Based on a local farmer's collection, Atholl Country Life Museum opened in 1982 in the old Blair Atholl village school, itself dating from 1833. The Museum focuses on local stories and people. The personalities it celebrates include Sergeant Major Donald McBeath, Father of the Atholl Highlanders, the only private army in Europe; teacher Kirsty MacDonald and Glen Bruar, her father's famous Highland stallion, and the blacksmith Bob Kennedy with his recollections of the smiddy and the visiting circus. Our displays include Scotland's only stuffed Highland cow. The paintings on show also have strong links to the community. Local artist Roger Lee's portrait of Sergeant Major James L. M. Stewart captures the character of the man who played an important role in the revival of the Atholl Highlanders in the 1960s. Margaret Cumming, the wife of a local shepherd, demonstrates her strong eye for the natural environment in her painting 'Ploughing Time'.