Qualla: Siege of Blair Castle https://qualla.com/siege-of-blair-castle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:24 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/j/6/siege-of-blair-castle-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Siege of Blair Castle https://qualla.com/siege-of-blair-castle Siege of Blair Castle: Introduction https://qualla.com/siege-of-blair-castle/ Photo credit Eusebius, CC BY 3.0. The Duke of Atholl owned Blair Castle. His brother Lord George Murray was besieging it. The garrison commander, a Lowland baronet from Galloway named Andrew Agnew, refused to surrender. The messenger sent for help was shot off his horse and had to continue on foot. The relieving cavalry arrived one day after the besiegers withdrew. In March 1746, the last castle siege in Britain played out in the Perthshire Highlands with all the tangled loyalties and near-misses of a conflict that was tearing Scotland in half.

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/j/6/siege-of-blair-castle-wp/gfj6-siege-of-blair-castle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Siege of Blair Castle: A Family Divided https://qualla.com/siege-of-blair-castle/ Photo credit Eusebius, CC BY 3.0. The siege of Blair Castle was a peculiarly Scottish affair, shaped by the fault lines that ran through individual families as much as through the nation. Blair Castle was the ancestral seat of James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl, who supported the British government of George II. Bu...

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/j/6/siege-of-blair-castle-wp/gfj6-siege-of-blair-castle-a-family-divided.mp3 0:06 2 full Siege of Blair Castle: Surrounded and Starving https://qualla.com/siege-of-blair-castle/ Photo credit Eusebius, CC BY 3.0. On the morning of 17 March, Lord George Murray struck. Every outpost surrounding the castle was taken by surprise. Government soldiers stationed outside the walls were captured and made prisoners, reducing Agnew's garrison to roughly 270 men. The Jacobites, under Murray and Ewen ...

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/j/6/siege-of-blair-castle-wp/gfj6-siege-of-blair-castle-surrounded-and-starving.mp3 0:06 3 full Siege of Blair Castle: A Messenger on Foot https://qualla.com/siege-of-blair-castle/ Photo credit Eusebius, CC BY 3.0. On 19 March, Agnew gambled. He sent a mounted messenger to reach the Earl of Crawford, who was supposed to be commanding cavalry and Hessian troops somewhere in the Perth or Dunkeld area. The gamble appeared to fail immediately -- a short time later, a Jacobite was spotted riding...

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/j/6/siege-of-blair-castle-wp/gfj6-siege-of-blair-castle-a-messenger-on-foot.mp3 0:06 4 full Siege of Blair Castle: Relief and Reckoning https://qualla.com/siege-of-blair-castle/ Photo credit Eusebius, CC BY 3.0. On 1 April, word reached the garrison that Lord George Murray and his men had departed. Murray had received orders from Prince Charles Edward Stuart to bring his forces north to Inverness, where the Jacobite army was concentrating for what would become its final stand. The follow...

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/f/j/6/siege-of-blair-castle-wp/gfj6-siege-of-blair-castle-relief-and-reckoning.mp3 0:06 5 full