If ever there was a country that lends itself well to outdoor pursuits, Scotland is it.
Old hunting lodges dotted throughout the landscape (many of which have been converted into luxury hotels) tell of a centuries-old love of country sports. For a long time, these pursuits were the preserve of the upper echelons of society and activities were confined to royal forests – the Stuarts were renowned for their love of hawking, salmon fishing, game shooting and deer stalking, with Falkland Palace being their main playground.
That most famous of Stuarts, Mary, Queen of Scots, was even known to have joined (and enjoyed) royal hunting parties as far afield as the Atholl Estates, in Perthshire.
In the Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine Families, William Barclay, a member of the Queen’s entourage, gives an account of how the Earl of Atholl had “with much trouble and vast expense, a hunting match for the entertainment of our most gracious Queen.”
Barclay goes on to describe a dangerous scene that brought together as many as 2000 red deer that
