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[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,