Clan MacGregor - Balquhidder - Photo Print

For the MacGregors, Balquhidder was sanctuary. Deep in the Perthshire Highlands, its glens and forests became refuge for a clan that was becoming increasingly landless at the hands of political forces around them.

Rob Roy MacGregor, their most celebrated clansman, made Balquhidder his home, and is buried in the kirkyard here still.

The MacGregor story is one of loss and persecution. In 1603, after generations of MacGregors had been pushed off their lands by rival clans with the crown’s backing, the clan fought back. The retaliation was brutal, and their enemies used it to demand a collective punishment that would reach every MacGregor for generations to come. The MacGregor name was banned by law. To be born a MacGregor was now to be born an outlaw. They sought refuge in glens like Balquhidder and disappeared into them, becoming known as the Children of the Mist.

Aly Wight captured this view from high above Loch Voil, the loch catching the last of the evening light as it stretches through the heart of Balquhidder glen. From this hillside, you can see part of MacGregor country spread out below, forests and water and hills fading into the distance.

If MacGregor is your name, it was almost taken from you. Your ancestors were survivors! This is the landscape that kept them alive.