The Robertson Oak

 

George Robertson of Faskally had been one of those who had been out in the ’45 and, fleeing south after the defeat at Culloden, hid in a farmhouse beside the Aldour burn (from allt dour), burn of the otter), in those days fully half a mile to the east of Pitlochry. When the Government soldiers came to flush him out, he saw them coming.  He sneaked out of the house and escaped by crawling along the burn and climbing into a large oak tree nearby, until the search was over.  Afterwards he made good his escape to France.  That tree became known inevitably as “the Robertson Oak” and stands beside the sewage treatment works at Aldour, on the south-eastern outskirts of Pitlochry, opposite the Blair Athol Distillery.  The tree is reckoned to be some 400 years old.  The farmhouse still exists, now part of the Distillery’s visitor centre.
Colin Liddell :Pitlochry - A History; p88; published byWatermill Books, Aberfeldy. 2008

2003 Commemorative Plaque

In 2003 a new stone base for the commemorative plaque was erected at the Robertson Oak in Pitlochry. The base was supplied by Robertson Memorials of Aberdeen, courtesy of Graeme Robertson. The unveiling ceremony took place on a wet Saturday during the Annual Clan Gathering and Blair Athol distillery supplied the refreshements.
Sylvia Robertson had gathered acorns from the tree and raised them to small saplings which she sold on for Clan funds. One of those plants is now growing in the grounds of the new Pitlochry Hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clan gather in the rain round the Oak Tree

 

 

 

                 The Chief, Graeme Robertson and Andrew Duncan after the unveiling

 

                                          A toast to George Robertson’s escape

 

 

 

 

      Small saplings of the           Robertson Oak