The author examines how the Scottish country house was transformed by romanticism (including the "discovery" of the mythical bard Ossian by Macpherson) and the picturesque, then revived mid-19th century as "Baronial" haunts, before a large scale reoccupation and restoration from the late 1970s. The houses occupied a European tradition as "castle-wise country houses", with ornamental battlements, large pleasure gardens and lavish vestments. Properties featured include Crathes, the House of the Binns, the Palace of Huntly and the Earl's Palace in Kirkwall. The book also focuses on the lives of the occupants, including Sir James Hamilton of Finart, the Earls of Morton, Huntly and Arran, and the Duke of Chatelherault, and discusses important architects such as Robert Adam, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and David Bryce. Using contemporary descriptions, archives and documents, mixed with reconstructions of buildings and some humour, this book is a lively read illustrated by portraits, gardens, interiors and landscapes.
- ISBN10 0750923237
- ISBN13 9780750923231
- Publish Date 19 July 2001
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 5 May 2011
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher The History Press Ltd
- Imprint Sutton Publishing Ltd
- Edition Illustrated edition
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 256
- Language English