Country Life UK - August 21, 2024

In this issue

Building on history
In the first of two articles, John Goodall charts the central role played by Scone and its former abbey in the history of Scotland.

The legacy
Kate Green lauds 18th-century man of letters James Boswell, the father of modern biography.

Sculpting with plants
Perennials and billowing grasses are a perfect backdrop for the sculpture at Whitburgh House in Midlothian, finds Caroline Donald..

Building on history

Scone Palace, Perthshire, part I The seat of the Earl and Countess of Mansfield and Mansfield In the first of two articles, John Goodall explains the importance of Scone—and the great abbey that formerly stood here in the grand narrative of Scottish history

8 mins

Thistle do nicely

The boorish cousin of the dainty daisy, the emblem of Scotland was historically blamed for donkey flatulence and recommended as a treatment for depression, discovers

5 mins

Dive in with both feet

Do you know your great crested grebe from your little grebe? Your red-throated from your great northern diver? Marianne Taylor gets to grips with these masters of the underwater world

7 mins

Working their red socks off

Each August, a merry band comes together to help run the Chatsworth Country Fair. Simon Reinhold, who's pulled up his volunteering socks for the past 33 years, explains how the tradition came about

6 mins

O flowers of Scotland

A million bulbs in one garden are not the only objects of beauty across three Scottish estates new to the market, two with houses

6 mins

Sculpting with plants

The walled garden at Whitburgh House, Midlothian The home of Mr and Mrs Alastair Salvesen

5 mins

Is that a plum in your mouth?

Coe's Golden Drop', 'Valor' or, perhaps, Pershore Yellow Egg'? To taste the rainbow of heavenly British plum varieties, you may well have to get your hands dirty,

5 mins

The road to the Isles

Entranced by the purple-shadowed hills and rugged coastlines of the Highlands, earlyand mid-20th-century artists challenged the stereotype of the Romantic North with modern works that deserve to be better known,

5 mins

Cream of the crop

Although small, last month's Christie's Old Master sale brimmed with treasures, such as paintings by Hals, Bonington and Titian, including his celebrated Rest on the Flight into Egypt

3 mins

Reality is merely an illusion

Requiring us to suspend disbelief, automata are so much more than toys, demonstrating the separation between the created and the creator, discovers

6 mins

'Look at the old girl now'

Hello, Dolly!, starring the charismatic veteran actress Dame Imelda Staunton, is a triumph, as is a revival of a rarely seen Shakespearean play

4 mins

An undefeated summer?

James Fisher laments the quality of England's Test opposition, and wonders if those at the top of the game are taking it seriously

3 mins

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Country Life UK Magazine Description:

Country Life; architecture, gardens, countryside, property, the very best of British life Published by IPC Media. Country Life, the quintessential English magazine, is undoubtedly one of the biggest and instantly recognisable brands in the UK today. It has a unique core mix of contemporary country-related editorial and top end property advertising. Editorially, the magazine comments in-depth on a wide variety of subjects, such as architecture, the arts, gardens and gardening, travel, the countryside, field-sports and wildlife. With renowned columnists and superb photography Country Life delivers the very best of British life every week.