Episode 2 Lady Lairds

Scottish Highland estates.

Playgrounds for the upper classes.

But a lot has changed over the years.

Being a laird was traditionally a man's job.

Are you ready?

But now, lady lairds are bucking the trend.

Oh, look, here are some visitors.

Nice to see you.

-Might I take your photo?

-Yeah, absolutely.

It's a burden and a privilege,

but I'd say more of a privilege, really.

Just relax, April.

This series follows several extraordinary women...

Oh, I'm not just a pretty face.

..who preside over some of Scotland's most historic estates.

We have here now the bed that Mary Queen of Scots slept in.

Through determination...

Being a woman, you know,

you're determined to do it without shouting for help.

..hard work...

Oh, well done, sir!

..and more than a little charm.

You know the doctor?

These lady lairds strive to ensure their estates' survival...

They barely wash their face.

..for future generations.

It's quite a big responsibility.

We've been here a long time,

so we would like to be here a little bit longer.

APPLAUSE

You're too late!

It's like a lunatic asylum. But it's very nice of you to come.

It's a bit random, isn't it?

Last time on Lady Lairds:

Hello, welcome. Have you met anyone yet?

Laird in training, Joanna Macpherson, had left her

marketing job in London and relocated north with husband Alec

to take over the running of the Attadale Estate

from her father, Ewen.

I'm not really in charge yet, I'm having to manage up and manage down.

I've never had any trouble delegating.

I think Nicky has more of a problem with the garden,

because Joanna's no gardener.

Oh, I'm not just a pretty face.

Despite poor health, Joanna's mother Nicky remained

in charge of her beloved gardens, while Joanna learned the ropes.

Controlling the deer population with head stalker, Tom...

I think after that, you've earned your lunch, Joanna.

..and hosting the annual Highland Games.

It's an absolute miracle it's happening.

Cheers!

But Joanna's biggest challenge is still to come,

when her father steps down for good.

At Lochcarron, winter has arrived.

Bringing with it a thick cover of snow.

-And how's it looking in here?

-Good.

Pick up the knickers off the floor.

It's been Joanna's second season at the Attadale Estate.

And after a summer of entertaining in the big house,

it's time to scale things down.

Well, it's November now, so it really is the end of the season.

And we know people won't be coming to stay.

It'll be a lot quieter now,

there won't be much going on.

And we've got enough room in our two-up two-down over the way,

which is very nice, we can operate from there

in a smaller, low-key manner.

Joanna and Alec's smaller house out the back will be

their temporary home for the next few months,

as heating the big house all winter becomes extremely costly.

But it does get a bit cramped.

You'll have to get used to not banging your head.

Unaccustomed as one is to central heating on such a scale as this,

it seems extraordinarily warm up here, I have to say!

While Joanna and Alec get settled in for a long winter,

Attadale's head stalker Tom has his work cut out

controlling the movement of the deer.

The deep snow on the hills means they have ventured down onto

the estate grounds in search of vegetation.

We don't normally get as many as this down below here.

They tend to be higher out.

Stags get quite tame in the winter time after the rut.

There's not a lot... They're quite bold.

If they were like that during the stalking season,

life would be a lot easier.

This is the most snow we've had here for a good lot of years.

This is pretty serious stuff.

If it lasts too long, it will have a bad effect on the deer.

Oh, here's a casualty.

That's the start of the winter kill.

He's died off.

It's an old stag.

He would have died last night.

You see there,

no teeth in the front. That's an old stag.

This is what happens to the deer. They lose their front teeth.

When they start to lose the teeth or get gaps in the teeth,

they don't feed so efficiently, and therefore they lose condition,

they get weak, and they just die.

And that's what kills them.

So that's what happens in the winter time.

At the moment we'll just shift him off the road

and I'll deal with him later on.

It's just nature.

There's nothing you can do about nature.

There's no charity in nature.

It's survival of the fittest.

With the deer coming closer to the main house in search of food,

Tom's worry is that they will reach Attadale's

prized 20 acres of gardens.

If they get into the gardens,

they could destroy quite a lot of the special plants.

They tend to favour the ones which are the most expensive.

So anything getting in there would have to be taken out.

Last time:

Ha-ha, relief! I tell you!

Auchlyne's lady laird Emma Paterson was

struggling to keep the estate going with sheep and cattle farming.

It's very important,

because it's one of the main incomes coming into the farm.

But daughter Nicola had other ideas.

We have been trying to think of wonderful moneymaking

ideas for the estate. You know, the farming doesn't make any money.

Or doesn't make enough money.

Nicola recently moved back to Auchlyne with her family

to start a new life.

But it means her husband Angus

has to work away to support them financially.

It's not great having your husband away during the week.

It's not great for the kids. They miss him terribly.

It's tough. We're busy with the cattle, busy with the sheep.

But it just, JUST, makes ends meet.

In Glen Dochart,

the Auchlyne estate has been hit by the same winter snowstorm.

And down at the big house, it's business as usual.

No, good lad. Sit there.

Nicola's out on her morning rounds with son Archie and daughter Maya.

Hector, don't you dare.

Because you're really testing... No!

Good boy.

And some very hungry dogs.

That was close!

Good boy for not actually killing my hen.

While Nicola takes in the eggs,

high in the hills above Auchlyne,

Nicola's mum Emma is out with the dogs.

I think she's... Well, I hope she's getting on all right.

I think she maybe finds it a bit difficult with Angus being

away during the week. And she's got two young children,

who can be trying, as anyone knows,

what young children are like, or any children are like.

Right, you go in.

But I would like to think that she'll be here

and she will take over.

Yep, we've been here a long time,

so we'd like to be here a little bit longer. Quite nice.

-Do you think you'll stay on the estate?

-Yeah, this is it.

This is my home, this is my life.

It's just trying to carve out my own niche on the estate, so that...

..so that basically we can afford to live here.

Angus works away during the week so that we can afford to live here.

And that's not an ideal family situation.

It would be much better if he was here 24/7

and we could all be together.

But the estate does not make enough to allow us to do that.

So we've got to find some way of doing that.

And that's proving tricky.

Another one.

You just don't know what the future's going to be.

I would like to think that the next generation,

or the next two generations are going to still be here.

Head stalker Tom is still patrolling the grounds of Attadale

on the lookout for deer.

At the moment, it looks like a bomb's hit it,

because that's in the process of being done.

While Joanna checks the estate's holiday cottages,

which are empty during the winter.

I could probably just pour it down the plughole.

And after a little housekeeping, she can head for home.

Joanna likes to buzz around in a little Fiat, which is...

Looks a bit out of sorts up in this part of the world.

But it's a bit cheaper to run than one of these things.

This is my Fiat, which we bought when we were living in London.

And when we bought the Fiat, we didn't know that within the year

we would be coming up to live at Attadale, so we didn't really

think about its long-term prospects in the Highlands.

We thought it was a jolly good vehicle for London.

I've never bought a new car before,

and I probably never will again, so it's very exciting to have it.

At the moment it's a bit like being on holiday,

because my parents have gone away on holiday for quite a few weeks.

So Alec and I feel like we're being left alone and can do what we like

and be idle and stuff like that.

So that's quite exciting.

Meanwhile...

There's one, two, three. Hmm.

..Tom has spotted a problem.

Looks like a hind, a calf and a stag.

As I say, there's a couple of deer inside the policies,

they've probably got in over the wall.

They shouldn't be there.

I'll have to see if we can get them out of here.

There's three of them there in total.

The policies is all the gardens

and the wooded area around about the big house.

That's just known as the policies.

The deer are excluded from that, obviously, because they would do

quite a bit of damage to the gardens,

we don't want them in there.

I think they'll probably have to be shot.

Tom lines up to make his shot.

But suddenly the deer make a break for it...

The buggers are going to jump that fence.

..right in the direction of the gardens.

Tom has to act quickly.

That's the stag.

That's the hind.

And now we need the calf.

He's away down in the wood there.

Tom can't chance leaving one behind.

That's the calf.

I wouldn't be very popular

if these three deer got down into the gardens, so I've probably

done the gardens a favour and kept Mrs Macpherson off my back.

Otherwise I'd have been hounded if there was any deer in there.

Bye just now.

Tom has been head stalker at Attadale for nearly 40 years.

But next year is due to retire.

At the same time, Mr Macpherson will also be stepping down,

handing over full control of Attadale to Joanna.

In the Scottish Borders, spring has sprung.

And on the Traquair estate is Scotland's oldest inhabited house.

Built in 1491, it's been lived in for over 500 years.

And residing in it now is Catherine Maxwell-Stuart and her family.

Husband Mark and their three children, Isabella,

Louis, and Charlotte.

Catherine is the very first lady laird of Traquair.

This is the dining room.

I've got the whole family of earls

looking down on us when we eat in here.

The first earl, who's above the fireplace there, he was

given his earldom because he was the Chief High Treasurer of Scotland.

And he ended his days, apparently, begging in the streets of Edinburgh.

So this is the fifth earl.

He married this wealthy heiress, luckily,

because I think money was running a little thin at that point.

The sixth earl is the portly chap in the middle.

He went to Spain to try and get rights to mine gold, but,

unfortunately, the Traquairs have never been great entrepreneurs,

or don't seem to have had the ability

to make huge amounts of money.

So he returned penniless, I'm afraid!

Traquair House welcomes visitors from spring through to autumn.

-Might I take your photo?

-Yeah, absolutely, yeah.

-I've just arrived today from Canada.

-Have you? Great!

With the laird often acting as tour guide.

-You've met a proper lady!

-Yes!

How many generations can you trace back your family?

Well, it's 21 generations that have been in this house.

Catherine has strong family links to Mary Queen of Scots,

and if the Catholic royal succession hadn't been defeated in the

Jacobite rising 1745, Catherine could now even be Queen of Scotland.

Essentially, this would have been the royal bedchamber.

And the bed we have here now is the bed that Mary Queen of Scots

slept in when she came here in 1566.

She would have just recently had her son James,

who was a few months old, so James,

who became, of course, VI of Scotland and I of England.

The bed is wonderful, really.

Actually, it's the only bed in the house that I've never slept in.

It's still got a straw mattress.

It's been like this as long as I can remember.

It was the sacred bed.

It was the bed that we really weren't allowed to jump on.

James Edward Stuart, the father of Bonnie Prince Charlie,

looks quite sly in that portrait.

It's one of these portraits where wherever you walk in a room,

he's watching you.

Catherine's mother, Flora, lives in a smaller house on the grounds.

There she is!

Daphne.

Daphne!

Ridiculous name.

Catherine's called her Daphne!

And the other one's called Delilah.

They're very similar.

Flora and Catherine ran the estate together

after Flora's husband passed away in 1990.

Catherine took over the role full-time

when her mother retired in 1999.

She's doing very, very well.

I can't tell you how wonderful it is that she's doing it.

I think so many children of parents

who've got a big house or something, want their children to do it.

And the children think they'd like to,

and then they give up quite quickly. So I'm really thrilled.

Why do you think people give up?

Oh, because it's not the glamorous life you think it could be!

It's boring, very boring.

A lot of paperwork, a lot of secretarial work.

But she adores the house.

That's the other thing, she really loves it,

because she was brought up - we brought her up there

since she was a baby.

She never went off to a boarding school or anything like that.

And I think that's been a great help to her.

It is just remarkable.

And I still can't quite believe it's all still here,

that everything has survived so long.

It's a burden and a privilege, but I'd say more of a privilege, really.

I think, actually, there's many more women doing this sort of thing.

I was brought up at a time

when I didn't even go to university or do anything like that.

I think it's great now.

I think most women feel they can do everything now, don't they?

Don't you?

Traditionally, in Scotland,

large estates are passed on to the children.

And the day will come when Catherine's children will

have to decide who wants to take on the responsibility.

100 miles north of Traquair, at the Auchlyne estate...

Could you go upstairs and brush your teeth, darling?

..Nicola is rounding up the kids to take to school.

Go on, away upstairs and brush your teeth!

That didn't get him upstairs,

he's still at the bottom of the stairs!

Well, you shoo him upstairs then.

Nicola and the family have recently moved back from India.

Are you coming? Come on.

Nicola gave up a promising career in conservation to start

learning the running of the estate from her mum, Emma.

They've settled in here now. They've been home, what, 18 months?

And they're planning various things to try

and help the estate keep going.

Right, where's Archie?

So, yes, it's good have some new blood and different ideas.

Because one gets sort of staid.

You know, you keep in a rut.

We've always wanted to come home.

It's always been a dream for both of us to come back

and live on the estate and bring the children up on the estate.

So we're now home for good, and slowly beginning to learn

things about the estate, and how best to take it forward, really.

Are you taking over then?

I will eventually, but there's still life in the old girl yet!

It's lovely to have them home,

and it's nice to think that they all enjoy being here.

I would hate to think that neither of my children were

interested in trying to carry on.

At the other side of the estate,

Emma's husband Henry is back home for a few days.

Henry's a successful architect who works in Edinburgh most of the week.

He takes no income from the estate.

We have two children, Richard and Nicola.

Richard works in Glasgow

and Nicola has come home after doing a number of jobs abroad.

So Nicola has expressed an interest to carry on with the estate itself.

The problem will be,

you can't really change things that quickly.

So it's how does she put her mark on the estate?

Archie!

You're a ratbag, come on.

You basically are here for your lifetime.

Now, some of the newer properties, which are bought by Europeans,

might not have that end product.

Because after all, they're bought commercially, at big value,

and if things go tits-up, they're sold again.

Whereas homes like Auchlyne, for example, has been

in the family for a number of generations.

And that's the responsibility you have as a landowner.

You have a huge asset value, and no income.

So why do you do it?

Why would you do that?

Why don't you just take the money and run,

have wonderful holidays, buy fast cars, etc?

But no, it's a responsibility which you have to take on

to maintain the property for the benefit

of, basically, the nation.

Back at the Traquair Estate,

Catherine's hard at work in the office, with her assistant, Sarah.

-We could just do a couple of strings.

-Oh, all right, then.

Since Catherine took over from her father, she's turned

Traquair into a well-oiled business and tourist attraction.

Along with providing an upmarket B&B for guests,

they host several large events in the grounds,

attracting thousands of visitors.

Plus weddings and corporate functions.

Her first big challenge in the calendar is the Easter Extravaganza.

And she only has a few days left to make the finishing touches.

While upstairs,

Catherine's eldest daughter Isabella is having a break from studying.

I'm doing my last set of exams, my Highers.

I didn't do very well last year.

Due to my own failings.

But this year I have to do well.

No, you can buy tickets on the gate.

-Mum can be quite intense about it.

-Yeah!

She picks a fight with you every day about

-what you're going to do in life.

-Yeah, pretty much.

So it's better to leave her in the unknown,

so she doesn't know things, so she can't ask me about things.

The only thing she seems to know that she's doing is taking

a year off. Hasn't quite decided what she wants to study yet.

I think we're just going to see how it goes, really.

She'll take her time.

I don't doubt that she'll work out exactly what she wants to do.

So I'm not pushing her too much.

I'm not sure, it really depends.

We're going to have to go and do stuff.

I mean, the prospects now offered to any of us isn't really something...

It's like, yeah, I would love to stay here for the rest of my life(!)

It's quite a big responsibility.

Especially seeing how stressed out Mum gets, with every event,

so much stress.

It's quite...

I don't know.

It doesn't look that appealing.

It's a lot to put on young people, saying, well, this is going to

be your future, or you're definitely going to be tied to this house.

This is going to be where you have to be.

I think it's really important that they get away from the house,

they develop their own lives,

get a career somewhere else before they get back and think...

Worst thing really is to grow up here and just stay here.

I think they've got to go out and see the world.

Develop their own lives and then work out if they want to be here.

On the North West of Scotland, at the Attadale Estate,

the cold weather has passed, and the deer have retreated to the hills.

Mrs Macpherson returned from holiday to find her gardens unharmed,

but needing lots of work,

before they can accept the first visitors in a few weeks.

She also returned to the news that Attadale

has had some very special visitors.

They came to film a commercial for a new whisky.

And it starred David Beckham.

They filmed it all over the Highlands, but they did come

and use a helicopter on the zigzags at Attadale.

So it's just come out yesterday, I think.

So we were interested to see if they actually used the zigzags at all.

-Goodness me!

-What do you think of that?

It was very glamorous.

And completely...

Very funny.

Ah, there it is! Clever Alec.

-Well done, Alec! For finding it.

-Lovely!

The only other time that's really made a big difference was

the Hamish Macbeth series, they used it.

And that paid for the roof.

They did a lot of filming in the garden.

What's the actor called?

-Robert Carlyle.

-Oh, God, he was tedious!

He lay on the floor to try and get in the mood.

Well, I mean, as it was a perfectly futile story,

I don't see what sort of mood he had to get into.

It really was, he was so pompous.

As the family give it another watch...

That's Bob Kindness, who looks after the fish.

..Joanna's father Ewen is out for a spin.

Mr Macpherson has plans to step down as laird of Attadale

at the end of the summer.

And has been slowly handing over the reins to Joanna.

I'm particularly pleased that Joanna has decided

to come up here with Alec. Because you need fresh energy.

She's had a career, a very valuable one in terms of marketing.

And I'm sure she'll produce many other ideas

which will be of benefit for the estate.

So, so far so good, yep.

Mr Macpherson has supported Attadale with his finance job for 40 years.

Now he's retired,

Joanna's been left trying to find other ways to generate income.

But they have a plan.

This is where our first hydro scheme is.

This is the burn, or river -

they call the Toddle Burn -

which will be the generator.

And if all goes well, they'll start construction next May,

I think it's going to be.

The whole point is to give Joanna a chance of a regular income

for the estate, which will allow her to keep

the show on the road for at least another 20 years.

People think, great big estates must have lots of cash.

But, actually, it's not really like that.

We've got the garden that's open to the public.

And, yes, we get thousands of people who come now, which is exciting.

But actually, if you look at how much money that brings in,

it doesn't really pay for more than perhaps half a gardener or so.

Which is a bit sad.

So it's quite a challenge, making it stack up financially.

When my father's no longer around,

then perhaps we will let the stalking in a commercial way.

Because holiday cottages

and having a garden open to the public isn't enough.

In the Scottish Borders...

BELL

All those in the maze, please clear the maze,

because we would like to hide the eggs now!

..Catherine is hosting the first big event of the year at Traquair -

the Easter Extravaganza.

Well, we've got the Easter Egg Extravaganza,

so the Easter egg hunts start at 1:30pm.

We have about 5,000 eggs that we hide in the maze.

And we really guarantee that nobody leaves empty-handed,

and hopefully with not too many either!

Catherine has hosted the event for the past 15 years.

Was it two you just asked for?

And it has taken since the start of the year to plan.

Isabella will give you a lesson on the hiding of the egg.

The correct way to hide an egg.

She's enlisted her three children to help hide eggs in the maze

for the Easter egg hunt.

And eldest daughter Isabella's in charge to make sure it's done right.

You've come up with a good technique to screw them in.

But her younger sister, Charlotte,

seems to have a more casual approach.

-Have you and your friends been fulfilling that standard?

-Erm...

Because I don't believe that you have.

You've had two bags each, and it needs to be evenly spread.

-And if you've eaten them all...

-No...

-I'm going to get in trouble,

-because I'm in charge.

-They haven't eaten any.

Not up to standard.

I don't know what they thought they were doing(!)

That's the problem with employing kids!

Isabella has her final exams starting next month, and will then

be free to help her mum with all the events during the summer.

Outside the maze, there's a problem.

It seems to have got very busy.

Apparently Susan's struggling up there and the queues are huge.

Oh, are they?

The unseasonably warm weather has attracted more visitors

than they were expecting.

And they risk running out of eggs.

Right, I'm just going to tell you a few rules of the Easter egg hunt.

So Catherine lays down the law.

A couple of handfuls each at most.

Please don't come out with hundreds,

because that means other children won't get any.

Try and form an orderly queue.

We've got to be really careful when we're letting kids in to try

and just have 15 at a time and then have a break.

So that requires the assertiveness of my daughter,

who's looking rather worried at the moment.

Are you ready? Are you ready?

Right.

I think we'll do a countdown.

Five,

four,

three,

two,

-one!

-BELL

While the hunt gets underway, Catherine's second-in-command,

Sarah, is frantically scrambling to find more eggs.

Is that special ones?

Yeah, could get them to hide them in the maze.

They could be for people that haven't found any?

But back outside, some children are already coming up short.

It's all right at the moment.

There was a few people going, "My kid didn't get any chocolate eggs!"

Some lost children as well.

Did you find some?

No? Here, here, here!

Here we go.

Catherine hands out eggs to the unlucky children.

But soon she has a bigger problem on her hands.

-I'm really worried about my son.

-Do you want to go...?

We've gone in, he's not there, there's a gate on the other side,

-that no-one's manning.

-That's locked.

-It doesn't matter, someone could go over it.

-I don't...

There's no-one standing there, my son has gone missing.

All right, what does he look like?

-He's the one with Spider-Man on his face.

-Oh, the Spider-Man? OK.

Lost children are one of the downsides of having

one of Scotland's largest hedge mazes.

Where are you?

Catherine will have to put things on hold

as the egg hunts becomes a manhunt.

And at the Auchlyne estate in Glen Dochart...

Anybody want a snack?

..Emma Paterson is high in the hills

with her award-winning Highland cattle.

Do you want a snack? No, I know YOU don't want a snack.

Do you want a snack?

Do you want a snack? No?

Emma has to choose her best bull to enter into the annual

Highland Cattle Society show in Oban next month.

Want a snack?

Oh, don't be so silly!

But the bulls don't seem as keen.

Yoo-hoo!

They're off.

While down on the banks of the river, Emma's husband Henry

is back home for a few days.

Em took over the running of the estate from her mother,

after she had a small stroke.

Not Em, her mother.

And has run the estate for the last, gosh, it must be 20 years.

Em's mother, Judy Bowser,

she in fact got the estate when she was 21.

And started what is now the famous

Glen Dochart Highland fold of Highland cows.

Do you want a snack?

Judy spent a long time developing the breed.

Obviously, over the years,

Em has equally enjoyed the Highland cattle.

So she has in fact taken over the responsibility of the fold.

No? You want it on the ground?

There, you mean?

The problem with that is,

it costs twice as much to keep

a cow for the year as the calf is worth.

So basically, you're £200 out of pocket each year

for keeping one Highland cow.

So if you then promote that to, say, 100,

you're losing a lot of money.

I don't have the time to spend that mother did with the cattle.

They were the love of her life.

She was up here every day looking at them and talking to them.

It's bit of a struggle, because they don't make money.

Why do you keep on doing it?

What else would I do?

No, I would like to see it carrying on,

because it is one of the oldest folds in the country. But...

You know, you can't just carry on something because it's the

oldest thing if it's not making a profit,

or it's not washing its face.

Money, sadly, doesn't grow on trees.

So we'll just have to see how it goes.

I don't know where he is, but we will be looking for him.

At Traquair, there's been no sign of the lost child.

And Catherine's had to close the maze.

But just as the last people exit...

Did you get some?

-Yes.

-Oh, it's you! You're the... Ahhh!

You've got some as well!

We're very pleased to see you.

You've found some eggs as well? Well, have a couple more,

for getting lost and being found again.

You didn't find any? OK, here you go.

Disaster averted, Catherine can start winding down the festival.

Well, it's been a pretty good day. Quite exhausted now.

We had a huge turnout.

And I think, hopefully, everything went well.

We actually have still got a bag of eggs left,

so that means everybody went home not empty-handed, which is great.

Fingers crossed, the money will be good.

So it'll all have been worthwhile.

Do you want some prosecco?

Catherine's husband Mark is a QC, and a trustee of Traquair,

but isn't involved in the day-to-day running of the estate.

Give me a little Easter kiss.

But at the end of the summer,

he'll be hosting his own event with a very important guest speaker,

who might attract more visitors than Traquair has ever had.

We say cheers, well done, Catherine.

Cheers!

So this is the two that we got yesterday.

Back at Attadale,

head stalker Tom is busy preparing the deer to be sold for venison.

So that's all the male organs.

And other parts.

Deer penises and testicles, yeah.

That all gets exported out to the Far East.

They use it as an aphrodisiac,

but I'm probably more needing to keep it myself.

You didn't get days like this when you were stalking, Mr Ewen?

Never anything like this!

It's approaching the end of the stalking season.

And after almost 40 years at Attadale, Tom is set to retire.

This is my 37th season.

I've been here since '79.

In some ways, I think it's time to call it a day.

But...

I'm not...

The eyesight's starting to go a bit.

Bones are starting to ache.

So I think it's time to step aside and let someone else get on with it.

My son Thomas is taking over from me.

I never thought I'd be the head stalker here.

I always hoped I would be one day, if opportunities arose.

That I'd get the chance to maybe come in behind him

and hopefully do as good a job.

So we'll wait and see. I'll be a man of leisure after that.

Tom retiring will coincide with Mr Macpherson finally

standing down as laird of Attadale,

and handing over the running of the estate to Joanna.

Well, looking to the future, when Thomas takes over,

things will obviously change, we move down a generation,

it's Joanna and Thomas rather than me and Tom.

And I'm sure Joanna will go on stalking

as long as she physically can.

It's a sport which one becomes addicted to.

For Joanna, I think it'll be a little bit harder

to get into the role that Mr Macpherson did.

The financial side of running the estate, it's not a cheap operation.

It costs a lot of money.

What we make in a day at the stags doesn't cover the cost of the wages.

It's not a profitable organisation as such.

Mr Mac has basically paid for it out of his own pocket for many years.

And now Joanna's going to take over.

So she has to run the estate and make it work.

At the Auchlyne estate in Glen Dochart...

Archie, there's a rugby ball down there as well, please.

..Nicola is entertaining the children in the garden.

While Emma visits the trophy room in the attic.

It's the day of the Highland Cattle Society show.

Yes, there's 1970...

She's hoping to return with a prize to hang alongside her mother's.

It's like going into a graveyard, looking for all the old stones.

But it won't be easy.

I think there's probably more pressure now than there used to be,

because when Mum was doing a lot of showing,

no disrespect to her, but back in the '70s and '80s,

there weren't so many people interested in Highland cattle.

But now they've become far more popular.

And a lot of people now who have Highland cattle

are rearing them on much better ground than we have here.

So there's a bit more pressure when it comes to showing,

because you're competing against a much wider audience.

And how involved is Nicola with the cattle side of things at the moment?

At the moment, she really isn't.

It's all something she's got to learn,

because I had to learn it very suddenly

after my mother had a stroke. She sort of handed, she said,

"Right, it's up to you to take over."

And that was quite a steep learning curve, I tell you.

But she still interfered when she felt like it!

So I'll try not to interfere when it comes to Nicola's turn,

but I probably will.

Yeah, I think, Mum,

she does enjoy them and she does love them.

But it's probably done to keep it going for tradition's sake,

rather than it being financially successful.

I would probably keep it going for tradition,

but it just has to work financially.

And if it doesn't, then, well, it's a loss leader. You can't...

You know, you can't keep something going if it doesn't work.

It would be a shame to lose them.

Here we go. It's quite cold today!

I thought it would be warmer here.

Emma's arrived in Oban.

-OVER PA:

-'First, number 14. Second, number 13.

'Third, number 11 and fourth, number 12.'

Emma's prize-winning hopeful is Tearlaidh,

which is Gaelic for Charlie.

She has to make sure he's looking his best if he's to stand

a chance against the other two-year-olds in his class.

To be in the running nowadays, you've got to be,

you've got to think nine, 12 months ahead.

Sometimes you'll hear them say,

they've just come straight off the hill yesterday.

Well...

Emma's next into the ring with Charlie.

All she can do now is wait.

In the Scottish Borders, the Traquair Estate is holding

one of its most important events of the year.

The Beyond Borders Festival

of International Literature and Thought.

But instead of Catherine running the show,

in charge today is Catherine's husband, Mark.

And he's expecting a big turnout.

I wanted to just have this little chat,

because there will be problems.

And I no doubt think because of my own reluctance

to close the ticket sales, there will be...

LAUGHTER

And if you think I'm bad...

-You know, Catherine is like...

-LAUGHTER

"Get the money in, and then we'll worry about the problem!"

It's very lovely for me, obviously, I don't have a specific role

other than helping Mark host the event this weekend. So it's great.

I just get to socialise, network and enjoy it.

Mark is a QC, and works for the United Nations as a mediator.

He started Beyond Borders - an organisation dedicated to

fostering peace through dialogue - six years ago.

And part of this weekend's events focus on a peace initiative

around women in conflict.

Sometimes they do this...

As always, Catherine and Mark have roped in their kids to help out.

With Louis manning the microphone for the Q&A,

youngest daughter Charlotte is selling home-made brownies...

Welcome to my crib!

..and Isabella is managing the visitors throughout

the various events of the day.

And there's one very important guest who's expected to draw a big crowd.

We're waiting with bated breath for Nicola Sturgeon.

She's on her way from Glasgow as we speak.

I'm going to take Nicola Sturgeon on a tour around Traquair House.

Imagine that.

Isabella's finished her exams.

And her results have been the focus of a lot of attention.

I've been trying to avoid so many people today.

Because every event, it's like...

Oh, same conversation 20 times.

"What's going on?"

"Have you left school?"

"What are you doing this year?" "What are your plans?"

I have to keep saying, I don't know.

It's bit of an anti-climax.

All right? How you doing?

Oh, on the move.

Catherine? Can you clear this? Clear it.

Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon,

is one of the most influential women in British politics, and is here to

give support to Beyond Borders and its Women In Conflict initiative.

-Thank you very much.

-This is Catherine.

Hi, lovely to see you, Catherine, hi.

Nicola's on the move, got to follow Nicola.

What I'm really worried about is

whether not it's going to be too packed.

-What's it looking like in there?

-Good. I actually wasn't in.

Well, I think it's always great to get as many people,

politicians and everyone to come see Traquair.

They may not be coming here just to see the house, in fact,

that's probably the last on her list of priorities,

but actually, it's just a great privilege to have her.

APPLAUSE

Well, on behalf of Beyond Borders, it gives me great pleasure to

welcome First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to Traquair House.

Let me just start by asking you this -

you've been propelled in a very short space of time

from being well known in Scotland

to having a kind of international celebrity status now.

You ask that question about me as an individual.

I actually think what has happened over the past year for Scotland is

that the country has been propelled onto the international stage.

As the talk gets started...

..at the Attadale estate,

Joanna has her son Jack and daughter Charlotte visiting

for a very special family outing.

Ammunition...

It's Tom's last day deerstalking with the family.

Catch you later! See you later.

Little bit anxious, being the last day.

You want it to be as successful as the other ones.

But you've just got to take it as it comes.

Once I get out on the hill, I'll be all right.

Jack and Charlotte travelled up from London especially

to be here for Tom's last day.

The first time they've all been together. Probably be the last!

There'll be a family feud once we get up the road a bit.

LAUGHTER

There she is.

Charlotte, why aren't you looking for the deer?

Because I've seen them.

Each estate in Scotland is given a cull target

by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Numbers have to be kept in check to prevent overgrazing

and protect the wider environment.

-OK, let's go.

-Off we go.

And Tom hasn't yet reached their target.

But it's not long before they spot their first stag.

Tom takes Charlotte to the crest of the hill.

It's the closest they can get without being spotted.

But they're still a bit further away than Tom would like.

Charlotte lines up to take the shot.

-That's good. Reload.

-Reload.

-Reload.

But she shoots straight.

-Where is he?

-He's dead. Well done.

Nerve-racking moments!

Tom removes the organs to stop the meat from spoiling.

Tom's son, Thomas, can now take it down the hill,

while the others stop for lunch.

Well, he enjoys it. It's his life, it's what he's always done.

His father's done it, his brothers have done it.

It's the only way of life he really knows.

I shot my first deer when I was 11 or 12.

And I've been doing this since I was - I've been taking out guests -

since I was 15.

So that's about 51 years.

I consider myself very lucky, really.

I can't really say much more than that.

The Highland Cattle Society show has attracted

a record number of visitors.

And all eyes are on the ring for the two-year-old class.

Emma's waiting to see if the judge thinks her bull, Charlie,

is worthy of an award.

This is a new judge, yes. A German judge.

The Germans are very keen on their Highland cattle.

It's quite interesting to see

how somebody from a different country thinks.

Charlie's the last bull to be inspected before a decision is made.

And with that, time's up.

The bulls have one final walk around the ring before the judge

places them in order in a line.

Charlie has to be placed in the top three to earn Emma her prize.

The judge has made his decision.

-OVER PA:

-'First, number 24...'

Charlie's missed out on first place.

But...

'Second, number 23.'

Well, we got second.

In a class of, what?

One, two, three, four, five...

About nine beasts. So I'm pretty chuffed with that.

So, yes, very excited. Good.

It's a great achievement for Emma,

and she can now hang her certificate up next to her mum's.

Meanwhile, back at Auchlyne, Nicola has had some news.

I'd been looking at a friend's website,

I seen that she had a link to a business initiative

on the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park website.

Every so often I'll go and see if there's any vacancies.

I went and there was this role.

I sent in my application form, and they phoned back that afternoon

and said they would like me to...

You know...

Offered me the role.

Well done!

Nicola's new job will be supporting land managers in the area,

but it will also help support Auchlyne.

I think my motivation for taking on this new job is that,

you know, poor Gus, he is bankrolling me.

As I say, I don't take a salary from the estate.

And we both feel that we're not putting any money aside

for a pension or anything like that.

So I need to pull my weight!

Mum, she takes everything in her stride, she always does.

I love her to bits.

She's always there to pick up the pieces whenever I need her.

So this is just another example of her doing that for me!

Nicola Sturgeon has finished her talk at Traquair house.

That's a wrap.

And Catherine and Mark can begin to wind things down.

Just immensely proud of the team who've done their jobs today.

And Nicola's endorsement means everything to them,

as it does to me.

You know, the interesting thing is here is a First Minister,

female First Minister,

coming to an estate run by Traquair's first lady laird.

And to meet a whole group of female peacemakers from around the world.

That says something about the way which society's changing.

Not all estates are full of puffed-up,

out-of-date aristocrats who look backward.

Actually, this is a modern estate - although it's 900 years old -

being run by a modern woman.

So I think Catherine will be delighted.

And she deserves it.

Back at Attadale...

-RADIO:

-'Hi, Thomas, can you hear me? Over.'

Yes, go ahead.

The party have had a successful day, and they can begin to head for home.

Yep, I'll let you know where we're heading. OK, out.

We've had a really fun time today,

because everyone knows each other very well.

And everyone's feeling very relaxed, really.

So it's actually been really great fun.

It's quite rare for Charlotte and Jack to be on their own together,

which is why they're behaving like ten-year-olds.

But actually, it's been amusing and fun,

and quite memorable in its way.

They start the long journey back down to the house.

And for Tom, it will be the last time he's out with the family.

Mixed feelings, really.

I have to say, this morning, walking out,

up the west end,

up Beinn Dronaig,

there was moisture running down my cheeks,

and I have to say, it wasn't all sweat.

What can you say?

Best part of the world, as far as I'm concerned.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is both a celebration tonight,

and also, in some ways, an opportunity to look back.

I hope he would agree with me that in fact he's done the job

he always wanted to do...

in a place which... Attadale is a very special place.

So I think I'm going to ask you all to raise your glass

and drink to Tom's health, and for future happiness.

Hooray! Tom!

It is an end of an era.

But actually, it's not so serious as it might be,

because Thomas Watson, his son, is taking over,

who knows the ropes.

Life will go on.

But it was a chance for people to reminisce,

and I could tell my parents really enjoyed it,

which was fun. And everyone had a good time.

Since filming...

..Emma has continued to keep and show her famous Highland cattle...

What's that little person?

..as Nicola thrives at her new job as a land management adviser

for the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

I actually felt guilty, doing a runner on the estate.

No, I'm quite happy with the added granny duties.

You're going to be a big, strong boy for me, aren't you?

And continue to pick your nose, lovely!

At Attadale...

Well, I finally retired at the end of January.

..Joanna officially took over from her father.

They successfully started a hydroelectric scheme on the grounds,

which should secure the estate financially for the next 20 years.

And at the Traquair Estate...

..Catherine continues to put on bigger and better events.

While Isabella got her exam results,

and is now planning a gap year to travel before going to university.

I wouldn't mind coming back here to help run Traquair.

I'll definitely feel responsible to come back,

if nobody else is going to do it.

Because you can't just...

It would be very selfish not to do it!

Once you come back, it's really difficult to leave.

So I think the longer you can stay away, probably the better.