Glenshee is a solitary and beautiful place standing about a thousand feet above sea level in the north east corner of Perthshire in the Highlands of Scotland.

glenshee, our home

Glenshee is known in the Gaelic as Gleann Shith, the Glen of the Fairies.

The upper glen, where the MacThomases first settled in the 15th century, is a distinctive area of about seven miles in length which stretches in the north from the Spittal of Glenshee, which has been a place of shelter from medieval times, to about two miles south of Clach na Coileach (The Cockstane), the ancient gathering place of the Clan. Glenshee, in which the River Shee flows, has a breathtaking landscape of lush grazing land, rolling hills and spectacular mountain peaks. Five miles to the north is the Cairnwell Pass, the highest road in the United Kingdom.

The glen has an abundant Pictish and medieval history where myths and legends abound. Despite life being extremely hard for those who lived there, several settlements have been established in Glenshee for centuries. These include The Thom, Finegand, Corrydon, Kerrow, Cray and Dalrulzion. Today, you can see the ruins of homes of those who left the glen at the time of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th/early 19th centuries or set sail for the New World of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA.

Nowadays several of the houses are owned or rented by those who enjoy the many pursuits Glenshee has to offer whether that be hill walking, angling, shooting, playing golf, mountain biking or pony trekking. There is also an activity centre for the young and the largest skiing area in Scotland. Whatever you do, whether it is gentle or more energetic, you will be invigorated by the clear mountain air and be surrounded by an abundance of wild life consisting of deer, golden eagles, mountain hares and ptarmigan.

For more information on Glenshee, its history, its legends and an insight into what life was like in ancient times, the Clan MacThomas Society recommends "The History of the Clan MacThomas" which was compiled by the 19th Chief and first published in 2009.

If you wish to stay in Glenshee, there is a selection of hotels, ranging from a comfortable Country House Hotel, with its own golf course, to the local inn, castles, bed and breakfast accommodation, self catering cottages, mountain lodges and bunk houses for the young. For full information, on Accommodation please see the "Glen of the Fairies" website or visit our links page.

Further photographs of places of interest in the Glenshee area appear on our Clan Gallery Page.