Are You Ready to Enlist?

[creagdhubh]

The Atholl Highlanders are looking for a few good men...

http://www.perthshireadvertiser.co.u...ngX6mc.twitter

I have had the privilege of seeing Europe's last remaining private army at the Atholl Gathering at Blair Castle in Perthshire. Truly a sight to behold. I'd absolutely love to wear the uniform, but you can only become an Atholl Highlander by invitation and I'm sure being a native born Scot is a requirement as well. The Atholl Highlanders are a rather exclusive and elite (bodyguard) unit with a rich history. They're a purely ceremonial regiment today.





















Kind regards,

[Richrail]

Wonderful pictures, love the colors.

[creagdhubh]

Wonderful pictures, love the colors.

They're far better in person.

[Nathan]

It is a lovely uniform but given Atholl's gleeful participation in the Highland Clearances as some of the largest landowners in Scotland, I wouldn't be so quick to covet that uniform. He's rich enough to hold a private army because of the profit of Cheviot sheep.

We all know the cultural price Gaelic civilzation has paid to enrich the holders of land and peerage.

I love castles and kilts but try to keep a historical perspective on how that money was raised and the cost paid by the common Gael.

[creagdhubh]

It is a lovely uniform but given Atholl's gleeful participation in the Highland Clearances as some of the largest landowners in Scotland, I wouldn't be so quick to covet that uniform. He's rich enough to hold a private army because of the profit of Cheviot sheep.

We all know the cultural price Gaelic civilzation has paid to enrich the holders of land and peerage.

I love castles and kilts but try to keep a historical perspective on how that money was raised and the cost paid by the common Gael.

Right you are, Nathan. The Duke of Atholl was the first to clear a portion of his land (Atholl Estate, which during the 19th-century was estimated at around 190,000 acres, now it's approximately 120,000 acres) in order to make way for Cheviot sheep. The clearances at Glen Tilt, in Blair Atholl, were the first recorded evidence of the clearances in Scotland. So, I'm well aware of the historical perspective in regards to the Duke of Atholl and the Highland Clearances, but I can still like the sartorial aspects of the uniform of the Atholl Highlanders, as well as the purely ceremonial duties the regiment performs today, without disregarding or dismissing its historical perspective. I understand the Highland Clearances was calamitous and utterly tragic time for the countless people affected, to include some of my own Highland ancestors (maternal line), who emigrated from Perthshire to America as a direct result from being forcibly removed.

Kind regards,

[Nile]

Wonderful pictures Kyle; thank you for sharing them.

I'm well aware of the historical perspective in regards to the Duke of Atholl and the Highland Clearances, but I can still like the sartorial aspects of the uniform of the Atholl Highlanders,

There are leaders and there are followers (and then, of course, there is the rabble), and most soldiers faithfully, do what they're told (US Air Force for me). Aside from history and the whims and directives of their leaders, the Atholl Highlanders serve their cause as much as any 'soldier' and they look pretty good doing it.

Nile

[creagdhubh]

Wonderful pictures Kyle; thank you for sharing them.


There are leaders and there are followers (and then, of course, there is the rabble), and most soldiers faithfully, do what they're told (US Air Force for me). Aside from history and the whims and directives of their leaders, the Atholl Highlanders serve their cause as much as any 'soldier' and they look pretty good doing it.

Nile

Cheers, Nile. My Grandfather (Lewis Harvey Macpherson) was in the US Air Force during the Korean War, and I served in the US Marine Corps during Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. Thank you for your service!

[Jack Daw]

I spoke with a few of them at the castle. They were willing to sell me some of their surplus kit, but it was all too small, unfortunately.

[Nathan]

The broader issue here is a conundrum to me and it is not one that I have totally resolved. In the clan system there was a contract between the Chieftain and his clansmen and clanswomen. The Chief was to provide land and look out for the welfare of the clan in exchange for their fealty and blood in protection of his interests. During the Clearances the lairds, especially Atholl, relinquished this duty of care and cast their families aside in favour of material wealth. I'm not saying that every descendant of a chief needs to hang his head in shame but I am saying this:

Many of these families are still huge land holders and benefiting from these ill-gotten gains.

But leaving that aside, I just find it difficult sometimes that we proudly wear the crests of people who didn't and don't care about us and our bonnets and yet this cheap tartanry is all that remains as a connection to our culture and our past for many of us.

I can't lament this issues in Gaelic and have my fellow clansmen understand. And yet, while all this remains true, I do enjoy having a way to be visually and obviously Highland since due to assimilation many sons and daughters of the Highlands are indistinguishable in many respects from the descendants of our oppressors.

I still wear the kilt and the tartan and the crest of my chief, but the Atholls can only afford to own a private army due to these ill gotten gains and so while I certainly forgive, I'm hesitant to clap and want to suit up in those clothes. They are a bitter reminder that the common man didn't count for much.

But alas, "those days are past now, and in the past, they must remain"

[Wil]

I just have one question and hopefully it can get answered. Why are the plaids different from the kilt tartans?