If you're visiting the Scottish Highlands, one thing you will find in abundance in this part of the world is beautiful and interesting castles. Whether they are castles ruins or stately homes that are still inhabited, there are so many incredible castles around the Scottish Highlands and Islands.
Last weekend, we attended our first Christmas market of the year at Blair Castle in Blair Atholl. This beautiful white castle sits amongst some of the most beautiful autumnal Perthshire countryside. We've attended a couple of Christmas markets in this part of the world over the years, but never managed to have an oppurtunity to explore the castle for ourselves. A slightly quieter moment in our Sunday morning gave me an oppurtunity to explore the beautiful rooms of the castle for myself on their last opening day of the 2024.
As a gal who loves a bit of history, I love exploring an old building around Scotland. Learning more about Scottish history and its people throughout the centuries has been one of the ways I've fallen more and more in love with my home country over the years.
Blair Castle was an amazing place to learn more about the history of one family, the Atholl family, but also a way to learn about the history of Scotland throughout the generations. Learning about the history of this castle and the way the family's story intersects with famous parts of Scottish history, such as through the Jacobite uprisings and through Queen Victoria's love for Scotland, was so interesting for me and really highlighted just how vast and varied Scottish history is.
For me, the most impressive room in the castle was the Dining Room. I love the intricate pasterwork details on the ceiling, as well as the beautiful views outside the windows of the surrounding Perthshire countryside. It was a truly beautiful room that genuinely made me go "wow" as soon as I walked in (thankfully I don't think anyone else heard me!)
Two of the more interesting discoveries I made during my visit were about people and events from the castle's more recent past. In 2022, a discovery of old bottles of whisky were made in the castle cellars. It turned out these bottles of whisky were distilled in 1833, making them the oldest bottles of Scotch whiksy in existence. Learning about this discovery and the whiksy industry was really fascinating and something I didn't know a lot about. You can ever see some of the bottles on display in the Whisky Study.
Another aspect of history of Blair Castle I didn't know anything about was the story of Duchess Kitty. The wife of the 8th Duke of Atholl, Duchess Kitty was the first female Scottish Member of Parliament. I didn't know anything about this history before visiting Blair Castle, so it was really interesting to read more about her life and her work throughout the years. In the Ballroom (the room our stall at the Christmas market was) we were facing a beautiful portrait of Duchess Kitty, so it was so interesting to read more about her very interesting life in the exhibition.
If you are planning on visiting a castle on your next trip to Scotland, why not make a wee detour off the A9 and plan a visit of Blair Castle and Gardens? It's such an interesting castle with a facinating history, as well as having beautiful grounds to explore and events which happen throughout the year.
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