In this sumptuous portrait of the house known as 'the English Versailles', the Duke of Buccleuch sets the scene with a history of his ancestors, the Montagus of Boughton, who acquired the manor in Northamptonshire in the reign of Henry VIII.Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu (1638-1709), Charles II's envoy to Louis XIV, transformed Boughton into a palatial homage to French culture. His son John, the 2nd Duke, was noted for planting long avenues, a love of heraldry, a fondness for practical jokes and the ancient lion he nursed in one of the courtyards. The book showcases Boughton's magnificent painted ceilings, tapestries and S鋦res porcelain. The celebrated art collection also includes striking portraits of Elizabeth I, Charles II and his son the Duke of Monmouth, another Buccleuch ancestor. Van Dyck's friends and contemporaries cluster in the Drawing Room in dozen of grisailles. Most eye-catching of all is the portrait of Shakespeare's muses, the Early and Countess of Southampton. A grand
Bowhill, in the Scottish Borders, started life as a modest Georgian villa, but over generations was transformed into a huge mansion. The art collection was consolidated when Henry, the enlightened 3rd
With its picturesque domes, walls of pale pink sandstone and splendid Dumfriesshire setting, Drumlanrig is one of Scotland’s most romantic castles, its story entwined with that of the country itself.
In this sumptuous portrait of the house known as ‘the English Versailles’, the present Duke sets the scene with a history of his ancestors, the Montagus of Boughton, who acquired the manor
