Active 1839 – Present Type Infantry Size One company | Country Scotland Role Personal bodyguard Part of Private army | |
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The Atholl Highlanders is a Scottish ceremonial infantry regiment. The regiment is not part of the British Army but is in the private employ of the Duke of Atholl, and based in Blair Atholl, where it serves as a tourist attraction. Although it has no military role, and is made up of around 80 friends and estate workers, it has been called the United Kingdom's, or Europe's, only "private army" recognized by the law.
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First raising
The regiment was raised in Perthshire by John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl as the 77th Regiment of Foot (or Atholl Highlanders, or Murray's Highlanders) in December 1777. The regiment was formed as a relief for other regiments serving in North America, and spent most of its existence in Ireland. The terms upon which the regiment was raised stated that the men were to be employed for either three years or the duration of the war in America. In 1781, the original three-year term ended, and the men expected the regiment to be disbanded. However, the regiment was transported to England and marched to Portsmouth to be embarked for service in India. Upon learning of this, the men mutinied, and the embarkation orders were countermanded. The regiment was marched to Berwick, where it disbanded in 1783.
Second raising
More than 50 years later, in 1839, George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl, as Lord Glenlyon, resurrected the regiment as a bodyguard which he took to the Eglinton Tournament at Eglinton Castle, Ayrshire. Three years later, in 1842, the regiment escorted Queen Victoria during her tour of Perthshire and, in 1844, when the Queen stayed as a guest of the Duke at Blair Castle, the regiment mounted the guard for the entire duration of her stay. In recognition of the service that the regiment provided during her two visits, the Queen announced that she would present the Atholl Highlanders with colours, thus giving the regiment official status. The regiment's first stand of colours was presented by Lady Glenlyon on behalf of the Queen in 1845. It received new colours in 1979 from Mrs David Butter, the wife of the Lord Lieutenant of Perth and Kinross. A third stand of colours was presented in 2006 by the Duchess of Atholl.
Under the John Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl, the regiment regularly provided guards for royal visitors to Blair Castle (which was a convenient stopping point on the journey to Balmoral). The regiment also attended the Braemar Gathering, while an annual gathering was held in the first week in September in which the regiment paraded, then participated in various trials of strength and stamina. Following the First World War, parades of the regiment became fewer, although it did provide guards when the Crown Prince of Japan and King Faisal of Iraq visited Blair Castle in 1921 and 1933 respectively. After 1933, there was little activity, and it seemed the regiment would disappear into obscurity until, in 1966, it was reformed by the Iain Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl, who made the decision to revive the regiment's annual parade.
It was feared that the regiment would be disbanded following the 10th Duke's death in 1996, until his successor, John Murray, 11th Duke of Atholl, wrote to the estate trustees insisting that he would continue his traditional role. The 11th duke, although resident in South Africa, visited Blair Atholl almost every year to inspect the regiment's annual parade until his death. In 2006 it was decided to increase the strength of the regiment and twelve new members were admitted: all of them were required to achieve a reasonable standard of foot and arms drill. During the Year of Homecoming in 2009, when all of Scotland's clans took part in a parade in Edinburgh, the regiment paraded in the Scottish capital for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Bruce Murray, 12th Duke of Atholl inspected the regiment's annual parade in July 2013.
Ranks
Known ranks in the regiment: