THE ORIGINS of estate tweeds are peculiarly Scottish although their use has spread far beyond the country's borders. The purpose of this section is to record interesting tweeds which are associated with estates belonging to the Murrays. The images below are from Scottish Estate Tweeds by E.P. Harrison, © Copyright Johnstons of Elgin, 1995. Old Athole or Atholl: The Atholl estates are in Perthshire ten miles north-west of Pitlochry. They were owned by His Grace, The 10th Duke of Atholl. [Centrally, the largest estate under charitable status, the Blair Charitable Trust, now owns the castle and the commercial interests around Blair Atholl plus farms and sporting beats]. There is no documentation on this old tweed but Johnstons certainly made it in about 1845. It is a rather unusual treatment of the Glenurquhart check in the elaborate red overchecking on the 2 and 2 section. It is no longer in use. Atholl: This is a new form of the Atholl check which replaced the older design in 1958. It is a traditional gun club with a combination of white and pale Lovat for the light shades with a stronger Lovat, russet, and a strong mossy tone for the darker colours. The whole effect is very beautiful and is almost invisible on the hill. The original design was made by Haggarts of Aberfeldy. Mansfield and Mansfield (family tweed): The estate lies north of Perh on the east bank of the River Tay and is owned by The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Mansfield. It has always belonged to his family. There are tw versions of the estate tweed. The Glenurquhart check is used regularly on the estate and was designed and introduced by the late Dowager Countess of Mansfield and the then Countess of Mansfield about 1965. The other version was designed by the late Dowager Countess of Mansfield in 1949 and is worn by members of the family. It is woven from the wool of the Scone Palace flock of pedigree Jacob sheep which are bi-coloured with white and dark-brown wool. They can be seen in the Scone Palace park.

LADY CATHERINE MURRAY, Countess of Dunmore, is often cited as the driving force behind the development of the Harris Tweed® industry in the 19th-century - the woman who brought Harris Tweed® cloth to the world. She is remembered however, not only for her entrepreneurial eye, but also for her philanthropic qualities, with the Duchess of Sutherland proclaiming her to be ‘a mother to her people in Harris’. Born Catherine Herbert on 31st October 1814 to the distinguished 11th Earl and Countess of Pembroke, aged 22 she went on to marry Alexander Murray, Viscount Fincastle, later the 6th Earl of Dunmore and proprietor of the Isle of Harris. Taking up residence in London, the couple had close connections within court circles as Catherine was given the socially prestigious appointment as Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria in 1841, while their children enjoyed a privileged childhood filled with play dates in Buckingham Palace with the future Edward VII. A world away from the luxuries of court life, the coming years saw turmoil and great difficulty for the islanders on Harris as they were confronted with a series of struggles beginning with the religious Disruption in 1843. The fatal failure of the potato crops began only a year later as Blight swept across the islands, and further disruption was felt with the resettlement of the village of Borve in 1847. The Dunmores were faced with their own personal tragedy as 1845 saw the untimely death of the Earl, leaving Catherine a widow with three children and another on the way. This was a complicated and difficult time for the Countess as the Earl’s death saw her inherit the Hebridean island, leaving her in charge with the running of a 150,000 acre estate that was facing desperate times. This prompted her to take a more active interest in the estate as she resigned as Lady of the Bedchamber and took it upon herself to act as ‘Tutor’ to the 4-year-old heir, Charles.