The Guardroom and Picture Staircase

The next room is the Guard Room under which was the old prison. In 1869 the skeletons of three men were found under the floor of the room opposite. They are believed to have been killed in 1654 when the young Earl of Atholl made an attempt to recapture the castle for the Royalists. A variety of mantraps, handcuffs, locks and instruments of punishment are displayed here.

Passing through the original south-east entrance the character changes, and the Picture Staircase, made in 1756, is the first evidence of the extensive remodelling carried out by the 2nd Duke. The plasterwork of the ceiling, with its central shallow dome, the bracketed cornice and the panelled trophies of arms are the work of Clayton, a stuccoist who carried out the new decoration under the architect Winter.

Notable among the many portraits displayed here are the full lengths of John, 1st Duke by Thomas Murray, painted in 1705, and of John, 1st Marquis of Atholl. The latter is painted by Jacob De Witt in the classical French style of the period as Julius Caesar with the battle of Bothwell Brig going on in the background. A painting of the Marquis's wife, Lady Amelia Stanley hangs over the door to the left. Below the Marquis is a picture of Lady Amelia's mother, Charlotte de la Tremouille, with her ancestors who include William of Orange, the Liberator of the Netherlands from the Spanish yoke.