Falls of Bruar

It is difficult to imagine this beautiful landscape without trees but that was once the case. In 1776 when William Gilpin, who helped develop the idea of the picturesque, visited Bruar Falls, he felt the bleak outlook was ‘of little value’.

However in 1787 Robert Burns on his visit to the site, could see the potential and wrote his poem – The Humble Petition of Bruar Water to the Noble Duke of Athole from the water’s perspective and begged the Duke of Atholl to improve the prospect of the falls by planting trees. The fourth Duke known as ‘Planter John’, responded to Burns petition and eventually planted 120,000 trees in the area, mostly larch and Scots pine.

Picture copyright Kenneth Mallard and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence.

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This entry was added by: Highland Perthshire Limited