Murray clan since 1606, sealed by the marriage of Sir John Murray of Tullibardine to Dorothea Stewart, heiress to the Earls of Atholl, and has been the seat of the ancient name for over 400 years.

The current Duke of Atholl, Bruce Murray, is Chief of the Murray clan and still retains the unique honour of being head of Europe’s only legal private army, the Atholl Highlanders.

Kate Hannah, marketing manager for Blair Castle, commented: “We really wanted to mark Scotland’s Year of Homecoming in a novel and unique way, and what better way to do it than invite members of the clan, from all over the world, to visit their family seat. We want them to feel welcome when they visit so, as long as they have photographic identification that they are a Murray, then we’ll be happy to show them round their ancestral home.”

Murray is one of the top 100 most common surnames in the UK, currently ranking 68th, and ranks 123rd most common surname in the USA, as well as 53rd most common surname in Australia.

Murrays visiting the castle will be asked to show photographic identification that their surname is Murray before gaining access and, while the invitation is currently only being extended throughout April, if it proves popular the Castle may extend it for the rest of the season.

Kate commented: “Perhaps the most famous Murray in the world at the moment is Andy Murray, and we’d be delighted if he took us up on our offer. But we know there are many thousands of Murrays from all over the world who will be interested in the history of their clan name and where better to find out about it, than at its home.”

Blair Castle is one of Scotland’s most popular tourist destinations, with 700 years of history spanning 30 rooms, and has played a role in many major figures’ lives including Mary Queen of Scots, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Queen Victoria.

This year the Castle has also revealed a new Family at War exhibition which displays various artefacts and information about the individual family members during the war, including personal letters, photos and documents.

Visitors to Blair Castle will be able to view the exhibition as part of their Castle Tour. Murrays can, of course, visit free of charge.

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Blaze at Blair Castle

Atholl Estates, which runs the castle, said that the actions of firefighters preveneted the blaze from having catastrophic consequences.

A statement released on Friday noted: “The swift action of the emergency services to a fire at Blair Castle averted a near catastrophe last night.

“Flames were spotted rising from the clock tower at the south end of the castle at around 8.45pm where a chimney fire had broken out above the castle’s wood chip boiler.

“Thankfully the castle was empty at the time and the few residents were quickly evacuated.

“Fears that the fire would spread to the rest of the castle failed to materialise and fire fighters had fully extinguished the blaze by 10pm.”

The interior of the clock tower was gutted in the blaze, while the roof also collapsed.

Power supply to the main castle offices was also cut off during the fire, however management are in discussions with insurers and emergency services to get this damage repaired as quickly as possible.

Six fire engines and an aerial platform battled the the flames.

Around 50 firefighters tackled the fire using breathing apparatus, while the roof of the clocktower fell into the building during the incident.

Atholl Estates also confirmed on Friday that the castle would be open from 9.30am to 2.30pm on Saturday.

Andrew Bruce Wootton, general manager of Atholl Estates that runs the castle, said: “The roof of the clocktower was substantially on fire, flames were rising quite high with sparks flying everywhere because of the strong winds.

“The area where the fire started is a contained part of the building and it did not spread any further. No one was injured and nothing of historical significance was damaged.”

The clock tower was built at the castle in the 19th century after a blaze ripped through the structure.

Rab Middlemiss, group manager of Tayside Fire and Rescue, said: “Our fire crews stopped the fire from spreading into the residential wings adjacent to the clocktower.

“Everybody got out of the building fine and after we extinguished the fire our crews went into the clocktower to assess the damage.

“We will now be carrying out a full investigation into the cause of the fire, but it does not appear to be suspicious.”

Blair Castle

Blair Castle is the ancient seat of the Dukes and Earls of Atholl and its history dates back around 740 years.

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