The most besieged castle in Scotland
Blair Castle in Perthshire has the distinction of being the most besieged castle in Scotland and the last castle in the British Isles to be besieged. During the first Jacobite rising in 1689, forces loyal to Viscount Dundee (fighting for the exiled King James VII) besieged the castle, which was held by Government forces.
The castle sits at a strategic point on the main route between Perth and Inverness, controlling the Pass of Killiecrankie and access to the central Highlands. Whoever held Blair Castle controlled the road north. This made it a target in virtually every Scottish conflict from the medieval period onward.
Blair Castle was besieged again in 1746 during the final Jacobite rising. Lord George Murray, the Jacobite general, besieged his own family home — Blair was the seat of the Dukes of Atholl, and different branches of the family were on opposite sides. It was the last siege of a castle anywhere in the British Isles. The Jacobites used some of the first explosive shells seen in Scotland, fired from mortars at the castle walls.
Today Blair Castle is one of the most visited castles in Scotland. It is the ancestral seat of the Clan Murray and home to Europe's last remaining private army — the Atholl Highlanders, a ceremonial regiment maintained by the Duke of Atholl. The castle houses an outstanding collection of arms, portraits, and furniture. The grounds include the Hercules Garden, a restored Georgian walled garden that is one of the finest in Scotland. Blair Castle is a popular stop on tours from Edinburgh to Inverness.