WITH POMP and ceremony, Europe’s only private army massed in Highland Perthshire at the weekend to the skirl of pipes and the beat of drums.

The hundreds of onlookers who attended the annual inspection by the Duke of Atholl of the Atholl Highlanders at Blair Castle were treated to a rare ceremony.

For only the fourth occasion since 1845, new colours were presented to the regiment, replacing the set which have been used since 1979.

The original regimental colours were granted to the Atholl Highlanders by Queen Victoria in September 1845, along with the right to bear arms, and hang in Blair Castle.

The second set of colours was presented to the regiment by the 7th duke in 1887 and the third by the 10th duke in 1979.

Saturday’s rain-soaked parade, under the command of the regimental sergeant major, also included inspection by the Duke of Atholl.

The spectacle is the traditional opening of the Atholl Gathering and Games, which took place yesterday.

John Murray is the 11th Duke of Atholl. Although he still lives in South Africa, the duke has visited Blair Castle regularly since he succeeded to the title in 1996.

The Highlanders were privately raised in 1777 as the 77th regiment to fight in the American war of independence, before being disbanded six years later.

In 1839, Lord Glenlyon, later 6th Duke of Atholl, took a bodyguard of men to the Eglinton tournament—a recreation of a medieval joust in Ayrshire—and the same men came together three years later to act as a guard of honour to Queen Victoria during stays in Dunkeld and Blair Castle.

In recognition of their services, she granted the Atholl Highlanders the right to carry the Queen’s colours and thus bear arms

The Highlanders were revived again in 1966 by the 10th Duke of Atholl after going into abeyance from the time of the first world war and the tradition of men close to the area entering the regiment has survived to the present day.

Yesterday’s event marked the 40th anniversary of the revival of the regiment.

At each parade, the duke presents a sprig of juniper—the clan badge of the Murrays—to recruits.

Blair Castle has been the ancient home and fortress of the earls and dukes of Atholl for over 725 years.

It is reputed to be the last castle in Britain to have been besieged. The forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie and those of the government both laid siege at different times during the Jacobite rising of 1745-46.