The Stewarts, who were to become the monarchs of the Scots, descended from a family who were the seneschals of Dol in Brtittany. They acquired estates in England after the Norman conquest and Walter Flaad, the steward, moved to Scotland when David I claimed his throne. Apart from the royal house of Stewart, three main branches of the Stewarts settlede in the highlands during the fourteenth and fifteenth century. The Stewarts of Appin, Atholl, and Balquidder. The province of Atholl was one of the most prolific areas of Stewart settlement. In 1822 general David Stewart of Garth, wrote: "James Stewart, son of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Badenoch, commonly called the Wolf of Adenoch, second son of Robert II, is said to have built the Castle of Garth, and settled there some time after the year 1390. There are now living in the district of Atholl, within its ancient boundary, 1937 persons of the name of Stewart, descendants of this man in the male line......"

After the Murder of James I in 1437, his widow remarried, the Black Knight of Lorne who descended from the 4th High Steward, before his family had inherited the crown. The widowed queen gave birth to Sir John Stewart of Balveny. His half brother, James II, bestowed on him the earldom of Atholl which had previously been held by several royal Stewarts.

Early in the 17th century the earldom passed with an heiress to the Murrays, when John, the fifth earl, died with no male issue. His daughter had married William murray, second Earl of Tullibardine, who was created Earl of Atholl in his own right in 1627. By this time, several other dynasties had been planted there, besides that of Garth. There were Steuarts of Cardney, descendants of another illigitimate son of Robert II, and those of Ballechin, founded by a natural son of of James II. The seat of of the principal chief was Blair Castle, still intact with it's treasures. The center of jurisdiction at nearby Logierait was dimantled after the abolition of feudal jurisdictions in the aftermath of Culladen.

Many Stewart families continued to live around the atholl lands and transferred their allegiance to the new Murray Earls of Atholl, calling themselves the Athollmen. This is commemorated by the right, still exercised by the present Duke of Atholl to maintain the Atholl Highlanders as the only private army in the kingdom. In 1689 Murray called out the Athollmen for William Of Orange, but his baillie defiantly held Blair castle for James II. In 1715, Atholl again supported the government but his heir the Marquess of Tullibardine, was a Jacobyte. Stewarts flocked to the banner of Bonnie Prince Charlie in1745.

It is generally accepted that the Earls of Galloway now head the principal house of this great name. It is important to note that there is no true Atholl Stewart badge, and that the one used is the Murray badge with the permission of the Lord Lyon.