Estate houses in Scotland

The seventeenth-century painted ceiling at Aberdour Castle, Fife

The creation of estate houses led to greater privacy, comfort and luxury for the families who lived in them. Interiors were remodelled, with broader staircases, family rooms were added and heating was improved. Oriel windows gave better views, more light and could be opened for fresh air.[40] After the Reformation, which virtually ended religious patronage of art in Scotland, craftsmen and artists turned to secular patrons.[41] With the departure of the Scottish court for England in 1603, Jenny Wormald argues that there was a shift "from court to castle" in patronage and creativity; estate houses became repositories of art and elaborate furnishings that illustrated the wealth and taste of their occupants.[42]

One result was a flourishing of Scottish Renaissance painted ceilings and walls in estate houses. These included detailed coloured patterns and scenes, of which over a hundred examples survive.[41] The designs relied upon continental pattern books that often led to the incorporation of humanist moral and philosophical symbolism, as well as elements that called on heraldry, piety, classical myths and allegory.[41] The earliest example still extant is at the Hamilton palace of Kinneil, West Lothian, decorated in the 1550s for the then regent the James Hamilton, Earl of Arran.[43] Other examples include the ceiling at Prestongrange House, undertaken in 1581 for Mark Kerr, Commendator of Newbattle, and the long gallery at Pinkie House, painted for Alexander Seaton, Earl of Dunfermline in 1621.[41]

King James VI's arms and plasterwork in the great hall at Muchalls Castle

Scottish estate houses were increasingly adorned with paintings, including portraits, landscapes and later classical, genre and historical paintings.[44] Thomas Warrender (fl. 1673–1713) made his living as a house decorator, working closely with architects, including William Adam.[45] He may have trained James Norie (1684–1757), who with his sons James (1711–36) and Robert (d. 1766) also worked with the Adams, painting the houses of the peerage with Scottish landscapes that were pastiches of Italian and Dutch scenes.[46] They tutored many artists and have been credited with the inception of the tradition of Scottish landscape painting that would come to fruition from the late eighteenth century.[47] The painters Allan Ramsay (1713–84), Gavin Hamilton (1723–98), the brothers John (1744–68/9) and Alexander Runciman (1736–85), Jacob More (1740–93) and David Allan (1744–96), mostly began in the tradition of the Nories, but were artists of European significance, spending considerable portions of their careers outside Scotland.[48] Henry Raeburn (1756–1823) was the most significant artist of the eighteenth century to pursue his entire career in Scotland, and from this point Scottish painters would be able to be professionals in their homeland, often supplying the nobility and lairds with works to fill the walls of their houses.[49]

Carving and plasterwork also became a feature of estate houses. Some of the finest domestic wood carving is in the Beaton panels made for Arbroath Abbey, which were eventually moved to the dining room of Balfour House in Fife.[50][51] Carvings at Huntly Castle, rebuilt for George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly in the early seventeenth century, focused on heraldic images. Their "popish" overtones led to them being damaged by an occupying Covenanter army in 1640.[52] From the seventeenth century there was elaborate use of carving in pediments and fireplaces, with heraldic arms and classical motifs. Plasterwork also began to be used, often depicting flowers and cherubs.[53] William Bruce favoured Dutch carvers for his realisation of Kinross House, where there are festoons, trophies and cornucopia around the doorways and gates. This may have included the work of Jan van Sant Voort, a Dutch carver known to have been living in Leith, who supplied Bruce with a carved heraldic overdoor in 1679 and who worked on Bruce's rebuilding of Holyrood Palace. From 1674 the London plasterers George Dunsterfield (fl. 1660–76) and John Houlbert (fl. 1674–79) worked for Bruce at Thirlestane, Berwickshire and at Holyroodhouse. Dunsterfield was also active at Balcaskie, Fife and probably at Kellie Castle.[54]

The entrance hall of Abbotsford House, which helped define the synthesised Victorian Renaissance style of the Scots Baronial interior

In the eighteenth century the development of the Grand Tour took young Scottish aristocrats to the continent, particularly Rome, which was home to the exiled Jacobite Stuarts. This in turn fuelled interest in classical and Renaissance styles, and the buying of artistic works, particularly sculptures.[55] However, the only major Scottish collection of marble before the nineteenth century was that of James Johnstone, 2nd Marquess of Annandale.[56] As in England, commissions of new statuary tended to be crafted in relatively cheap lead and even more economical painted or gilded plaster. The plasterwork of John Cheere's yard in London was particularly in demand. Also important was the work from the yard of John Bacon (1740–99). Bacon was also a partner in Mrs Eleanor Coade's Artificial Stone Manufactory at Lambeth in London. This produced a buff coloured ceramic that could be moulded to provide fine detail, and be fired in sections, but was impervious to frost and fire. Much cheaper than carved stone, Coadstone was used for sphinxes, balustrading, capitals, coats of arms, tablets and ornamental vases. It was used extensively by the Adam brothers, particularly in the houses they built in Scotland, such as Cullen, Banff, Culzean Castle, Ayrshire, Dunbar Castle, East Lothian, Gosford House, East Lothian and Wedderburn, Berwickshire. They also supplied sculpture, candelabra and cippi that made up the neo-classical Adam Style.[55]

Nineteenth-century interiors could often be lavish and eclectic.[57] The origins of this style were in Scott's Abbotsford, where the author began the incorporation of actual old architectural fragments and pieces of furniture on a lavish scale (the effective beginning of 'antique' collecting in Scotland). He also initiated the treatment of new surfaces so as to resemble old ones, with new wood darkened to resemble old oak.[58] The Adam solution of a castellated exterior with a neo-classical interior was abandoned and in Baronial Revival houses this change was extended to create a synthesised Victorian style that combined elements of the Renaissance, such as plastered or rubble walls, unpainted stone fireplaces and pitch pine timberwork, with seventeenth-century style plaster ceilings. To this were added symbols of landed power and national affiliation, including displays of tartan, weaponry and stuffed animals' heads. Integrated into these traditional materials and styles were modern fittings such as sprung upholstery, gas lighting and water-closets.[59]

The restored formal walled garden at Edzell Castle

Gardens, or yards, around medieval castles, abbeys and houses were formal and in the European tradition of herb garden, kitchen garden and orchard. They were often surrounded by defensive walls and they sometimes adjoined a hunting park. The first Renaissance style gardens in Scotland were built for the Stewart dynasty at their royal palaces. French gardeners were hired by James IV at Stirling in 1501 and James V at Holyrood in 1536, where archaeological remains indicate there were sophisticated formal gardens. Similar landscaping is also found at Falkland and Linlithgow, including the king's knot garden at Stirling. From the late sixteenth century, the landscaping of many estate houses was influenced by Italian Renaissance gardens.[60] These were seen as retreats from the troubles of the world and were eulogised in country house poetry like that of William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649). Extensive gardens were developed at Pinkie House by Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline (1555–1622), with lawns, fountains, ponds and aviaries for the entertainment of guests. Dunfermline's nephew, George Seton, 3rd Earl of Winton (1584–1650), planted a herb garden at Seaton House in 1620. The Earl of Sutherland's castle at Dunrobin was surrounded by orchards, herbs and flowers. The best surviving garden from the early seventeenth century is that at Edzell Castle, where, between 1604 and 1610, David Lindsay (1551?–1610) created an enclosure adorned with sculptures of the seven Cardinal Virtues, the seven Liberal Arts and the seven Planetary Deities, the expense of which eventually bankrupted him.[61]

Taymouth Castle painted in 1733 by James Norie, showing William Adam's improvements to the house and gardens

The legacy of the Auld Alliance,[62] and the beginnings of the grand tour,[60] meant that French styles were particularly important in Scotland, although adapted for the Scottish climate. From the late seventeenth century the gardens at Versailles, with their formal avenues, parterres and fountains that stressed symmetry and order, were a model. After the Glorious Revolution Dutch influences were also significant, with uniform planting and topiary.[62] Gardening books from the continent and England became widely available in this period and the first gardening book published in Scotland, John Reid's, Scots Gard'ner (1683), borrowed from John Evelyn's (1658) translation of Nicholas de Bonnefon's Le Jardinair françois (1651), adapting its ideas for Scottish conditions. In the late seventeenth century William Bruce put Scotland at the forefront of European garden design, lowering garden walls to incorporate the surrounding countryside into the vista. This allowed a focus on significant landscape features such as Bass rock at Balcaskie and Loch Leven Castle at Kinross. Alexander Edward (1651–1708) continued in the tradition established by Bruce, adding landscapes at houses including Hamilton Palace and Kinnaird castle, Angus.[60] Grand schemes in the French tradition included James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry (1662–1711) reworking of the terraces at Drumlanrig Castle, which incorporated the Douglas family crest into the parterres design, and the militaristic earthworks undertaken for Field Marshal John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair (1679–1747) at Castle Kennedy, Wigtownshire.[60] The Earl of Mar's palace at Alloa was the grandest realisation of the Versailles style gardens in Scotland: it included canals, parterres, statues and ornamental trees.[62]

Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries and Galloway in 1880, showing the mixture of "natural" and formal landscapes that dominated estate houses in the nineteenth century

In the eighteenth century there was a reaction against the "absolutism" and "popery" of the French court and a retreat from the expense of maintaining large formal gardens. Less symmetrical layouts became common with the development of the "natural" style of the jardin à l'anglaise, which attempted to create vistas of a rural idyll.[62] The antiquarian John Clerk of Pennycuik (1676–1755), one of the key figures in defining elite taste in Scotland, eulogising the estate garden in his poem "The Country Seat" (1727), which built on the ideas of Alexander Pope. He created gardens at Mavisbank and Penicuik, Midlothian, with the help of William Adam, which combined formality with undulating ground. The move to a less formal landscape of parklands and irregular clumps of planting, associated in England with Capability Brown (1716–83), was dominated in Scotland by his followers, Robert Robinson and Thomas White senior and junior. From 1770 and 1809 the Whites were involved in the planning of over 70 estate gardens in Scotland, including those at Glamis Castle and Scone Palace. Important publications included James Justice's The Scottish Gardiner's Director (1754) and the reputation of Scottish gardeners in managing greenhouses, hot walls and the cultivation of fruit trees meant that they began to be in demand in England. At the end of eighteenth century there began to be a reaction to the English style of garden, influenced by Picturesque taste and the spread of Ossianic Romanticism, which encouraged gardens in the wild. This resulted in creation of features like Ossian's Hall of Mirrors at the Hermitage Dunkeld and the Hermit's Cave at the Falls of Acharn, which put an emphasis on concealment and the surprise revelation of the natural.[60]

In the nineteenth century the writings of Humphrey Repton (1752–1818) were highly influential in the return of the formal garden near to the house. His sons were directly involved in the restructuring of the landscape at Valleyfield, Fife.[60] Walter Scott's dislike of the sweeping away of the old formal gardens was also influential in creating an emphasis on preservation and restoration. His ideas were taken up by John Claudius Loudon (1783–1843), the most prolific gardening author of the century in Britain, and were highly influential throughout the world. By 1850 ambitious formal gardens had been recreated at Drummond Castle, Dunrobin and Drumlandrig. New plants from around the world, often discovered and sampled by Scots, such as the Rhododendron and monkey puzzle tree, meant that Victorian and Edwardian gardens were characterised by an eclectic mix of the formal, picturesque and gardenesque. By the end of the century the ideas of William Robinson (1838–1935), Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932) and the Edinburgh-based Frances Hope (d. 1880), arguing for informal flower-based gardens, had begun to dominate. They resulted in a revival of the seventeenth-century mixed flower and kitchen garden, as carried out at Kellie Castle, and Earlshall, Fife by Robert Lorimer.[60]

Dinner at Haddo House (1884) by Alfred Edward Emslie

The development of the Palladian country house in the seventeenth century separated the family of the householder from the servants. Previously sharing the hall, and bedding down at a master's feet, or door, servants were now given separate small chambers. Sometimes these were placed on a mezzanine floor, as at Kinross. Servants were less visible, using backstairs that kept them away from members of the family and guests and they fulfilled necessary and sometimes unpleasant tasks. They were also fewer in number, of lower social status and predominately female.[63] A country house could have 10 to 20 servants and large houses had more.[64] A hierarchy of positions developed from the butler and housekeeper to footmen and maids. The sexes were increasingly segregated into their own quarters.[65]

Relatively isolated, gentry families spent much of their time visiting family, friends or neighbours. As a result, hospitality was an important part of life.[61] Leisure activities pursued by the gentry included hunting, cards and chess. Music remained important in noble houses, with accounts listing professional musicians hired to entertain the family and guests.[66] However, professional musicians were expensive to maintain. In the eighteenth century members of the household often provided musical entertainment on the harpsichord, organ and piano. House libraries often contained considerable quantities of music, as at Dalkeith Palace, where the Duke of Buccleuch's daughter collected vocal music between 1780 and 1800. In the nineteenth century it was the women of the family who were the chief performers and men were not expected to play the piano in drawing rooms.[67]

Deer Stalking in Scotland: Getting Ready by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (1851)

The consumption of large and sumptuous meals was an important part of social life. Some were elaborately planned, others the result of unexpected guests. These usually consisted of three or four courses, with a variety of dishes served in each course, from which the diner was expected to select. In the eighteenth century service was à la française, where all the dishes were impressively displayed on tables at the same time, until the advent of service à la russe in the nineteenth century, when they were served sequentially. Alcohol in various forms and toasts were an important part of formal dining and until the Regency era dessert and drinks were often taken in a separate dessert room.[68]

In the eighteenth century, estate houses were designed as centres of public display, but in the nineteenth century they became increasingly private. The first family wing in Britain was added to Blairquhan Castle in Ayrshire in 1820 by architect William Burn and the style became characteristic of the Victorian country house. From the 1830s distinct male areas of the house began to emerge, to which the men could withdraw and indulge in "masculine" conversation and activities, centred on the smoking and billiard rooms. From the 1870s gun rooms began to be added, mainly to cater for weapons for hunting weekends.[69] The popularity of salmon fishing, deer stalking and grouse shooting, particularly in the Highlands, was confirmed by Queen Victoria's purchase of the hunting lodge at Balmoral. It rapidly expanded as southern industrialists and businessmen began to see the sports offered by Scottish estates as a status symbol, such as the Spelsbury Family at Dunmavarie in the 1920s. Large areas of land were designated for hunting and hunting parties became a major part of the life of the Scottish estate house.[70] There were also a wider range of activities that developed in the nineteenth century for members of the leisured classes, such as croquet, lawn tennis, billiards, carriage rides, charades and amateur dramatics.[71]

In the twentieth century, as the finances and needs of the landed classes changed, many surviving country houses were sold and became boarding schools, hospitals, spa retreats, conference centres and hotels.[72] The National Trust for Scotland (founded 1931) cares for post-Medieval castles and estate houses that were still in occupation until the twentieth century and are open to the public.[73][74] Historic Scotland (created as an agency in 1991) cares for over 300 properties, which are publicly accessible.[75][76] The Landmark Trust restores and operates historic buildings as holiday homes.[77]

• English country house
• List of country houses in the United Kingdom