Gaelic culture is very strong, most obviously in the place names which are apparent everywhere, but also in poetry, music, song and a symbiotic attitude to the relationship between people and nature nature. For more than a thousand years, Gaelic has been spoken here. In 1901 there was still a “Gaelic only” resident recorded, and we are fortunate that we have two Gaelic scholars – James & Alison Grant whose home is here who record the poetry, songs and stories.

The highest form of Highland bagpipe music, called ‘pibroch’, was cultivated by pipers who enjoyed official status. There is well recorded close connection from the mid.18C, and 15th Laird, John Peter Grant was an expert on piping, particularly the pibroch.

The Strathspey influence is most apparent in the music and ‘a Strathspey’ is possibly the best known reel. By enable the wood to be floated to markets, the river Spey enabled Rothiemurchus to become economically sustainably until the huge clear fellings during the first and second World Wars.

The relationship between people and the natural environment, particularly the forest and hills has always been important in shaping Rothiemurchus. The tourism industry has developed to its present critical importance because of the beauty and accessibility of the natural environment. It is difficult to define, but at present the could be described as potentially mutually dependent, in that the survival of the natural forest depends on human intervention, labour intensive and therefore expensive and tourism and visitors could enable this to be carried out sustainably.

There are still cottages in the forest, but sadly only one is still being lived in as it would have been for a century or more. Sadly the culture of forest living in close harmony with the forest is dying out.

The most apparent cultural legacy from early time are the place names e.g. near Glen Einich which has been ca`rn a’ phrisghiubhais, - hill of the fir woodie, for an area which has not grown trees in this millennium; the only evidence of the very early Bronze Age settlers is two groups of hut circles. The earliest feature is the dedication of an early church to Saint Duchaldus – probably is a reference to Bishop Cellach accompanying early Scottish saints who advanced into Badenoch & Strathspey in the early 7C.

Rothiemurchus is first recorded in 1226, as being held by the Bishop of Moray for the Crown with a penalty for cutting down trees or hunting without his leave. There was a lot going on in Rothiemurchus in Medieval Rothiemurchus, but the most obvious legacy from the time is the earliest part of Loch an Eilein castle and possible the extent of the forest when it so much was destroyed elsewhere in Scotland.

After 1745, as part of subjugation of the Highlands by the Government, the most significant parts of any nations culture were forbidden – the native language, native dress, bearing of arms and with the building of roads to enable armies to move more easily and the requirement for the eldest son of the Laird to be educated in the ‘South’ the struggle and tension between the traditional Gael centuries old culture, and system of family mutual dependence known as the clan system and Scots and English culture intensified and it is very much a present today.