In this sumptuous portrait of the house known as ‘the English Versailles’, the Duke of Buccleuch sets the scene with a history of his ancestors, the Montagus of Boughton, who acquired the manor in Northamptonshire in the reign of Henry VIII. Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu (1638–1709), Charles II’s envoy to Louis XIV, transformed Boughton into a palatial homage to French culture. His son John, the 2nd Duke, was noted for planting long avenues, a love of heraldry, a fondness for practical jokes and the ancient lion he nursed in one of the courtyards. The book showcases Boughton’s magnificent painted ceilings, tapestries and Sèvres porcelain. The celebrated art collection also includes striking portraits of Elizabeth I, Charles II and his son the Duke of Monmouth, another Buccleuch ancestor. Van Dyck’s friends and contemporaries cluster in the Drawing Room in dozen of grisailles. Most eye-catching of all is the portrait of Shakespeare’s muses, the Early and Countess of Southampton. A grand tour takes in the French-inspired façade, the formal State Rooms and the Tudor Great Hall, with their painted ceilings, flamboyant French furniture and the oldest dated carpet in Europe – before moving to the park, with its avenues of soaring limes, network of lakes, and dramatic new sunken pool.

With its pale pink sandstone, picturesque domes and dramatic setting, Drumlanrig is one of Scotland's most romantic castles, its history entwined with that of the country itself. The twists and turns of its story are here captured atmospherically in words and pictures. It took a decade for a medieval stronghold to emerge in 1689 as the palace that greets visitors today. The legacies of three ducal families have combined to create a collection of imposing portraits and rare French furniture. Stately interiors lead to delightful, intimate spaces and an unforgettable Rembrandt. Still home to the heirs of William, 1st Duke of Queensbury, the castle continues to evolve and impress to this day.

On December 4, 1815, 750 ba' players came together in a mighty contest on the field of Carterhaugh, near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, for what was advertised as 'a Great Foot-Ball Match'. On December 4, 2015, two bands of dedicated ba' players descended on Carterhaugh to celebrate the bicentenary of the match by joining battle in another no-holds-barred contest. For anyone interested the true origins of the game of rugby in the centuries-old mass ba' games of the Scottish Borders and the North of England - still alive and kicking to this day - here are tales wonderfully told by historians of the game. Cracked crowns, furious duckings, acts of never-to-be-forgotten heroism and unforgivable betrayal - Ian Landles relives the dramas of the original 1815 Carterhaugh Ba' match, recalls Walter Scott's pivotal role in organising it, and in the process rewrites the early history of rugby. The late Hugh Hornby describes the enduring appeal of mass football games today. Billy Gillies explains why the Border ba' game is absolutely not just a game but a serious business, and gives a blow-by-blow account of the 2015 re-enactment. Historic images, verses and letters, alongside photographs by leading Scottish photographers, tell a story that has waited two centuries to be told.