Atholl

Atholl or Athole (Scottish Gaelic: Athall) is a district in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, bordering (in clockwise order, from north-east) Marr, Gowrie, Perth, Strathearn, Breadalbane, Lochaber, and Badenoch.

The explanation given for this relates to the Gaelic settlement of Scotland, which was previously inhabited by the Picts.

[2] The first documented record of Atholl is an 8th-century mention in the Annals of Ulster,[3] but three placenames in Atholl – the town of Dunkeld and the mountains Schiehallion and Rohallion – preserve the name of the Caledonians, a tribe or tribal confederation recorded by Roman writers including Tacitus and Cassius Dio.

[5] Atholl is the only one of these territories, apart from the dominant northern kingdom of Fortriu, to be historically documented as having its own king.

In the mid 19th century, local government reforms replaced the ancient provinces by new Counties (shires), aligned to sheriffdom boundaries; hence, Atholl formed the northern portion of the new Perthshire.