Perthshire

Pitlochry manages to retain its charm despite having more hotel accommodation than any other Scottish town of its size

Margaret Henderson revels in the eccentricities of an area where all the world's a stage

LET'S try the Duchess Anne - it looks like a nice place for lunch, said the tourist to her companion. Unfortunately for them, the Duchess Anne in Dunkeld cathedral square is a church hall now. It was built as a girls' industrial school in the nineteenth century.

We caught up with the couple later, in the little museum in the Choir of Dunkeld Cathedral, studying information boards about local gentry, Duchess Anne, the wife of the 4th Duke of Atholl who endowed the school, and other high-born benefactors.

The nave of the cathedral is a ruin but an impressive one, considering it was twice set ablaze, once at the Reformation on the orders of the Lords of the Congregation, and again after the Battle of Killiecrankie.

In 1908 a full restoration of the Choir was paid for by the shipping magnate Sir Donald Currie of Garth and Glenlyon, in gratitude for being nursed through a serious illness by the minister's daughter.

The Dukes of Atholl had a soft spot for Dunkeld and built two houses outside the town. The second, Dunkeld House (1900), is now a hotel. They and their duchesses took a keen interest in the cathedral and the cathedral city. Katherine (Kitty), the wife of the 8th Duke, was a busy MP - the first Scottish woman to sit in the House - but whenever she had a moment, she would cycle to Dunkeld - they called her ''the bicycling Duchess''.

Pop into the Museum of the Scottish Horse Regiment in the Square and you will find out why the Territorial Regiment of Scottish Horse raised by Kitty's

husband as Marquess of Tullibardine eventually took to bikes themselves. The regiment of 1300 men, mainly Scots resident in South Africa and Zulu scouts, gave distinguished service in two world wars.

Duchess Anne's husband, the 4th Duke, had the nickname ''Planter John''. He was responsible for more than 27 million trees being planted in the area. It seems to have been his idea to ''shoot'' seeds from a gun when the lie of the land made conventional planting difficult.

The famous oak tree to be seen in Birnam across the Tay from Dunkeld was not one of Planter John's. It is a last remnant of the ancient Birnam Forest. Birnam is a small village that looks like an important Victorian town. The architecture is grand, recalling the period when it was the railway terminus and a holiday resort for the wealthy. The artist John Everett Millais rented holiday homes near Birnam on the Murthly estates where he painted the pictures of the drummer boy playing a flute and Bubbles, a portrait of his grandson William James.

Mr and Mrs Millais were friendly with the Potters, another English couple who rented Dalguise House at Birnam for 11 summers, the first in 1871 when their daughter Beatrix was five years old. In 1893 the Potters'

holiday home was Eastwood, Dunkeld, and there Beatrix wrote the letter to a friend that was to become The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Until the end of September there is a Beatrix Potter exhibition in the Birnam Institute. If all goes well with applications for Lottery and other funding, the institute will be refurbished and the exhibition will have a permanent home.

Further north, Pitlochry manages to retain its dignity and charm despite having more hotel and guest house accommodation than any other Scottish town of

its size. Until October 10, there will be six plays a week at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, including The Importance of Being Earnest, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Noel Coward's Hay Fever.

In the morning, a few miles from Pitlochry, a delightful surprise awaited. On the A827, at the village of Logierait, there is a sign for the, ''Childhood Heritage Museum''. The huge building

in which this fascinating private building is housed was once

the Atholl, Weem and Breadalbane Combination Poor House, constructed in the 1860s to take 110 men, women and children from 10 parishes.

Tina Reynolds' collection, illustrating a child's life from 1920 to 1950, is housed in

15 rooms. In addition she has restored the kitchens, store, and the office of the Poor House to pre-war condition.

From the Offence and Punishment book in the office we learned that on August 3, 1865, John Robertson, aged 70, ''absconded over the east wall'' at six o'clock in the morning. He was still attempting to escape at 72.

Robertson's punishments were ''the withholding of butcher meat and milk for 24 hours''. Poor Alex Lamont, seven years of age, didn't get off so lightly for his crime of laughing and making faces during prayers. He was ''severely punished with the tawse''. His character was ''very bad, getting worse''.

There are happier childhood scenes in the upstairs rooms. A favourite with older visitors is the schoolroom of the 1950s.

On the route to Aberfeldy, is

a bridge that is generally considered to be General Wade's best, designed by William Adam. Near the bridge is the famous Black Watch Monument, a large cairn surmounted by a statue of Private Farquhar Shaw dressed in the original uniform of the Regiment. In 1743 the soldiers of the Black Watch were sent to London and there was a rumour they were about to be transported for service in the American colonies. Many deserted, finding their way back

to Scotland where they were

eventually caught and sentenced to death. All were reprieved with the exception of three men executed by shooting at the Tower of London. Private Farquhar Shaw was one of them.

Aberfeldy Water Mill, open to visitors, harnesses water from the River Moness as it flows past the Birks o' Aberfeldy.

On August 30, 1787, Robert Burns, inspired by the waterfall there, composed his poem. The next day he was invited to supper with the Duchess and her children and was inspired to write more. ''Rhyme,'' he explained in a

letter, ''is the coin with which a Poet pays his debts of honour or gratitude.''