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Our great country houses. | 0:00:03 | 0:00:04 | |
The most familiar and yet intriguing sights | 0:00:04 | 0:00:07 | |
Britain has to offer. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:09 | |
Standing like sentinels in the landscape. | 0:00:09 | 0:00:11 | |
Hundreds of thousands of us visit them every year, | 0:00:15 | 0:00:18 | |
but not all are open to the public. | 0:00:18 | 0:00:20 | |
I've been granted the privileged opportunity | 0:00:20 | 0:00:23 | |
to pass through the portals of six of our greatest country houses | 0:00:23 | 0:00:28 | |
normally hidden from public view. | 0:00:28 | 0:00:30 | |
They've seen five centuries of British history, | 0:00:33 | 0:00:36 | |
up close and personal. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:38 | |
The families who built these houses | 0:00:38 | 0:00:42 | |
played their part in great affairs of state. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:46 | |
Central to their dreams - the great house, the ultimate status symbol. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:53 | |
But all too often, also the ultimate money drainer. | 0:00:53 | 0:00:57 | |
Few of these families went the distance, but their houses did, | 0:00:57 | 0:01:01 | |
with their secrets intact. | 0:01:01 | 0:01:03 | |
This is their story, but it's also our story, | 0:01:05 | 0:01:09 | |
for these houses offer a guided tour of our nation's hidden history. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:14 | |
Scotland - a land where castles were the seats of power | 0:01:30 | 0:01:35 | |
for longer than anywhere else in Britain. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:38 | |
Since the Middle Ages, | 0:01:38 | 0:01:44 | |
these were the homes of choice | 0:01:44 | 0:01:47 | |
for the ruling elite. | 0:01:47 | 0:01:49 | |
And of course, what a ruler needs if he's to be successful | 0:01:53 | 0:01:59 | |
is a firm grip on power. | 0:01:59 | 0:02:00 | |
And so, the castle became the power base, | 0:02:00 | 0:02:04 | |
a symbol of strength, designed to withstand everything, | 0:02:04 | 0:02:08 | |
even the tests of time. | 0:02:08 | 0:02:11 | |
But in Scotland, in the late 17th century, | 0:02:22 | 0:02:24 | |
something extraordinary happened. | 0:02:24 | 0:02:27 | |
A completely different type of grand house appeared on the scene, | 0:02:27 | 0:02:31 | |
and it started to make castles like this | 0:02:31 | 0:02:33 | |
look as old-fashioned as a medieval suit of armour. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:37 | |
'I'm on my way to see the house that changed everything.' | 0:02:41 | 0:02:46 | |
Here it is, Kinross House. It's fantastic! | 0:02:46 | 0:02:50 | |
There's no winding drive here. The house explodes right in front of me. | 0:02:50 | 0:02:57 | |
It's incredible. A perfect classical villa, | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
mathematically precise. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
It's like driving into Italy here. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:04 | |
It's astonishing - 300 years old, | 0:03:04 | 0:03:08 | |
but still almost shockingly new. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:11 | |
This was the first fully-classical house in Scotland. | 0:03:15 | 0:03:20 | |
Its architect was William Bruce, | 0:03:23 | 0:03:24 | |
who was every bit as revolutionary in his impact on his country | 0:03:24 | 0:03:28 | |
as his house was on its architecture. | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
Bruce played a key role | 0:03:33 | 0:03:34 | |
in the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:38 | |
But he flew too close to the sun, | 0:03:38 | 0:03:40 | |
his fall every bit as spectacular as his rise. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:44 | |
Kinross is a stunning monument to his towering success, | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
but also to his ultimate failure. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:52 | |
For me, this is one of the most beautiful classical buildings in Britain. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:02 | |
It's the epitome of civilised architecture. | 0:04:02 | 0:04:06 | |
A grave and solemn presence | 0:04:06 | 0:04:10 | |
in a wonderful romantic landscape. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:16 | |
Just as the country house displaced the castle in England | 0:04:16 | 0:04:20 | |
a century and a half earlier, | 0:04:20 | 0:04:22 | |
so Kinross made turrets and battlements outdated | 0:04:22 | 0:04:25 | |
as Scotland embraced peace at last. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:29 | |
With Charles Stuart on the throne | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
after years of civil war, | 0:04:33 | 0:04:35 | |
and then Oliver Cromwell's strict rule, | 0:04:35 | 0:04:37 | |
Scotland regained its own parliament | 0:04:37 | 0:04:40 | |
and sense of destiny and independence. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:42 | |
Kinross was built, and the future finally looked bright, | 0:04:42 | 0:04:47 | |
not just for its owner, | 0:04:47 | 0:04:49 | |
but for his country too. | 0:04:49 | 0:04:50 | |
Hidden here, are insights into the restoration of Charles II in 1660 | 0:04:52 | 0:04:59 | |
and insights into Scotland's history, | 0:04:59 | 0:05:01 | |
into those visions of glory and independence, | 0:05:01 | 0:05:05 | |
and into those ghastly moments of bitter despair. | 0:05:05 | 0:05:10 | |
It's thrilling to enter such an important house | 0:05:12 | 0:05:15 | |
that's been secret for so long. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:18 | |
To be granted privileged access. | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
My goodness! | 0:05:21 | 0:05:23 | |
The entrance hall is wonderful. | 0:05:23 | 0:05:25 | |
Intact, authentic. | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
I can feel, standing here, | 0:05:28 | 0:05:30 | |
I'm about to meet William Bruce himself, | 0:05:30 | 0:05:33 | |
lurking somewhere in the shadows. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:35 | |
The house has little changed since Bruce started to build in 1685. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:47 | |
But in less than 100 years, | 0:05:47 | 0:05:49 | |
Bruce's classical architecture became Scotland's national style. | 0:05:49 | 0:05:53 | |
The country was shedding its medieval skin. | 0:05:56 | 0:05:59 | |
Edinburgh, just 25 miles away, | 0:05:59 | 0:06:02 | |
would soon become a crucible of the Enlightenment, | 0:06:02 | 0:06:05 | |
a Europe-wide philosophical movement | 0:06:05 | 0:06:07 | |
that ushered in the rational modern world. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:10 | |
At Kinross, Bruce heralded this transformation, | 0:06:19 | 0:06:21 | |
pointing towards Scotland's golden age. | 0:06:21 | 0:06:24 | |
What makes Bruce's building of Kinross even more impressive | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
is that he wasn't an aristocrat with inherited wealth, | 0:06:34 | 0:06:38 | |
he was a self-made man. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:40 | |
And he never even trained as an architect, | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
he was a merchant. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:44 | |
Yet he managed to create for himself a miniature royal palace. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:49 | |
The house is Bruce's way of using architecture to proclaim, | 0:06:53 | 0:06:57 | |
"I've arrived." | 0:06:57 | 0:07:00 | |
He'd been born to minor gentry of modest means, | 0:07:00 | 0:07:02 | |
and had to make his own fortune | 0:07:02 | 0:07:04 | |
before he could even think of building Kinross. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:07 | |
Bruce wanted visitors to be impressed, | 0:07:09 | 0:07:12 | |
so he created for himself a processional route | 0:07:12 | 0:07:15 | |
of a type usually reserved for royal palaces. | 0:07:15 | 0:07:18 | |
And this was a route with a message - | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
the deeper a guest was permitted to penetrate | 0:07:23 | 0:07:25 | |
towards the more intimate rooms, | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
then the higher their status. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:30 | |
The large saloon on the first floor | 0:07:30 | 0:07:32 | |
would be a general gathering place for all guests. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:35 | |
You can imagine it, people milling around, | 0:07:35 | 0:07:38 | |
gathered by the fireplaces, enjoying themselves. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:40 | |
And then, the filtering starts by the door over here. | 0:07:40 | 0:07:44 | |
Some people now would be excluded. | 0:07:46 | 0:07:49 | |
Only the cream of local society | 0:07:49 | 0:07:51 | |
would be allowed to enter into the next set of rooms. | 0:07:51 | 0:07:55 | |
The chosen few would have entered here. | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
This was the state drawing room - now somewhat altered. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
Here, the guests would mix on more friendly terms with the family, | 0:08:03 | 0:08:08 | |
but the filtering doesn't stop here. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:12 | |
Through this door is another room. | 0:08:12 | 0:08:15 | |
And even fewer people would have been allowed in here, | 0:08:17 | 0:08:20 | |
the anteroom or waiting room. | 0:08:20 | 0:08:23 | |
They're waiting to be received here, | 0:08:25 | 0:08:27 | |
by William Bruce, in his bed chamber. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:31 | |
This was a sign of great intimacy, | 0:08:31 | 0:08:35 | |
reserved for only the very, very few. | 0:08:35 | 0:08:38 | |
But it didn't end here. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
And through here is the holy of holies. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:47 | |
A closet like this formed the end of the route. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:53 | |
It's so small, it really had an enforced intimacy | 0:08:53 | 0:08:58 | |
and it's so wonderfully richly decorated. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:02 | |
It's a miniature architectural wonder. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:04 | |
Look at this terrific fireplace here, rich carving. | 0:09:04 | 0:09:08 | |
Once you'd entered this room, then you knew you had arrived. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:14 | |
This processional route through the sequence of formal rooms, | 0:09:16 | 0:09:20 | |
a barometer that revealed a guest's social standing, | 0:09:20 | 0:09:23 | |
was novel in Scotland. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:25 | |
And there's other evidence in the house to suggest that Bruce | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
designed Kinross to reflect the most avant-garde architectural ideas. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
It was to be a very modern home indeed. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:36 | |
Because Bruce was at the peak of his career and Kinross was a new build, | 0:09:38 | 0:09:43 | |
the house could contain all the latest features. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:47 | |
Menzies reflected increasing concern for comfort, | 0:09:47 | 0:09:50 | |
convenience and privacy. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:52 | |
What that meant essentially was organising the plan, | 0:09:52 | 0:09:55 | |
so the family could be kept away from the servants, | 0:09:55 | 0:09:58 | |
or perhaps more to the point, | 0:09:58 | 0:09:59 | |
the servants could be kept away from the family. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
Bruce designed the house to separate the masters from their staff. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:17 | |
Dozens of servants could be tucked away in basements, closets | 0:10:18 | 0:10:23 | |
and mezzanine floors. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:25 | |
This new type of planning became popular in Britain | 0:10:26 | 0:10:29 | |
in the 17th century because of a growing concern for privacy. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:34 | |
The family didn't want to see the servants that waited on them, | 0:10:34 | 0:10:38 | |
or see what they might have in their possession. | 0:10:38 | 0:10:41 | |
A typical job for servants | 0:10:43 | 0:10:45 | |
was to remove night soil from bedrooms in the morning. | 0:10:45 | 0:10:48 | |
Now, the chamber pots could be full to brimming. | 0:10:48 | 0:10:53 | |
I'm simulating that now. There are limits to authenticity! | 0:10:53 | 0:10:57 | |
Then, these chamber pots... | 0:10:57 | 0:10:59 | |
Eugh, I put my finger in it, how disgusting... | 0:10:59 | 0:11:02 | |
Then the servant had to remove the full chamber pot from the house | 0:11:02 | 0:11:08 | |
with great discretion. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
They could use this secret, virtually hidden service staircase. | 0:11:11 | 0:11:16 | |
Now, this is going to be something of a challenge. | 0:11:16 | 0:11:20 | |
Oh. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:22 | |
Oh, no, I've spilt some! | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
Presumably that's a sackable offence. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:27 | |
Now, it would sting, wouldn't it? This is so small. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:30 | |
I'm rather bigger, I suppose, than the 17th-century servant. | 0:11:30 | 0:11:35 | |
These are now called pages' staircases. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:37 | |
People assume only little boys would run up and down. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:40 | |
Might be the case, but I expect servant girls as well, | 0:11:40 | 0:11:43 | |
carrying chamber pots brimming with human waste. | 0:11:43 | 0:11:48 | |
Oh, dear! | 0:11:48 | 0:11:50 | |
Oh, dear, this is very... It's terrible! | 0:11:50 | 0:11:54 | |
Not doing very well. | 0:11:54 | 0:11:56 | |
I'm now, ooh, worse and worse, | 0:11:56 | 0:11:58 | |
wading through human waste and dropping my towel in it. | 0:11:58 | 0:12:02 | |
How absolutely disgusting. | 0:12:02 | 0:12:04 | |
This staircase is part of a parallel world created in the house | 0:12:04 | 0:12:08 | |
to ensure that servants and nasty things | 0:12:08 | 0:12:13 | |
are kept out of the sight of the family. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:17 | |
Everything about the house | 0:12:25 | 0:12:27 | |
was just as finely calculated as its hidden servants' quarters. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:31 | |
Not least the splendid exterior. | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
You'd never guess at Bruce's epic struggle | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
up the steep slopes of power | 0:12:38 | 0:12:40 | |
by looking at the cool, confident, classical form of his creation. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:45 | |
One of the most impressive things about Kinross House | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
is the precision and regularity of the stonework. | 0:13:01 | 0:13:05 | |
It's absolutely beautiful, which really enhances | 0:13:05 | 0:13:09 | |
the wonderful harmonic quality of the design of the building. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:14 | |
It feels like it's a building that's going to last for ever, | 0:13:14 | 0:13:17 | |
incredibly strong, a building created for eternity. | 0:13:17 | 0:13:21 | |
And of course, that is just the point. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:23 | |
Bruce was building this to last. | 0:13:23 | 0:13:25 | |
This is his family home. He's creating a dynasty on this land, | 0:13:25 | 0:13:28 | |
it is indeed to last for eternity. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:30 | |
It has a wonderful Roman quality to it. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
Bruce's aim was to found a dynasty here. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:36 | |
Visitors at the time would quickly have appreciated | 0:13:37 | 0:13:41 | |
that the house and its estate were fit for a lord. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
And that's exactly what Bruce hoped to become. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:49 | |
But they would also have been struck by something the house lacked - | 0:13:49 | 0:13:53 | |
fortifications. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:55 | |
What did Scotland's aristocratic families make of this? | 0:13:55 | 0:13:59 | |
Well, there in the distance is Glamis Castle, wonderful. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:07 | |
It's an ancient building, greatly re-modelled in the 1670s and 1680s | 0:14:07 | 0:14:12 | |
at exactly the time that William Bruce | 0:14:12 | 0:14:15 | |
was designing and rebuilding Kinross House. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:18 | |
It's this sort of architecture with its battlements, pinnacles | 0:14:18 | 0:14:22 | |
and its tower that Bruce was reacting against. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:26 | |
Glamis Castle has a starring role in Macbeth. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:33 | |
It was also the ancestral home of the late Queen Mother. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:37 | |
In the 1680s, it was the seat of Patrick, Earl of Strathmore, | 0:14:40 | 0:14:43 | |
one of the most powerful men in Scotland. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:47 | |
While Bruce was creating the refined Kinross, | 0:14:48 | 0:14:51 | |
Lord Strathmore was busy extending his castle | 0:14:51 | 0:14:54 | |
with more warlike additions, just as his ancestors had always done. | 0:14:54 | 0:14:59 | |
The castle's fortifications are still carefully maintained | 0:15:02 | 0:15:05 | |
by Patrick's successor, Michael, the 18th earl. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:09 | |
Really at Glamis, we've been here as a family since its inception. | 0:15:11 | 0:15:14 | |
And I think Patrick wouldn't have wanted to | 0:15:14 | 0:15:19 | |
raze the castle that was here to the ground | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
and build, in those days, a modern house. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | |
He wanted to keep re-modelling. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:26 | |
That was important, to have continuity | 0:15:26 | 0:15:28 | |
and not to have a clean sweep and build a, you know, | 0:15:28 | 0:15:31 | |
Italian-style classical building, | 0:15:31 | 0:15:33 | |
but just to really make the castle bigger, | 0:15:33 | 0:15:36 | |
but it still looked like a castle. | 0:15:36 | 0:15:38 | |
Exactly that. I mean, he added the west wing, | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
which balanced the east wing. | 0:15:41 | 0:15:43 | |
And he did a lot in the gardens | 0:15:43 | 0:15:45 | |
and also the front avenue, or drive, as we call it now. | 0:15:45 | 0:15:49 | |
Obviously glad with his creation, there's a sensational portrait of him there. | 0:15:49 | 0:15:53 | |
He's dressed in sort of skin-tight, skin-coloured Roman armour, | 0:15:53 | 0:15:57 | |
pointing at the newly completed extended castle. | 0:15:57 | 0:16:01 | |
There it is on, on the right. | 0:16:01 | 0:16:03 | |
Well, there indeed he is, with his three sons. | 0:16:03 | 0:16:06 | |
And he's quite rightly very, very proud of his creation. | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
And as for the skin-tight Roman armour, | 0:16:09 | 0:16:15 | |
I think one can only put it down to the fashion of the time. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
Do you know what the 3rd Earl thought of Sir William Bruce | 0:16:18 | 0:16:21 | |
and his sort of rather radical new classical style | 0:16:21 | 0:16:25 | |
introduced at Kinross House? | 0:16:25 | 0:16:27 | |
Would that have been provocative to the 3rd Earl? | 0:16:27 | 0:16:31 | |
Well, I think in terms of different types of architecture, | 0:16:31 | 0:16:36 | |
I mean it's rather like chalk and cheese. | 0:16:36 | 0:16:38 | |
Glamis is completely different from Kinross. | 0:16:38 | 0:16:41 | |
And I'm guessing, but I suspect possibly the 3rd Earl | 0:16:41 | 0:16:45 | |
regarded Bruce's architecture as somewhat nouveau riche. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:50 | |
To an ancient family like the Strathmores, | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
William Bruce's pile may well indeed have seemed | 0:16:57 | 0:16:59 | |
just a little bit nouveau. A new build made with new money. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:03 | |
But Bruce was clearly determined to strike out in a style | 0:17:07 | 0:17:11 | |
that was new for Scotland. | 0:17:11 | 0:17:13 | |
Not for him old fashioned looming towers and bristling battlements, | 0:17:15 | 0:17:20 | |
the ornaments of the past. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:22 | |
Instead, Bruce wanted cool, clean forms. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:26 | |
Where once was asymmetry, eccentricity and disorder, | 0:17:26 | 0:17:31 | |
now there was harmony, balance and clean, crisp precision. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:35 | |
Bruce turned his back on the castellated world | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
of the Scottish country house | 0:17:40 | 0:17:42 | |
and was inspired by the architecture of Renaissance Italy, | 0:17:42 | 0:17:45 | |
and by the great modern buildings he'd seen abroad. | 0:17:45 | 0:17:48 | |
And yet for all its newness, William Bruce's house was also organised | 0:17:56 | 0:18:01 | |
around a clear-eyed appreciation of the virtues of the old. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:05 | |
And this, I believe, is where the real magic of Kinross lies. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:10 | |
Sitting here on the roof, I can begin to understand | 0:18:12 | 0:18:15 | |
the power and the meaning of Kinross House. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:18 | |
It's organised around a straight route | 0:18:18 | 0:18:20 | |
that starts right up there by the entrance gates. | 0:18:20 | 0:18:25 | |
It comes down the drive and then into the house. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:28 | |
The straight route continues through the centre of the house, | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
down these steps, into the garden and has a long way to go. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:49 | |
The route is marked by this grassy path | 0:18:59 | 0:19:02 | |
at the heart of the garden designed by William Bruce. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:05 | |
The route then passes through this splendid gate in front of me, | 0:19:05 | 0:19:09 | |
ornamented with carvings of fishes - wonderful! | 0:19:09 | 0:19:14 | |
I go through the arch here and the route continues onwards and onwards. | 0:19:14 | 0:19:19 | |
I'm looking at the route now back to the house | 0:19:19 | 0:19:23 | |
and the route continues across the loch | 0:19:23 | 0:19:25 | |
and terminates at the castle way over there in front of me. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:30 | |
It's amazing. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:33 | |
The house and the garden are all aligned on that castle. | 0:19:33 | 0:19:37 | |
It is the focus of everything. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:39 | |
I'm now going across to see the castle. | 0:19:58 | 0:20:01 | |
It's where Mary Queen of Scots, that most tragic of figures, | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
was imprisoned in 1567. | 0:20:04 | 0:20:07 | |
She was there for 11 months. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
Thousands of tourists make the pilgrimage to Loch Leven Castle every year. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:23 | |
It was here that the reckless and ill advised Mary was forced | 0:20:23 | 0:20:27 | |
to abdicate the throne in favour of her baby son James. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:32 | |
He was later to become James VI of Scotland and James I of England. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:41 | |
Why was Loch Leven Castle so important for Bruce? | 0:20:43 | 0:20:47 | |
Why did he make it the focus of his architectural vision? | 0:20:47 | 0:20:50 | |
Was it because he wanted to use his ancient architecture to | 0:20:50 | 0:20:54 | |
imply that his family was of ancient and noble pedigree? | 0:20:54 | 0:20:58 | |
Did he want to associate himself with Mary Queen of Scots who was, | 0:20:58 | 0:21:02 | |
after all, an ancestor of the ruling monarch? | 0:21:02 | 0:21:05 | |
I believe the answer, what is clear, he was appropriating somebody else's history. | 0:21:06 | 0:21:12 | |
The history of the castle still belonged to a far older | 0:21:12 | 0:21:16 | |
and more important family. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:19 | |
The previous owners of Loch Leven and Kinross, the Earls of Morton. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:22 | |
The Mortons had lived on the estate since the 14th century and it was | 0:21:22 | 0:21:28 | |
a Morton who held Mary Queen of Scots captive at the castle, not a Bruce. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:33 | |
Charles Wemyss has written a PHD focusing on Kinross and William Bruce. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:40 | |
But he's also one of Bruce's few living descendants. | 0:21:40 | 0:21:44 | |
How nice to meet you. | 0:21:44 | 0:21:45 | |
You must be very proud that William Bruce is an ancestor. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:52 | |
Could you give me your assessment of him as an architect? | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
I am very proud. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
Well, I think as an architect he was, he was certainly, | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
he's always described as the introducer of classical architecture in Scotland, | 0:22:01 | 0:22:05 | |
and I don't think there's any question that is the case. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:10 | |
And he... Kinross House is magnificent. | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
It's the most beautiful thing, creation. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:16 | |
But whether he was a very nice man is quite another matter. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
Whether he was a gentleman architect is how he's been described. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:23 | |
Gentleman is not a word I'd use for Sir William Bruce. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:27 | |
What would you use? I mean he, he's a self-made man obviously. | 0:22:27 | 0:22:32 | |
-Tell me more about... -Avaricious, ambitious, opportunistic. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:36 | |
To join the nobility of Scotland you have to own an estate, | 0:22:36 | 0:22:40 | |
and William Bruce is one of... | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
I know of four other individuals who do exactly the same thing. | 0:22:43 | 0:22:47 | |
They're new money, they've made money either as merchants or | 0:22:47 | 0:22:50 | |
men of affairs or working for the Treasury, | 0:22:50 | 0:22:53 | |
the first thing they do with their money is to buy an estate. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:56 | |
But they don't buy it. | 0:22:56 | 0:22:57 | |
They buy the debts and then acquire the estate that way. | 0:22:57 | 0:23:01 | |
What happens with Kinross is that Bruce comes along to | 0:23:01 | 0:23:06 | |
the 9th Earl of Morton who is in real financial distress, | 0:23:06 | 0:23:10 | |
and he says, "Oi, mate, I'll, um, I'll pay off your debts if you give me the estate." | 0:23:10 | 0:23:17 | |
And that's basically how he gets it. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:19 | |
So a good example of Sir William Bruce the opportunist, I think. | 0:23:19 | 0:23:24 | |
But Bruce had to be an opportunist | 0:23:26 | 0:23:29 | |
if he was going to achieve his goal of Kinross. | 0:23:29 | 0:23:34 | |
Born the second son of Lord Bruce of Blair Hall, William always | 0:23:34 | 0:23:39 | |
knew the estate and title would go to his older brother, as was the custom. | 0:23:39 | 0:23:45 | |
From a young age, Bruce was aware he would have to make his own way in the world. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:49 | |
Ah, here he is. William Bruce. | 0:23:56 | 0:23:59 | |
Now, this portrait of Bruce shows him holding a drawing implement, | 0:23:59 | 0:24:04 | |
here it is, suggesting architectural endeavour. | 0:24:04 | 0:24:08 | |
The portrait is dated, over here, 1664, but as far as we know | 0:24:08 | 0:24:13 | |
he didn't design his first building until 1667. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:17 | |
So this in a way is a portrait of a young man with a dream | 0:24:17 | 0:24:21 | |
and a determination to make that dream come true, | 0:24:21 | 0:24:24 | |
the dream of being an architect. | 0:24:24 | 0:24:27 | |
There were many twists and turns before Bruce finally achieved his ambition. | 0:24:32 | 0:24:37 | |
In the mid-1650s he set sail from Scotland to start | 0:24:37 | 0:24:41 | |
work as a merchant, trading wine, coal and timber on the Continent. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:46 | |
He had little experience and even less money. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:50 | |
But he had a powerful secret weapon. Charm. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:56 | |
He knew how to make powerful contacts | 0:24:57 | 0:25:00 | |
and one of the first was a family friend, Sir Robert Murray. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:04 | |
Murray was a member of the royal court in exile, | 0:25:05 | 0:25:09 | |
and close to Charles Stuart, the would-be king. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
Some of Murray's letters still survive. | 0:25:14 | 0:25:18 | |
They belong to another descendant of Bruce, Lord Elgin, | 0:25:18 | 0:25:20 | |
who lives outside Edinburgh at Broomhall. | 0:25:20 | 0:25:25 | |
So what we've got here are letters from the 1650s | 0:25:25 | 0:25:28 | |
that mention William Bruce. | 0:25:28 | 0:25:31 | |
They're not from him or to him, they... He's, he's a character in these letters, isn't he? | 0:25:31 | 0:25:36 | |
-Yes, he's a young character who needs discipline. -Of course. | 0:25:36 | 0:25:41 | |
One moment they say he needs his lug to be pulled. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:44 | |
So these, these are obviously friendly letters. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:47 | |
Who are they from and who are they addressed to? | 0:25:47 | 0:25:51 | |
In this short period from '57 to '59, | 0:25:51 | 0:25:57 | |
Robert Murray was writing to his great friend Alexander Bruce. | 0:25:57 | 0:26:01 | |
But Will Bruce, his name appears at least 19 times in these letters. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:06 | |
Right. I mean can I see some of the letters? | 0:26:06 | 0:26:08 | |
And the references to Will, | 0:26:08 | 0:26:10 | |
-he's referred to in a very friendly way. -Well, one thought that. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:14 | |
Now this letter, I see here it says half way through, "I send you this from Will. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:20 | |
"In short his voyage and pains have made him no gains | 0:26:20 | 0:26:25 | |
"but diminished his stock very much." | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
-So obviously he's not a great success as a merchant. -No. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:32 | |
But they, they kept trying. He was irrepressible, as it were, in the way | 0:26:32 | 0:26:37 | |
he went about talking to people and trying to get their interest. | 0:26:37 | 0:26:42 | |
Even though he's lazy and... | 0:26:42 | 0:26:45 | |
there's always a feeling of liveliness about him. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:49 | |
So that's the portrait that emerges. | 0:26:49 | 0:26:51 | |
He's a real character lurking, the third man in the letters, | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
none by him or to him but about him. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:57 | |
-But he emerges as an amusing character, bit lazy, but he's trying hard. -Yes. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:03 | |
No, he's an irresistible character. | 0:27:03 | 0:27:05 | |
So, even if Bruce's business career wasn't taking off, | 0:27:09 | 0:27:13 | |
he was now mixing in the highest circles, the Royal Court in exile. | 0:27:13 | 0:27:18 | |
There had to be some way of making irresistibility pay. | 0:27:18 | 0:27:22 | |
I'm on the quay at Leith, Edinburgh, | 0:27:23 | 0:27:26 | |
and this was Scotland's busiest port in the late-17th century. | 0:27:26 | 0:27:30 | |
It was from here that William Bruce sailed on a regular basis | 0:27:30 | 0:27:33 | |
to and from the low countries. | 0:27:33 | 0:27:36 | |
He was, I know, a merchant, but not a very successful one. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:38 | |
Seems to me he must have been doing something else as well. | 0:27:38 | 0:27:42 | |
Through his connections to Sir Robert Murray, | 0:27:47 | 0:27:50 | |
and at Court in exile, Bruce was able to meet General Monk, | 0:27:50 | 0:27:54 | |
the most powerful man in Britain. | 0:27:54 | 0:27:57 | |
Monk was Cromwell's Commander in Chief, who secretly became | 0:27:57 | 0:28:00 | |
the prime mover in the campaign to restore Charles Stuart to the throne. | 0:28:00 | 0:28:06 | |
But only if Charles agreed to become a constitutional monarch, | 0:28:06 | 0:28:09 | |
subservient to the control of Parliament. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:12 | |
It was Bruce who helped Monk to do this. | 0:28:14 | 0:28:17 | |
Well, now we know that William Bruce was sailing | 0:28:20 | 0:28:22 | |
in and out of Leith as a merchant in the 1650s. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
But was he doing something else on these journeys, do you think? | 0:28:26 | 0:28:29 | |
There is a suggestion that he was, | 0:28:29 | 0:28:31 | |
and part of the evidence for that is this document here, | 0:28:31 | 0:28:36 | |
which is a pass or a passport issued by George Monk | 0:28:36 | 0:28:40 | |
who's the Cromwellian Governor of Scotland in this period, | 0:28:40 | 0:28:44 | |
-so a very important figure. -Under Commonwealth, yes. | 0:28:44 | 0:28:47 | |
And it's a passport allowing Bruce to travel all over Scotland | 0:28:47 | 0:28:50 | |
and between Scotland and Holland. | 0:28:50 | 0:28:53 | |
To Holland, which is where Charles, | 0:28:53 | 0:28:55 | |
-the future Charles II, is in exile at that time. -That's right. | 0:28:55 | 0:28:59 | |
Amongst other places. | 0:28:59 | 0:29:00 | |
So what's your feeling on Bruce's relationship | 0:29:00 | 0:29:03 | |
with the future Charles II, and indeed with the Restoration? | 0:29:03 | 0:29:05 | |
I think that Bruce is very useful in the pre-Restoration period, | 0:29:05 | 0:29:10 | |
working as a go-between in this sense. | 0:29:10 | 0:29:12 | |
I think the crucial point is this document, that it's directly from Monk. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:16 | |
That would suggest it's something more than just a normal merchant's pass. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:20 | |
And it really backs up this idea of Bruce as some kind of go-between, | 0:29:20 | 0:29:24 | |
between the fixers in Holland and those in England and Scotland | 0:29:24 | 0:29:30 | |
who are negotiating for the Restoration. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:32 | |
If he'd been caught by parliamentary forces, | 0:29:34 | 0:29:37 | |
Bruce could have been executed. | 0:29:37 | 0:29:40 | |
But, risky though it was, his passport to travel in and out of Scotland freely | 0:29:40 | 0:29:46 | |
had an unexpected benefit for Bruce. | 0:29:46 | 0:29:48 | |
In his homeland, | 0:29:49 | 0:29:51 | |
there had been few major buildings constructed for nearly 100 years. | 0:29:51 | 0:29:54 | |
But now Bruce had the chance to study the architecture of other lands. | 0:29:54 | 0:29:58 | |
He was in the Low Countries, | 0:30:01 | 0:30:04 | |
where there was a dramatic flowering of classical design, | 0:30:04 | 0:30:07 | |
inspired by the great Italian Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:11 | |
Bruce was impressed by Maastricht and Amsterdam city halls, | 0:30:11 | 0:30:16 | |
and also influenced by the gardens | 0:30:16 | 0:30:18 | |
of the Chateau of Vaux le Vicomte in France. | 0:30:18 | 0:30:21 | |
The seeds of Kinross were being sown. | 0:30:21 | 0:30:24 | |
Although Bruce still was making little money, | 0:30:28 | 0:30:31 | |
his fortunes were about to take a dramatic turn. | 0:30:31 | 0:30:34 | |
On the 25th of May, 1660, | 0:30:42 | 0:30:44 | |
Charles Stuart lands in Dover after nine years in exile, | 0:30:44 | 0:30:48 | |
and was soon crowned King of England as well as of Scotland. | 0:30:48 | 0:30:52 | |
After years of economic and political stagnation, | 0:30:58 | 0:31:02 | |
Scotland began to celebrate. | 0:31:02 | 0:31:04 | |
The Scottish Parliament was restored. | 0:31:04 | 0:31:07 | |
No-one had higher hopes for the future than William Bruce. | 0:31:07 | 0:31:11 | |
As a reward for carrying vital messages between the King-maker | 0:31:11 | 0:31:15 | |
and the would-be King, William Bruce after the Restoration was showered with royal favours. | 0:31:15 | 0:31:22 | |
One of these included being made one of the chief collectors in Scotland | 0:31:22 | 0:31:27 | |
of taxes and custom duties. | 0:31:27 | 0:31:29 | |
He kept a lot of that money, a high proportion, certainly, | 0:31:29 | 0:31:32 | |
for himself, as was usual at the time, | 0:31:32 | 0:31:35 | |
a very lucrative business indeed. | 0:31:35 | 0:31:38 | |
So, it's amazing really - this one time wandering merchant | 0:31:38 | 0:31:43 | |
became one of the richest men in Scotland. | 0:31:43 | 0:31:46 | |
But the job that proved crucial for Bruce's ambitions as an architect | 0:31:50 | 0:31:54 | |
was that of surveyor general to the King's works in Scotland. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:59 | |
He'd been dabbling in architecture since the Restoration. | 0:31:59 | 0:32:02 | |
Now, in 1671, he had an official post. | 0:32:02 | 0:32:07 | |
His first major commission was to redesign the royal palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh. | 0:32:07 | 0:32:14 | |
William Bruce spent 25 years designing other people's houses. | 0:32:14 | 0:32:19 | |
This was possible because in the years after the Restoration | 0:32:19 | 0:32:22 | |
in Scotland, the nation celebrated new stability in masonry and mortar. | 0:32:22 | 0:32:27 | |
All of this was perfect for Bruce. | 0:32:27 | 0:32:30 | |
It gave him the opportunity to hone those skills that he was to apply | 0:32:30 | 0:32:34 | |
in the creation of his masterpiece, his own home, Kinross House. | 0:32:34 | 0:32:39 | |
By now, William Bruce seemed to have it all - money, | 0:32:42 | 0:32:48 | |
power and solid architectural experience. | 0:32:48 | 0:32:51 | |
He was at last ready to build. | 0:32:52 | 0:32:55 | |
What could possibly go wrong? | 0:32:55 | 0:32:58 | |
A death in the family. | 0:33:00 | 0:33:03 | |
In 1685, Charles II, Bruce's patron for 25 years, died of a seizure. | 0:33:03 | 0:33:09 | |
Charles was succeeded by one of the most bone-headed monarchs in British history - | 0:33:13 | 0:33:17 | |
his brother, who became James II. | 0:33:17 | 0:33:20 | |
Where Charles had accepted the limits of a constitutional monarchy | 0:33:22 | 0:33:25 | |
and Britain's status as a Protestant nation, James didn't. | 0:33:25 | 0:33:29 | |
He wanted to reimpose absolute monarchy and Catholicism. | 0:33:29 | 0:33:33 | |
Not great for Bruce, who was a Protestant. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:36 | |
With his building project at Kinross hanging in the balance, | 0:33:39 | 0:33:43 | |
William Bruce knew he had to take action to secure his dream. | 0:33:43 | 0:33:47 | |
So he went straight down to London to see if he could curry favour | 0:33:47 | 0:33:51 | |
with the stiff-backed and awkward new king. | 0:33:51 | 0:33:54 | |
'Letters recounting the success of William's charm offensive still survive. | 0:34:02 | 0:34:07 | |
'They're in the possession of the Montgomery family, who live in Kinross today.' | 0:34:07 | 0:34:11 | |
-Hello. -I'm Lizzie. How are you? | 0:34:11 | 0:34:13 | |
I've just walked into your house. That's all right, I hope. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:16 | |
That's absolutely fine. How nice to see you. | 0:34:16 | 0:34:18 | |
And it looks wonderful in the light. | 0:34:18 | 0:34:21 | |
-Glowing stonework. -It's such a beautiful day. -It is. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
Seeing it at its best. | 0:34:24 | 0:34:26 | |
Yes, yes. | 0:34:26 | 0:34:28 | |
'The letters were written by Bruce's loyal wife Mary, the mother of their two children. | 0:34:28 | 0:34:35 | |
'She was writing to him while Bruce was in London trying to woo the King.' | 0:34:35 | 0:34:40 | |
It is astonishing, isn't it, to have these letters from the late 17th century | 0:34:40 | 0:34:45 | |
-in this house, written by the mistress of the house when it was being built? -Absolutely. | 0:34:45 | 0:34:51 | |
It is mind boggling. It's so moving. Here they are. | 0:34:51 | 0:34:54 | |
-They've always been in the house, have they? -They have. | 0:34:54 | 0:34:57 | |
As far as we know, they have. | 0:34:57 | 0:34:59 | |
And they're all from Mary Bruce, Sir William's wife? "My dear hart." | 0:34:59 | 0:35:04 | |
-H-A-R-T. -Yes. | 0:35:04 | 0:35:05 | |
She talks about the fact that she loves having his letters and she gives plenty of information to him. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:15 | |
And I think she would ideally like him not to be in London for too long. | 0:35:15 | 0:35:19 | |
But she goes on to say that she understands how important it is for his success. | 0:35:19 | 0:35:25 | |
Yes, yes, yes. | 0:35:25 | 0:35:27 | |
"If you continue in your master's favour, | 0:35:27 | 0:35:31 | |
"I will be well pleased, whatever success you have." | 0:35:31 | 0:35:37 | |
That's amazing. "Your master" being presumably the new monarch. This is a critical date, isn't it? | 0:35:37 | 0:35:41 | |
James II had just come onto the throne before this. | 0:35:41 | 0:35:44 | |
But there's a really interesting little bit on the other page. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:49 | |
"I am glad that my Lord Bruce is again brought into the bed chamber." | 0:35:49 | 0:35:56 | |
Fascinating. So the bed chamber. | 0:35:56 | 0:35:58 | |
In the sequence of rooms in the royal palace, those people who are allowed to progress | 0:35:58 | 0:36:04 | |
as far as the bed chamber, where the King is, that means they're in high favour. | 0:36:04 | 0:36:09 | |
They've got almost to the holy of holies. | 0:36:09 | 0:36:11 | |
Isn't it this year that he's made part of the Privy Council? | 0:36:11 | 0:36:16 | |
That's right. James II appoints William Bruce to the Privy Council of Scotland, | 0:36:16 | 0:36:22 | |
which is essentially the governing body of Scotland, in 1685, | 0:36:22 | 0:36:25 | |
so this is also when he starts to build the house in earnest. It's been on the backburner a bit. | 0:36:25 | 0:36:32 | |
Doing the gardens, planning it, but now he builds. He clearly feels confident. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:36 | |
This letter captures and reveals that moment. | 0:36:36 | 0:36:39 | |
It's an incredibly precious document, isn't it? | 0:36:39 | 0:36:41 | |
It is amazing. | 0:36:41 | 0:36:43 | |
Those letters really were revealing, particularly the one from November 1685, | 0:36:45 | 0:36:49 | |
referring to the new King James II receiving Bruce in his bed chamber. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:56 | |
Obviously at that time Bruce was a very highly regarded courtier. | 0:36:56 | 0:37:00 | |
He had to be to be received by the new King in such intimate circumstances. | 0:37:00 | 0:37:05 | |
And of course it was James that put Bruce on the Scottish Privy council, | 0:37:05 | 0:37:10 | |
essentially the governing body for Scotland, | 0:37:10 | 0:37:12 | |
an incredible achievement for Bruce. | 0:37:12 | 0:37:14 | |
He must have felt very secure in his position, in his wealth, in his power. | 0:37:14 | 0:37:20 | |
And with good reason. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:24 | |
He had, it seemed, charmed the notoriously prickly King James. | 0:37:24 | 0:37:29 | |
He was once again a trusted courtier. | 0:37:29 | 0:37:32 | |
He could start building immediately. | 0:37:32 | 0:37:35 | |
Money was no object. | 0:37:41 | 0:37:43 | |
Kinross would be the most expensive house in Scotland and the finest. | 0:37:43 | 0:37:49 | |
Bruce brought in master stone masons from Holyrood Palace, wood carvers from Holland. | 0:37:49 | 0:37:54 | |
He bought only the best, spending almost £20,000 in today's money on one leather wall hanging alone. | 0:37:54 | 0:38:02 | |
His formal garden took him a decade to create. | 0:38:02 | 0:38:06 | |
100,000 trees and exotic flowers came from all over Europe. | 0:38:06 | 0:38:11 | |
All to realise his vision for a perfect Kinross. | 0:38:12 | 0:38:17 | |
A vision the Montgomerys are still enjoying today. | 0:38:21 | 0:38:25 | |
I can remember when we first moved in, when we evicted my parents 14 years ago. | 0:38:25 | 0:38:30 | |
I can remember driving up the drive | 0:38:30 | 0:38:33 | |
and having to stop and think, "Goodness, I live here, you know. | 0:38:33 | 0:38:37 | |
-"This is ours now, this is our home." -Yeah. | 0:38:37 | 0:38:40 | |
Oddly enough, since then it's been more this side of the house. | 0:38:40 | 0:38:43 | |
You stand there and you suddenly realise you never get bored with the view. | 0:38:43 | 0:38:47 | |
For me, it is one of the stunning views. | 0:38:47 | 0:38:50 | |
You just stare out here when the light's nice, | 0:38:50 | 0:38:53 | |
looking out over the gardens, and you just can't get bored with it. | 0:38:53 | 0:38:57 | |
This is a wonderfully easy house to live in. Yes, it's big. | 0:38:57 | 0:39:01 | |
But it's been fabulously well designed and, you know, it's in very good nick. | 0:39:01 | 0:39:07 | |
The upkeep, the upkeep of it. | 0:39:07 | 0:39:09 | |
-It's well built. -It's well built, yeah. | 0:39:09 | 0:39:11 | |
Massive, solid, looks it, Roman quality built for eternity, really. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:15 | |
Jamie Montgomery's ancestors used the fortune they'd made | 0:39:18 | 0:39:21 | |
from trade to buy Kinross in the late 18th century. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:25 | |
It's been in the family ever since. | 0:39:25 | 0:39:28 | |
Jamie's father, Sir David, has lived here for 80 years. | 0:39:32 | 0:39:35 | |
In his boyhood, the house entertained a royal visitor. | 0:39:35 | 0:39:41 | |
Oh, Queen Mary came to lunch. | 0:39:41 | 0:39:43 | |
-Right. -And that was quite fun because I was... | 0:39:43 | 0:39:46 | |
Did she fancy anything that she had to take with her? | 0:39:46 | 0:39:50 | |
I'll tell you about that in a minute. | 0:39:50 | 0:39:53 | |
But she came to lunch and I was about eight at the time, | 0:39:53 | 0:39:59 | |
and we ended up on the front, on the steps there, watching it. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:03 | |
And I then was allowed after the lunch to go and take her photograph with my little box brownie. | 0:40:03 | 0:40:08 | |
-And we've got that copy of that photo. -Good heavens. -Which is rather fun. | 0:40:08 | 0:40:12 | |
But as you rightly were saying a minute ago, | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
there was always a question of Queen Mary saying, "I love that little figurine," | 0:40:26 | 0:40:32 | |
or whatever it was. And you always feel obliged to give it to her. | 0:40:32 | 0:40:36 | |
My father went round putting everything away | 0:40:36 | 0:40:38 | |
and she went into the library where she said, "Oh, I do like that wallpaper." | 0:40:38 | 0:40:44 | |
And my father breathed a sigh of relief and reckoned there was no way he could take the wallpaper off. | 0:40:44 | 0:40:49 | |
-Strip the wallpaper off! She was being merciful that day. -Yes, yes. | 0:40:49 | 0:40:54 | |
'Today, life is less grand for the Montgomerys.' | 0:40:54 | 0:40:57 | |
Royal visits are a thing of the past and the servants of Kinross have long gone. | 0:40:57 | 0:41:04 | |
The housekeeping is all down to one person - the mistress of the house, Lizzie. | 0:41:04 | 0:41:11 | |
It's the most lovely house to live in, it really is. | 0:41:11 | 0:41:15 | |
And I never mind doing the housework or the dusting. | 0:41:15 | 0:41:19 | |
If you live here, you don't really think about it. | 0:41:19 | 0:41:21 | |
You get on and do it as part of being in a house and loving a house | 0:41:21 | 0:41:26 | |
and being the sort of custodian for one's lifetime, or however long one is here. | 0:41:26 | 0:41:32 | |
You just do the best you can. | 0:41:32 | 0:41:34 | |
Actually, the windows are horrific. | 0:41:37 | 0:41:39 | |
They all need cleaning desperately. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:41 | |
I do clean them and it's got to be reasonably warm | 0:41:41 | 0:41:45 | |
because you can imagine the ladders to come up here are quite tall, quite big. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:50 | |
I try and coincide with the gardeners. | 0:41:50 | 0:41:53 | |
If I fall off, it's not the end of the world. | 0:41:55 | 0:41:59 | |
They can pick me up and normally they stand there waiting for me to fall off, but I haven't done so far. | 0:41:59 | 0:42:05 | |
The main fabric of Kinross took William Bruce years to build and a lifetime to achieve. | 0:42:15 | 0:42:21 | |
As he climbed the greasy pole of politics and royal favour, | 0:42:21 | 0:42:26 | |
the house represented all his dreams of forming a dynasty, dreams that were to be dashed. | 0:42:26 | 0:42:32 | |
What surprised me about Kinross is that the house was not completed by Bruce. | 0:42:34 | 0:42:40 | |
This room, a very important room on the first floor, is not how he would have intended it to be. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:46 | |
Virtually all the detail here dates from the late 18th century. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:50 | |
It's obvious that Bruce was running out of money. | 0:42:50 | 0:42:54 | |
Clearly there's some very bad news lurking here. | 0:42:54 | 0:42:58 | |
Here was Bruce's tragedy. | 0:43:02 | 0:43:03 | |
Kinross was the house of his dreams but he was never able to finish it. | 0:43:03 | 0:43:08 | |
The elaborate plasterwork on the ceilings remained incomplete. | 0:43:11 | 0:43:15 | |
The woodwork in the dining room and staircase wasn't repeated anywhere else. | 0:43:17 | 0:43:22 | |
Bruce only fully finished the basement and ground floor. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:30 | |
Despite his carefully planned processional route fit for a king, no monarch ever paid him a visit. | 0:43:33 | 0:43:40 | |
The great staircase led up to a desolate world. | 0:43:43 | 0:43:46 | |
The grand saloon and state rooms were undecorated shells. | 0:43:46 | 0:43:52 | |
The dream was unravelling. | 0:43:52 | 0:43:54 | |
What happens on pleasant themes and events in people's lives often is a case of out of sight, out of mind. | 0:44:03 | 0:44:10 | |
Where would I hide bad news? | 0:44:10 | 0:44:13 | |
Well, I'd probably bury it in the basement. | 0:44:13 | 0:44:17 | |
Now, in front of me are letters | 0:44:33 | 0:44:37 | |
from Mary Bruce to her husband, Sir William. | 0:44:37 | 0:44:41 | |
These are written towards the end of both their lives in the 1690s. | 0:44:41 | 0:44:48 | |
It's lovely, this one. It says, "For Sir William Bruce at Edinburgh" | 0:44:48 | 0:44:52 | |
with a seal. This is the cover around the letter that's in front of me here. | 0:44:52 | 0:44:57 | |
It says here, "My dearest harte." | 0:44:57 | 0:45:00 | |
She's always very affectionate to Sir William, terrible spelling. | 0:45:00 | 0:45:05 | |
Hard to make sense sometimes. | 0:45:05 | 0:45:06 | |
Oh, no, here we go. Oh, this is... Goodness. | 0:45:06 | 0:45:09 | |
She says here to William, | 0:45:09 | 0:45:12 | |
"As to my coming to you, there is many inconveniences | 0:45:12 | 0:45:17 | |
"in that at the putting you to a great needless expense | 0:45:17 | 0:45:22 | |
"when your purse is grown so light." | 0:45:22 | 0:45:26 | |
Oh, she says why. "For I have hardly any clothes that I could be seen into." | 0:45:26 | 0:45:33 | |
Good heavens, she hasn't got a decent dress to travel to Edinburgh in to see her husband. | 0:45:33 | 0:45:40 | |
But, ah, look. I say she's short of money but not of pride, because she says here, | 0:45:40 | 0:45:45 | |
"I am not so humbled for all that is come as to be content to appear in a contemptible manner." | 0:45:47 | 0:45:55 | |
Good heavens. So Mary hasn't the money to travel | 0:45:55 | 0:46:00 | |
to Edinburgh in a decent new dress to meet Sir William. | 0:46:00 | 0:46:04 | |
They really are clearly strapped for cash. | 0:46:04 | 0:46:08 | |
Bruce's downfall came swiftly and cruelly. | 0:46:15 | 0:46:18 | |
His ambitions rested on royal favour. | 0:46:18 | 0:46:22 | |
Suddenly, it was taken away. | 0:46:22 | 0:46:24 | |
In May 1686, only 12 months after he started building Kinross, James II, | 0:46:24 | 0:46:31 | |
the king Bruce believed he'd wooed and won, turned nasty and sacked him from the Privy Council. | 0:46:31 | 0:46:38 | |
Had Bruce done something to deserve this disgrace? | 0:46:38 | 0:46:42 | |
So why do you think Bruce was dismissed from the Privy Council for Scotland in May 1686? | 0:46:44 | 0:46:50 | |
There's been much supposition but the answer, real answer, is nobody knows. | 0:46:50 | 0:46:55 | |
I suspect it may well have been the character of the man and the factional nature | 0:46:55 | 0:46:59 | |
of Scottish politics, that he was just found to be backing the wrong side at the wrong moment. | 0:46:59 | 0:47:06 | |
He believed that he was about to receive a viscountcy, Sir William Bruce. Viscount Kinross. | 0:47:06 | 0:47:13 | |
Justifying all of this. Now why did that happen, do you think? | 0:47:13 | 0:47:16 | |
-Why did he lose that post? -I'm sure it is. It's the nature of the man. | 0:47:16 | 0:47:20 | |
He's very ambitious. He's opportunistic. | 0:47:20 | 0:47:22 | |
And this is a period when politics are changing with every reign almost. | 0:47:22 | 0:47:27 | |
I mean, no principle involved? | 0:47:27 | 0:47:29 | |
James II obviously was a whist a wilful fellow for | 0:47:29 | 0:47:32 | |
re-impose autocratic rule, re-impose Roman Catholicism. Perhaps Bruce, | 0:47:32 | 0:47:37 | |
a sort of Episcopalian and maybe as a man with some principles, opposed the King. Is that not possible? | 0:47:37 | 0:47:43 | |
I don't ever see William Bruce as being a man of great principle. | 0:47:43 | 0:47:48 | |
It's very difficult to remain on the up always when things are changing so quickly. | 0:47:48 | 0:47:53 | |
He was described as one of the richest men in Scotland. | 0:47:53 | 0:47:57 | |
By 1703, it's the Scots' legal definition of he is "put to the horn". | 0:47:57 | 0:48:03 | |
His assets were sequestrated and I often wonder to myself whether | 0:48:03 | 0:48:07 | |
the house doesn't actually play a part in his downfall. | 0:48:07 | 0:48:12 | |
Its owner doesn't seem to have come to the same conclusion. | 0:48:15 | 0:48:19 | |
Despite being sacked, Bruce, now in his late 50s, continued to hurl large sums of money at the house. | 0:48:19 | 0:48:26 | |
He'd always landed on his feet in the past. | 0:48:29 | 0:48:31 | |
Perhaps he thought he could win back the trust of the king. | 0:48:31 | 0:48:34 | |
If so, he didn't count for another royal twist of fate. | 0:48:40 | 0:48:44 | |
The Glorious Revolution of 1688. | 0:48:44 | 0:48:47 | |
The Catholic James II was removed from the throne. | 0:48:53 | 0:48:56 | |
The Protestant William and Mary reigned in his stead. | 0:48:56 | 0:49:00 | |
Where King James was unsympathetic to Bruce, King William was actively hostile. | 0:49:02 | 0:49:08 | |
Bruce was singled out as a potential rebel because he'd supported James II. | 0:49:08 | 0:49:14 | |
Here was the profound irony, given Bruce's harsh treatment by James. | 0:49:14 | 0:49:19 | |
His previous form as a Stuart supporter was now to bring about Bruce's ruin. | 0:49:19 | 0:49:24 | |
I'm arriving at the National Archives in Edinburgh, hoping to find out more about | 0:49:36 | 0:49:41 | |
William Bruce's later, less successful and more obscure days. | 0:49:41 | 0:49:46 | |
I'm going through the William Bruce papers and this document, this in a sense | 0:49:49 | 0:49:55 | |
is what I've been hoping to find, to throw light on Bruce's late years, on a sense his downfall. | 0:49:55 | 0:50:02 | |
Because here, this is a "Warrant for removing Sir William Bruce to the Castle of Edinburgh." | 0:50:02 | 0:50:10 | |
Basically it's an arrest warrant. | 0:50:10 | 0:50:12 | |
It says here, "The Lords of His Majesty's Privy Council | 0:50:12 | 0:50:17 | |
"do hereby give order to remove him to the Castle of Edinburgh." | 0:50:17 | 0:50:22 | |
That is 1696. | 0:50:22 | 0:50:24 | |
What an amazing revelation. | 0:50:24 | 0:50:28 | |
This one. Now this warrant, a few years later, | 0:50:28 | 0:50:34 | |
this one is dated, here it is, March 1707. | 0:50:34 | 0:50:40 | |
"These are in Her Majesty's name to authorise and require you, the receiver of this warrant, | 0:50:40 | 0:50:47 | |
"to make strict and diligent search for the person of Sir William Bruce of Kinross. | 0:50:47 | 0:50:53 | |
"And him having found to apprehend and seize for suspicion | 0:50:53 | 0:51:01 | |
"of high treason and treasonable practices." | 0:51:01 | 0:51:06 | |
So there we are. This is, as I say, 1707. | 0:51:06 | 0:51:09 | |
So these documents open a window into the life of Sir William Bruce. | 0:51:09 | 0:51:13 | |
He's arrested - arrested and taken into custody to Edinburgh Castle. | 0:51:13 | 0:51:17 | |
And later on we discover | 0:51:17 | 0:51:19 | |
he's arrested as a man suspected of treason, a rebel, a traitor, | 0:51:19 | 0:51:25 | |
which means, of course, he's liable to the most ghastly and grisly death. | 0:51:25 | 0:51:30 | |
To be hung, drawn and quartered. | 0:51:30 | 0:51:32 | |
What a downfall. | 0:51:32 | 0:51:33 | |
The final insult. Bruce, the man who tried to do away with castles, | 0:51:42 | 0:51:45 | |
was now imprisoned in the most famous Scots castle of all, Edinburgh. | 0:51:45 | 0:51:51 | |
Sir William Bruce | 0:52:03 | 0:52:05 | |
could have been imprisoned in this actual cell. | 0:52:05 | 0:52:09 | |
Certainly we know that people accused of treason or regarded | 0:52:09 | 0:52:13 | |
as rebels were held here in the 17th and 18th centuries. | 0:52:13 | 0:52:17 | |
And what a dismal dungeon this is. | 0:52:17 | 0:52:21 | |
It feels as if the room were cut from the very rock on which | 0:52:21 | 0:52:25 | |
Edinburgh Castle sits, and certainly the floor is the castle rock, | 0:52:25 | 0:52:30 | |
where he'd feel like a ghastly cave. | 0:52:30 | 0:52:34 | |
Think of it. | 0:52:34 | 0:52:35 | |
Dismal, dark, wet, horrible. | 0:52:36 | 0:52:41 | |
And Sir William, a man around 70 years of age, used to power | 0:52:41 | 0:52:45 | |
and privilege, sitting here where I'm sitting, with nothing to do. | 0:52:45 | 0:52:49 | |
Apart, I suppose, from dream of freedom. | 0:52:49 | 0:52:54 | |
Bruce was never convicted of being a rebel, but he was repeatedly held in jail. | 0:53:01 | 0:53:08 | |
As he languished here, Scotland finally lost its battle for independent nationhood. | 0:53:08 | 0:53:14 | |
Bruce's country was broken. | 0:53:15 | 0:53:18 | |
Overwhelming poverty forced the Scottish parliament to agree | 0:53:18 | 0:53:22 | |
to the Act of Union with England in 1707 and rule was lost to London. | 0:53:22 | 0:53:28 | |
Both journeys, for Bruce and his beloved Scotland, once so rich in promise, had come to a bitter end. | 0:53:31 | 0:53:39 | |
I've come to the Bruce burial vault just next to Kinross House. | 0:53:39 | 0:53:43 | |
I want to pay my respects to Sir William. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:47 | |
I'm looking for his grave. | 0:53:47 | 0:53:49 | |
But I can't find it. | 0:53:49 | 0:53:51 | |
There are other Bruces buried here in the vault, a wonderful building. | 0:53:51 | 0:53:55 | |
But not Sir William. | 0:53:55 | 0:53:57 | |
It seems, of course, a great tragedy, | 0:53:57 | 0:54:01 | |
the man that created Kinross House, the garden, has no memorial. | 0:54:01 | 0:54:07 | |
Although, of course, the house, the garden, is his memorial | 0:54:07 | 0:54:12 | |
and as long as they endure, so will the name of Will Bruce. | 0:54:12 | 0:54:18 | |
After his death in 1710, the house only remained in the Bruce family for another 60 years. | 0:54:33 | 0:54:40 | |
Then it was bought by the Montgomery's ancestors. | 0:54:40 | 0:54:44 | |
It was they who finally finished Bruce's house. | 0:54:44 | 0:54:48 | |
Sadly, this long chapter will also soon be over | 0:54:57 | 0:55:01 | |
for Lizzie, Jamie and their two children, Iona and Edward. | 0:55:01 | 0:55:07 | |
Kinross is being sold. | 0:55:07 | 0:55:09 | |
Their beloved house has become a financial drain, | 0:55:11 | 0:55:15 | |
as it costs up to £150,000 a year just to run. | 0:55:15 | 0:55:20 | |
Well, Christmas a few days off. | 0:55:26 | 0:55:29 | |
This probably is your last Christmas here. | 0:55:29 | 0:55:32 | |
Mm, yes, I should think it probably is. | 0:55:32 | 0:55:34 | |
How does it feel? | 0:55:34 | 0:55:37 | |
Well, it's sad, of course it's sad. But... | 0:55:37 | 0:55:40 | |
it's life, really, isn't it? We have to just remember what fun we've had here and move forward. | 0:55:40 | 0:55:47 | |
You're feeling brave, stoical, philosophical about moving, | 0:55:47 | 0:55:51 | |
but of course, in a sense, you are carrying the banner for the family's | 0:55:51 | 0:55:54 | |
previous generations, and I know your father is still alive and living here, or nearby. | 0:55:54 | 0:56:00 | |
What does he feel? | 0:56:00 | 0:56:02 | |
Yes, however hard it's going to hit us when we move out, I just... | 0:56:02 | 0:56:08 | |
It's a fraction, I suspect, of what it's going to affect my parents, | 0:56:08 | 0:56:11 | |
particularly my father, whose entire life has revolved around the house and the estate. | 0:56:11 | 0:56:17 | |
And I can't even begin to think what's going through his mind about this. | 0:56:17 | 0:56:22 | |
But I have to say the bravery he showed to me and everything else, has just been such a support. | 0:56:22 | 0:56:29 | |
I think we've just got... I just really had to make that decision. | 0:56:34 | 0:56:37 | |
It's unfortunate that it's happened on my watch, so to speak, | 0:56:37 | 0:56:41 | |
but it was always going to happen to someone. | 0:56:41 | 0:56:45 | |
Someone was going to have to take the decision and it's been my misfortune that | 0:56:45 | 0:56:49 | |
it's been me that's had to take that. | 0:56:49 | 0:56:52 | |
Of course, secretly, there must be something you're dreading. | 0:57:00 | 0:57:03 | |
-What are you dreading most? -I am dreading leaving here. | 0:57:03 | 0:57:07 | |
The thought of going off down the drive and knowing that we're not going to be going back in again | 0:57:07 | 0:57:13 | |
is going to be tough. | 0:57:13 | 0:57:15 | |
-So it's the... -Don't make me cry. I do cry. | 0:57:15 | 0:57:18 | |
No, it's utterly miserable, actually. | 0:57:20 | 0:57:22 | |
It will be very difficult, it will be very difficult. | 0:57:22 | 0:57:25 | |
Can't pretend any of us are looking forward to that particular moment but, you know, | 0:57:25 | 0:57:30 | |
I think one's just got to look forward, move on | 0:57:30 | 0:57:33 | |
and, you know, immerse ourselves in a project of building our new home. | 0:57:33 | 0:57:36 | |
-Yes. -Which I think, you know, it ought to be able to take our mind | 0:57:36 | 0:57:39 | |
wonderfully off the hurt and anguish of actually moving out of here. | 0:57:39 | 0:57:43 | |
Just as it did for William Bruce, the house has got the better of the Montgomerys as well. | 0:57:47 | 0:57:54 | |
Kinross now awaits its new owner | 0:57:54 | 0:57:57 | |
and the next chapter of its extraordinary life. | 0:57:57 | 0:58:00 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:58:15 | 0:58:18 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:58:18 | 0:58:21 |