(bright music) - Britain is world-famous for its stately homes.

And, when it comes to food, our country houses were the taste-makers.

Curry and cockles, it's an absolute first for me.

In this series, we'll sample delicious dishes.

- They look wonderful, Mary.

- [Mary] And enjoy the lavish hospitality that these homes were celebrated for.

- You look absolutely stunning.

- [Mary] I'll show you how to cook tasty, modern recipes inspired by the history of our great houses.

- This is actually Napoleon's chair from Waterloo.

- Mind you, I could do with a cushion!

Join me as I meet the families who own these exceptional homes.

- The best thing about the staircase, obviously, is going down on a tray, or on your bottom.

(Mary gasps) - [Mary] And find out what it's really like to live.

That looks quite saucy.

Work.

Oh, it's very like cutting a hedge.

- I think you're better at baking!

- And party in the nation's most beautiful stately homes.

I'm not going to drop it.

This week, I'm visiting Scone Palace, Scotland's crowning glory.

They were crowned on this very stone.

Where I get to feast and party like a royal.

This is your invitation to dine at some of Britain's grandest tables in some of the most beautiful houses in the land.

(gentle music) (dramatic music) I'm in Scotland, just outside Perth, and approaching Scone Palace, world-famous as the crowning place of Scottish kings.

For over 400 years, this extraordinary site has been home to the Murray family, now the Earls of Mansfield.

Gosh, this is a pretty impressive approach.

A crest above, how grand is that?

(gentle music) This is amazing.

It is enormous.

It's my great pleasure to join the family for a few days in the build-up to one of their renowned dinner parties, culminating in some traditional Scottish reeling.

- Hello, Mary.

- There we are.

- Fantastic to meet you.

Welcome to Scone.

- Just a minute, you look far too young to be the Earl of Mansfield.

- I am not the Earl of Mansfield.

I am the Earl's son, Viscount Stormont.

William.

Please call me William.

- [Mary] Oh, hello, William.

That's lovely.

- [William] Come on inside.

- [Mary] I brought the sunshine for you.

- [William] Yes, you have!

- Being part Scottish, I do know Scone Palace stands on one of the most significant sites of Scotland's history.

Once an abbey, Scone has seen the coronations of all Scotland's kings.

- Welcome to our home.

Now, I want to show you something special in here.

- This goes on forever.

- This is the Long Gallery, and this is where the kings processed to their coronation.

So a very sacred and hallowed ground.

- This is amazing.

How many kings were crowned here?

- [William] 42, supposedly, but I believe there may have been many more than that.

- So a very, very special palace.

- Steeped in history.

- [Mary] Today, this is the home of William's parents, the ninth Earl and Countess of Mansfield.

William and his three sisters grew up amongst these grand surroundings, and, with such a royal history, I'm keen to discover how the family first came to live here.

- Now, there's one thing in here that I particularly want to show you.

This is a little picture of a man called David Murray of Gospetry.

He's the first man in our family to come to Scone, and he became the first Lord Scone in 1608 and was given the land by King James I, having foiled a plot to kidnap and murder the king.

And he was given the position of the king's cup bearer.

- Cup bearer?

What does cup bearer mean?

- There was a ceremonial part to it, but also they had to guard against the king being poisoned.

And this was a very dangerous time in Scotland.

- And a brave chap, because if he took a mouthful, he'd die himself before the king, wouldn't he?

- Well, he was rewarded well for his service.

(gentle music) - [Mary] Having proved themselves loyal servants to the Crown, in 1776, the Murrays were promoted to the title of the Earls of Mansfield.

Their footing with royalty was assured and it paved their way for even further royal connections abroad.

- So the second Earl of Mansfield, he was the ambassador to Louis XVI in France just before the French Revolution broke down.

This is our library.

- Now, just a minute.

Where are the books?

- (laughs) The books were removed, but we have our collection of porcelain in here.

But it's not our most precious thing.

Our most precious thing is actually this table here, which was given to us by Louis XVI's wife, Marie Antoinette, who was a very close friend of the second Earl.

- You do know people in the right places.

- It went so far as the second Earl actually taught Marie Antoinette how to Scottish reel, how to dance.

- Talking of reels, I haven't done one since I was very young, but it was the Gay Gordons and Strip The Willow, because I am half Scots.

My mum was Scots.

- Brilliant.

- I'm very proud of that side.

- Well, I hope you brought your dancing shoes, we'd love you to join us.

- I'm a bit heavy footed, but I'll have a go.

- [William] Don't worry, Mary, I'll look after you on the dance floor.

And it will be great for you to see the palace really alive in its full glory, lots of guests.

- Sorry to interrupt.

Coffee is now served down in the private sitting room.

Lady Mansfield is down there waiting on you both.

- Thank you very much, Jean.

- Thank you.

- Jean is our housekeeper.

Really, we call her our butler-ess.

- It's a very grand title to have.

- [Jean] Yes, it is.

- How long have you had that title?

- Oh, since the 19-early-80s.

- And what does that entail?

- Everything.

Cleaning, serving the public.

- What Jean is trying to say is that she's in charge.

(all laughing) The house, the palace wouldn't function without Jean.

Thank you very much, Jean.

We'll be down soon.

- [Mary] I'm heading from the public side of the palace to the Mansfield private quarters, for coffee with William's mother, the Countess.

- Hello, Mary.

Great pleasure to welcome you here to Scone today.

- Having heard of the family's close ties with royalty in the past, I wonder if these connections are still as strong today.

Has the royal entertaining continued as the years have gone by?

- Yes, it has.

And the latest one, which was really good fun, was in 2012 when the Queen had her jubilee.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, she came quite a lot, because it was so near her own home.

And she sort of loved Scotland.

- I always wondered, when you have something like royalty to stay, do they come with a huge entourage that you have to put up as well?

- Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

But with the Queen, it was quite large and quite a big thing.

- They don't come with their own cooks, do they?

- No, they don't.

We have great fun choosing the menus and getting everything organized, and the royal household are very helpful in just tipping you off.

Her Majesty the Queen Mother loved any bird, but she didn't like salmon so much, and this is the menu when the Queen Mother came on September the 29th, 1978.

We can see she had Oeufs Benedict, Canard a l'orange, Duck, which we know she liked, and then tarte aux pommes.

- And this is also a visitor's book.

- Yes.

- I've always wondered, if royalty come, or somebody very grand, do they put messages inside?

- No, they just sign their name, and date it.

They just do it on one whole page of their own, and that's that.

- I'm in awe.

(both laughing) - When we have very special visitors, my parents-in-law started always asking them to plant trees, and if I take you to the window, we have a couple straight outside here.

The most exciting and the oldest one is the one straight ahead of you.

It's an oak, and that was planted by James VI and I of Scotland.

And that's quite some tree of quite some age.

And to the right, we have a Swedish whitebeam planted by the King of Sweden.

And then to the left, we have an Acer planted by the Queen in 1967.

- And the river is the River Tay?

- Yes.

The silvery Tay.

One of the most famous salmon rivers in the world.

We might have to take you down there for a spot of fishing.

Might be a bit of fun.

- I would love that.

(gentle music) If we're going on a fishing trip, I'd better prepare something warming.

And so I've availed myself of the butler-ess to lead the way downstairs.

Jean, you've spent most of your working life here at Scone.

- [Jean] Yes, I've been here nigh on 40 years, and I've had a lovely time, and got on really, really well with the late Earl.

- [Mary] You must have seen William growing up here.

- [Jean] Oh, yes.

He has turned out a very nice young man.

Very much like his late grandfather.

- Goodness gracious!

- Now.

- [Mary] That's a range and a half, isn't it?

- Yes, it's not in use any more, but it was, and the staff at that time had to get up at maybe five o'clock in the morning.

- I would think so.

- [Jean] To get it all warm for the cook coming in.

- [Mary] And that was in Victorian times?

- [Jean] Yes.

- And how many kitchen staff would be here in the heyday?

- Well, at that time, there was 40 staff.

28 worked in the house itself, and then we had 12 for the horses.

- But when you came, how many were here?

- Five.

- Only five.

You must have been run off your feet.

- Yes.

At times, we were.

- They call you the boss sometimes.

- Yes, William does.

- Does he?

- Yes, but now I think it's time for you to take over and do your little bit.

- Well, I had better get going.

- Yes!

- Let loose on this historic kitchen, I'm inspired to make a Scots classic.

What better for a fishing trip than a warming broth?

So, I've got a very nice chicken here and I'm gonna first of all cook the chicken, then I'm going to cook the vegetables in the stock that I make from the chicken.

In the olden days, they used to put the whole lot in the pot, and have the vegetables overcooked, but I like mine just done.

So, to start, lift the whole bird into a large pan with a few bay leaves, season well, and add water.

You really want to cover the chicken, 'cause it makes a lot of soup.

Bring to the boil, then simmer the chicken for an hour and a quarter.

Then leave aside to cool while you get on with the veg.

I've got four leeks here that I've finely shredded.

In they go.

Now, that looks a lot of leeks, but they will lose their bulk as they're cooked.

Then add a couple of carrots for color and a few sticks of celery.

Now for the unusual ingredient.

Prunes.

They're a classic for cock-a-leekie and north of the border they always add prunes.

Everything's in the pot now and I'm going to simmer that until they're tender.

That'll be sort of 20 minutes, but keep your eye on it.

That gives me time to get on with the chicken.

So I've taken all the meat off, and then you have the two oysters either side.

I reckon that's the cook's perk.

A bit of salt.

That's pretty good.

It's going to make a very good cock-a-leekie soup.

So let's have a look at that.

(bright music) There's still a little bite in the carrot.

That's how I like it.

So, in goes all the chicken.

It needs to be piping hot, and don't forget to check the seasoning.

That's a bit of all right.

I was a bit nervous of doing that, 'cause they have very high standards in the Mansfield household.

But I think it'll do nicely.

(bright music) It's a thrill to be heading out with William and the family dog, Pickles, to the Tay.

It's Scotland's longest river and world-famous for the pursuit of the elusive king of fish, the magnificent wild Atlantic salmon.

So how many have you actually landed in your life?

- Not as many as I would like, I mean, it's quite tough!

- Welcome, Mary.

- Good morning.

- Can I introduce you to my husband, Lord Mansfield?

- Hello, how do you do?

- [Lady Mansfield] And this is Iain, our ghillie.

- Good morning.

- Mary Berry.

- Good morning, Mary, pleased to meet you.

- [Mary] As ghillie, Iain Kirk runs all the fishing trips on the estate's seven-mile stretch of the Tay, where the family have enjoyed fishing rights since 1608.

- Mary's going fishing!

- [Mary] But today, he's got me, a complete novice.

- Okay?

- Yes.

- Wonderful.

Then onto the seat.

You're good at this, eh?

- I'm good.

Yes!

- Right, and down we come.

- Right.

- Wonderful.

- Now, you really do look the part of a fisher woman, but you don't have to worry, you won't accidentally catch sharks or anything, 'cause there aren't any here.

- We'll see, we'll see!

- Are we ready?

- I'm ready, yes.

- Let's go and do it, then, eh?

- Woo!

- Bye-bye.

(gentle music) She's very brave.

- She's fantastic.

- When you consider that she's decidedly over 21.

- It's absolutely fantastic.

- To jump into a boat like that and go tearing off upstream is really quite something.

(bright music) - Scotland is one of the few places where Atlantic salmon are still thriving, and that's why people come.

I get people here from America, Japan, Mexico, Australia.

- [Mary] Because it's the best.

- Because it's the best.

It's like St Andrews for golf.

The River Tay is for salmon fishing.

- [Mary] Amazingly, the salmon in this river travel back from their Atlantic feeding grounds to breed in the very waters that they were born.

They can leap an incredible 12 feet to overcome obstacles on their journey upstream.

Being this clever, I don't hold much hope of catching one.

- Now, I'm going to pay the line out for you.

Do you want me to share the cast with you to begin with?

- [Mary] Yes, come on, let's do it together.

- Right, up, around.

Back, two, three, tap.

There you are, well done!

- Come along, friend.

- Right.

So, rod tip comes down.

This is a good spot because there's stones out here, the fish like to sit in here.

- [Mary] If I am lucky enough to catch a salmon, there's a good chance we'll have to throw it back.

Here on the Tay, there are strict rules for catch and release that ensure salmon fishing will be enjoyed for generations to come.

- Ah, wonderful.

That was a good cast.

- I'm much happier when you're near me.

So, Iain, which of the fish can you take out of the river, and which are the ones that you've got to leave in?

- We at Scone Palace return over 90% of the fish.

- Because you're interested in conservation?

- [Iain] Conservation is the key.

- Iain tells me that in the 19th century, the fourth Earl of Mansfield, another William Murray, could see that overfishing was endangering the salmon population.

- Back in 1852, it was all netting, netting, netting, killing, killing, killing.

The Earl of Mansfield decided, no, we can't do this any more, so he said, "Right, from now on, any salmon that you net, "we're going to strip the eggs from the females "and the milt from the males, "we're gonna mix them up "and we're gonna plant those fertilized eggs "in the fish ponds."

- The fourth Earl built two fish ponds which were used as a hatchery to rear salmon from eggs to restock the river.

This ingenious conservation program saw as many as 300,00 salmon nursed into life every two years.

Was this something that nobody else was doing?

- Nobody else was doing.

- He was the first?

- He was the first.

- [Mary] He was way ahead of his time.

- [Iain] Oh, way ahead!

- Quite remarkable, and the family like to think that the fourth Earl's actions 150 years ago helped secure the Tay as one of the best spots for salmon fishing in the world.

- Right, Mary, it's up to you now.

- A big friendship could go on this.

- Oh, it could, couldn't it?

- Yes.

Right.

- Up, around.

That's it.

Back, just.

Nearly, nearly, nearly.

That was the wind that caused that.

- Do you know, Iain, I don't think our luck's in, and I think the fish are all smiling down there, thinking, "You didn't get me today!"

(bright music) - [Iain] Hello, Mishka!

On you go.

(both laughing) - I may be empty-handed, but there's always a warming consolation of my cock-a-leekie soup and good company.

Gosh, that looks steaming.

It's a long time since breakfast.

- Marvelous.

- There you are.

- [William] Thank you.

- So what was the biggest salmon that's ever been caught on the Tay out there?

- Oh, in the 1920s there was one that was 64 pounds, and it was caught by Miss Ballantine, who was a slip of a girl.

- Was it shown to everybody?

- Oh, golly, yes.

It was put on show in the Perth high street.

At Malloch's.

- Yes, the Monster of the Tay.

- If you were wading and that swam past you, you would come out the water, I'm certain!

(all laughing) - I must say, this is very good soup indeed.

My instinct is to rush off and look for some more, but I think probably we've eaten the lot.

- No, no, there's more in the pot, I'm sure.

- [Earl] It brings out the inner pig in me!

(all laughing) (bright music) - With the Tay on their doorstep, the king of fish has featured on royal menus at Scone for centuries.

Lady Mansfield, herself a trained cook, is going to show me how she likes to prepare it.

And I'm privileged to be invited into her family kitchen.

I'm really pleased we're back warming my bottom here.

- We are so lucky because Iain has managed to find us a salmon.

- Lovely!

Virtually all the Atlantic salmon you can buy is farmed, but the wild fish have a firmer texture and makes a rare treat.

- What I like to do is to cook it completely naturally, just baking it in the oven and with a delicious hollandaise sauce.

- Not mucking it about.

- Just simple and have the real flavors.

- To keep the salmon succulent, Lady Mansfield is going to wrap it in a large sheet of buttered foil, and to bring out the delicate flavor, she's simply using lemon, fresh dill, and a sprinkle of seasoning.

Can I make a cheeky suggestion?

- Yes!

- I find that the way you automatically do it is wrap it up and do a great big roll of the foil on top, which stops the top of it getting cooked.

But a slightly better way is to pull this over the top like that.

And then imagining it's a huge Cornish pasty, you just turn that round.

But you must tuck it in, because I don't want all the juices going over your oven, which I've already noticed was exceedingly clean.

So we've got our wonderful Cornish pasty, and none of the juice should come out.

- That is such a good tip!

- While that goes into a hot oven for 20 minutes, we're joined by Lady Mansfield's daughter, Iona.

- Very nice to see you.

- You too.

- What's that you've got there?

- [Iona] This is wild garlic.

- Wow, that's memories of walking through woods, and it just knocks you back.

What are you going to do with it?

- My mother's favorite sauce is a hollandaise, but mine is a wild garlic pesto.

- Have I got to say which is the best?

I think I'll be very tactful, I know which side my bread's buttered.

Lady Mansfield's traditional hollandaise starts with a white wine vinegar reduction, flavored with parsley stalks, bay leaves, a few peppercorns, and a large blade of mace.

The cooled reduction is added to four egg yolks and then heated gently over a pan of hot water, while adding the softened butter.

To make her pesto, Iona just blitzes the wild garlic with pine nuts, lemon juice and a good glug of olive oil.

- And then, Mary, if you could possibly start grating some Parmesan.

- I thought you'd find something for me to do!

She finishes it off by stirring in the Parmesan, and adding a little more olive oil to get it to the right consistency.

- And that's just perfect to put straight onto the salmon when it's ready.

- Well, it's got another friend over there that's going with the salmon.

How's that going?

- I think we're nearly there.

Here we are, we're going to get it out.

Just look at that!

- That looks beautiful, doesn't it?

And the skin comes off so easily when it's straight out of the oven.

(gentle music) It is such an enormous treat to have wild salmon, and this is straight out of the Tay, it couldn't be better.

- No, it's a real, real, real treat.

- That hollandaise is rich, and it's just a classic to go with the salmon.

Now, new for me is your pesto.

Mm, it's far more interesting than just putting crushed garlic in it.

The color is amazing, and it's a good flavor.

But this is so delicate, I think the hollandaise goes a little more with it.

- So I think Mary's got your vote, Mummy.

(all laughing) - I didn't say I didn't like it, I love it!

(gentle music) The Scone Estate has always provided its royal visitors with some of the finest fare in Scotland.

To discover why this place became such a draw for royalty, William's going to show me the very spot where 42 Scottish kings were crowned.

- [William] Now, Mary, this is the Moot Hill, and this is the reason why people come to Scone, is to see this, and to stand on top of it.

- [Mary] This looks more like a mound to me than a hill.

- Well, it's a very important mound.

Legend has it that this hill was not just called the Moot Hill, but it was also the Boot Hill.

And that's because when the kings and all their magnates came here, they all brought in their boots the soil of their own land.

And so when they arrived here, they then poured that soil out to create what is now the Moot Hill, and the king would be crowned on that hill.

So there's a huge significance around that, and this is a real relic of the past, a real sort of important place for the Scottish nation.

- [Mary] And it's what stands on top of Moot Hill that, for nearly 1,200 years, has been at the heart of Scottish, and later British, coronations.

- So as we walked up this hill, we were leaving the secular world and coming into a very sacred place, which housed the Stone of Scone, commonly known as the Stone of Destiny.

This stone was brought here in 840 by the first king of Scotland, Kenneth McAlpine.

Some people say it is a Roman altar, some people say it came from the Holy Land, but what we do know, Mary, is that the stone has been used for important coronations, coronations of James I, Charles II, Robert the Bruce, Macbeth.

- When you say Macbeth, is that Shakespeare's Macbeth?

- Not specifically Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Shakespeare created a sort of, like, wicked and evil king.

Historians now think Macbeth was actually a very good Scottish king.

- And they were crowned on this very stone?

- Well, not this exact stone, but one that looks very similar to this that's no longer here, because the original stone taken from here in 1297 by what I call the bad guy in Braveheart, Edward I, the Hammer of the Scots.

He took it to Westminster, where all coronations since have used it.

- [Mary] The Stone of Destiny is wrapped in myth and legend and is a revered symbol of the Scottish nation.

I remember the news on Christmas Day in 1950, four Scottish students stole back the stone from Westminster Abbey.

- It caused a lot of problems.

In fact, they shut the border between England and Scotland for the first time in 400 years.

After, I think, a very long chase, the stone was returned to Westminster Abbey, before ending up in Edinburgh now.

- [Mary] So when the next monarch is crowned?

- It will be on the Stone of Scone, in Westminster.

- [Mary] Okay.

- With all the magnates around them and the bishops, and, of course, then there'll be the grand ceremony, and they will plant a crown on their fair head.

And in this case, it would be, "Arise, Queen Mary of Cakes."

- Well, when it really happens I shall be watching, and I shall have a very special memory of coming here to Scone.

But William tells me after the Crowns of Scotland and England were joined by the 1707 Act of Union, that the subsequent rebellions caused Scotland to fall from favor, and not a single Royal visited Scone for almost two centuries.

- Scotland was not a la mode.

- [Mary] So what changed all that, then?

- That was actually partly to do with a very important visit here by Queen Victoria on her Jubilee tour in 1842.

- That must have been absolutely amazing.

And did she come through that arch down there?

- She didn't come through that archway, 'cause, actually, we built an entirely separate and new driveway there.

It wasn't the only thing they did, either.

They brought the butlers out of retirement, they had furniture specially made, so this was a gargantuan effort.

- And the expense?

- A huge amount.

- And how long did all that take?

- It took two years.

- But how long did she stay?

- Just the one night.

- And that's all?

- That's all, one night.

- All that effort, all that expense, just for one night?

- Incredible, but she was Queen of the greatest empire that's ever been, she was the number one monarch.

- William's grandfather, the eighth Earl, opened the palace to the public in 1966, and now 100,000 people come to Scone each year.

The legacy of Victoria's visit is a huge part of the draw, and William has pointed me in the direction of the very room where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert dined, to find curator Graham McIntyre.

You must be Graham?

- Hello.

- [Mary] This is a very fine dining table here.

- [Graham] This is Queen Victoria's table.

It was made specifically for that night.

- And was that quite expensive?

- In today's money, 75,000 pounds.

- 75,000 pounds!

That's an enormous amount.

I mean, the whole visit cost so much.

- It nearly bankrupt the Earl, it was said, but it was so important to him, and everything had to be right.

- [Mary] And where would Queen Victoria sit?

- Victoria liked the heat, so Victoria and Albert actually sat with their backs to the fire.

- What a good idea!

- Yes.

- Amongst the illustrious guests were the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, and the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch.

Graham also tells me how the table was a feast for the eyes, decorated with sugar sculptures by the famous Italian confectioner William Jarrin, and shortbread embossed with the Mansfield coat of arms in gold leaf.

It's quite a special feeling to think I'm sitting on the same seat as Queen Victoria.

(bright music) Victoria was just 23 when she visited.

She and Albert had been married for two years, and I'm told the bed the couple slept in is still here.

I'm hoping palace archivist Sarah Adams can tell me more.

- Hello.

- Hello, you must be Sarah.

- I am, it's lovely to meet you.

- And this is Queen Victoria's bed?

- [Sarah] It is, yes.

- [Mary] Am I going to be allowed to sit on it?

- I've been told we can.

- Gracious.

It isn't every day that we can get to sit on Queen Victoria's bed!

I say, it's pretty hard, isn't it?

- I know, it's not the most comfortable.

- [Mary] To reveal the true cost of Queen Victoria's stay, Sarah has a ledger of the household accounts.

- This section here's looking at the cost of the groceries, and it's done in three-month periods.

So we can see that in the period before the visit, the total amount that was spent was 51 pounds, 15 shillings and nine pence.

Ad this would roughly be just over 5,000 pounds.

But, for the period that she was here, our total has gone up to 289 pounds, 17 shillings and 8 1/2 pence.

And this was roughly 30,000 pounds.

- (gasps) They must have had the finest of ingredients.

- Mm!

- They were killing the fatted calf.

- Yes, and the two years leading up to the visit, there was a lot of work done.

We've got invoices for upholstery, paper hanging, painting, masonry work, ironmongery, and when these were all added together, the final cost was 3,800 pounds, a modern equivalent of over 377,000 pounds.

- It's amazing, really, isn't it?

- Yes.

- This was enormously expensive.

How did the fourth Earl feel?

It must have worried him.

- Well, we do know how he felt about the visit because he wrote to his mother about it, just about a month beforehand.

"As you may easily imagine, "a royal visit this year will be very inconvenient, "yet it would be perfectly inhospitable for me to decline."

- It didn't sound as though he was that keen.

Do you think she appreciated coming here to Scone?

- That's an interesting question.

We're told that Victoria went to bed at 11 o'clock, which is an hour later than she would usually go, so hopefully she was having a nice time.

But what we do know for certain is that Victoria and Albert fell in love with Scotland on their visit, and it was also not long after this that Victoria bought the Balmoral Estate.

- So they were setting the trend to visit Scotland.

It's a good job he spent all that money, wasn't it?

(gentle music) (bright music) One of the great draws to Scotland for Victoria and Albert was, of course, the landscape.

The Scone Estate is spread over 27,000 acres and its prime position at the very beginning of the Highlands made it an important first port of call for visiting royalty and nobility.

Much of the region became a vast outdoor playground for the upper classes, with deerstalking seen as the pinnacle of country sports.

- Here they come, it's about time!

- [Mary] I would love to catch sight of these magnificent wild animals, and to help us are the estate's own gamekeepers, Roddy McIntosh, and his son, Stewart.

- Good morning!

Roddy Mansfield, nice to see you again.

- Nice to see you.

- Here we go.

- Young Mary Berry, welcome to Logiealmond.

- My, you look smart!

You're all in the same tweed.

Is it a special family tweed?

- It is, yes.

It's nice, it's warm.

- It's really.

- It's quite waterproof.

- Is it?

I was just thinking, should you have a Mac on top of it?

- If it keeps the sheep dry, it's good for us as well.

- Well, you look the part, certainly.

- [Roddy] So, if we're all feeling fit, it's on foot from now.

- [Mary] Right.

It's not the hunting season, so we're just going to have a look for the herd and see how close we can get.

More of a deer safari, really.

Stalking, historically, has been the sport of kings.

- [Lady Mansfield] Yes, it goes way back to the 11th and 12th century, when it was the king's prerogative, and they developed various royal forests and anybody else caught poaching deer had severe, severe penalties.

- Well, coming right up to date, venison has become really popular.

Of course, it's very good for us, it's lovely and lean, no fat.

- And it's simply delicious, too.

- [Mary] Ooh, it is!

It's a very good thing that we can now all enjoy venison, and it's because landowners like the Earl of Mansfield maintain these huge areas for deer and grouse that we can still have this wild landscape that has remained unchanged for centuries.

- Oh, Roddy, I think Stewart and I are going to hold back now, aren't we?

- Yes, yes.

- I think your best chance is to go off on your own.

To see if- - Off all right.

Okay.

- Right.

(gentle music) - [Mary] By keeping the group to a minimum and staying in line, there's less chance of the stalker being seen by the deer.

And Roddy makes sure that we keep downwind of their very sensitive noses.

(gentle music) - I saw the head of a deer walking there, Mary, so I don't know where they've gone just now.

So we just need to keep creeping up here.

We'll carry on and we'll see what we can see.

- Okay, I'll keep close.

(gentle music) Look, look, look at that!

Wow, look at its little white tail.

Isn't that beautiful?

- There are another two up here, we'll need to stay low.

We'll go up to the top of the ridge here and hopefully get a better view.

- Okay, okay.

I'll keep close.

- Okay, we'll go up that way.

Now, Mary, have a wee seat here.

The deer have laid down in front of us.

- Are they?

- Yeah, they're lying down like us, so we can't see them, so we'll need to wait here for a little while, to see if they'll stand up.

- And will you see their heads just come up first?

- Yeah, you'll see the ears and they will always find you before you see them most of the time.

- And you were a gamekeeper for William's grandfather?

- Yes, yeah, that's right.

- And how many years were you with him?

- I was 40 years with him, yeah.

- 40 years.

Did you ever travel to other estates with Lord Mansfield?

- Traveled all over Berkshire, Lincolnshire, Northumberland.

Most of the times you were told where you were going.

There was only once when we were going away and I said, "Where are we going, my Lord?"

And he wouldn't tell me.

So we started heading east, then we started going a bit north, and I was starting to twig a wee bit.

So I said, "This wouldn't involve some corgis by any chance, my Lord?"

And he said, "Don't stand on them!"

(both laughing) So we knew where we were going then.

- Now, tell me about it, who was there?

- The Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen.

- And how did you get on, did they talk to you?

- Oh, yes, they were the same as Lord Mansfield, it's total relaxation for them.

You're in the hills like this, peace and quiet, no-one worrying you.

- What an honor.

- It was an honor, yeah.

- [Mary] Since the extinction of the wolf, deer have no natural predators here, and Scottish Natural Heritage recognize that, in order to sustain a healthy deer population, culling is necessary, but William explains that it has to be done right.

- You pick out the old, or the ones that are weak or that are ill, and that's an effort to conserve the greater whole, the greater body of animals, to keep them all stronger.

- Well, that's quite right.

(gentle music) - Well, Mary, you're looking a wee bit cold, would you like a wee dram?

- I'll never say no, especially when there's a bit of wind coming up.

- There we are.

William?

- [William] Yes, please!

Thank you.

- Don't spill any.

- A Scotsman doesn't spill it!

(all laughing) There we are.

- This will warm the cockles of our hearts.

- Yes.

Here's to your very good health, anyway.

- [William] Cheers.

- If I blew and you lit a match, it would go up.

- It would go up!

(all laughing) - As we head back from the hills, Lady Mansfield tells me venison will be the fuel for our dancing at the upcoming party.

But first, I want her help, with my take on a dish that has long been a favorite on the menu for royal visitors at Scone Palace.

- Well, Mary, we are so lucky.

Roddy and Stewart have managed to provide us with some filet.

- It looks amazing.

It's quite big.

What kind of a deer is it from?

- This is red deer, the Monarch of the Glen.

- That's the great, big, fine one that we see pictures of?

- [Lady Mansfield] Yes.

- [Mary] Start off by sealing the meat in a very hot pan.

- Pepper and salt on the top.

Gosh, you can smell it already.

- Then I'm going to turn that over.

That's just what it should do, isn't it?

- Perfect.

- [Mary] When the venison is nicely browned, leave to one side to cool.

Instead of the usual mushroom or pate topping, I'm going to use caramelized onions to crown this Wellington.

Gently cook the onions in the same pan and, once soft and golden, set aside half for the gravy.

Then add chopped thyme, light muscovado sugar, and balsamic vinegar.

That's it.

Smell it.

Have a smell.

- Mm!

- You want both onions and meat completely cool before you wrap them in pastry, and I'm using puff pastry, rolled out nice and thinly.

Now, normally you would put beaten egg when you're sealing it, but brushing mustard not only adds to the flavor, it means that it will stick.

- That's a really good tip, I didn't know that.

- [Mary] It sticks like mad.

This is where it all comes together.

I've got a really neat way to wrap the venison in the pastry.

Simply cut two rectangles from either side.

There we are.

I'm going to turn those in like that, and then roll it over gently, like that.

Like that.

And then the fold is underneath, and the top is where all the onions are.

- That looks fantastic.

- If you see a little bit of a gap there, there's nothing like a little pinch to get it together, because we don't want the juices coming out.

Use the pastry you've cut off to make some decorations for the top and give it all a good brush with some egg wash.

Pop it in the fridge to chill right down before cooking.

While we're ladies-in-waiting, Lady Mansfield has an amazing culinary surprise from the palace archives.

- It's a letter from the Duke of Wellington to "My Dear Lady Mansfield," dated September the 11th, 1833, with his signature at the bottom.

So, isn't that fun?

- Absolutely amazing!

- The other most extraordinary thing is he's enclosed a recipe, and it's a recipe for how to make butter.

"Put the cream into a strong linen cloth.

"Dig a hole and let the bottom be large enough "to allow the cream to lie "almost four inches deep all over it.

"Cover up with the earth.

"Let it remain 24 hours.

"Take it out, and pour the cream, which will be very thick, "into a bowl, and stir it well with a wooden spoon or ladle.

"It is in bad weather that this mode of making butter "is particularly advantageous."

(laughs) - I think the letter is worth an awful lot more than the recipe!

- I think the recipe's barking!

(laughs) (bright music) - This Wellington goes in the oven at 200 fan for about 50 minutes, while I get on with making a gravy worthy of the man himself.

Stir in a tablespoonful of flour to the remaining onions, before gradually adding hot beef stock.

And in goes a dollop of red currant jelly.

There's another ingredient that's going in which is very important, and that's the port.

Then let it bubble away until it looks rich and glossy before sieving out the onions.

- Well, Mary, here it is, and the smell was so good that I met two people outside who are very keen to be allowed to try some.

- Lovely to see you again, Roddy.

Well, nobody knows more than you about venison and deer.

Roddy is joined by head gardener Brian Cunningham, and I hope they're in for a treat.

I think it's best to do it in thick slices.

- You'd rather have a thick slice than a thin one, I bet!

- Yeah.

Definitely!

- That's right!

(dramatic music) It's going through like butter.

I hope that it's beautifully pink.

- [Lady Mansfield] Oh, just look at that, isn't that fantastic?

- [Mary] Is that how it should be?

You're the expert.

- Lovely!

On this occasion, it's not going to be ladies first, it's boys first, 'cause you're jolly hungry.

Come on.

(upbeat music) It's funny, all the chaps like the gravy, don't they?

But we have put quite a lot of port, and I know you that like a wee tipple from time to time.

- [Lady Mansfield] It's not often you get Mary Berry to come and cook for you, is it?

- I love to see the smile on their faces, that's what matters to me.

- It's very nice.

I think I'll have some more.

- [Roddy] That's right, come on.

- [Mary] I think I've won over the head gardener, Brian, with my Wellington.

(gentle music) And in return, he's kindly agreed to show me the estate's eight-acre Pinetum, a rare collection of majestic trees.

Planted back in 1848 by the fourth Earl of Mansfield, it's a magnificent example of the Victorian craze for collecting plants from around the world.

But it all began in 1810, when the third Earl employed an 11-year-old boy who would go on to become one of the most renowned plant hunters of all.

- So do you know the name David Douglas?

- I think I do.

- We've got strong ties with him, 'cause he was actually born here in the old village of Scone, and he served his apprenticeship here, before moving on and eventually working for the RHS and doing a bit of plant hunting and exploration up in the Northwest of America.

- And, of course, that's a huge journey in those days?

- All to just bring us back some treasures.

But what he's most famous for is his trees, and his forest trees in particular.

So, maybe we should get out now and show you some of these, Mary.

So we've got some noble firs, some grand firs.

But this cracker here, this is the tree that I was wanting to show you.

- And what is it?

- Well, this is one of David Douglas' most important introductions.

- Must be a Douglas fir.

- That's right.

And it's not just any old Douglas fir, this is one of the first Douglas firs in the country, planted in 1834 by seed sent back from America by David Douglas.

If you imagine Scotland from the 1600s onwards, our trees were being decimated for the wars, for shipbuilding, the Industrial Revolution, and David Douglas noticed that these trees were growing straight, they were gonna be perfect for timber.

- Brian explains that, along with the Sitka spruce, the Douglas fir became the backbone of Scottish timber production, helping the country's woodland coverage recover from 4% in 1900, to almost 20% now.

So, we have to thank David Douglas?

- We certainly do.

- But he never saw the result?

If he looked at Scotland now, and the whole landscape is lots of forests of pines, he'd be very proud?

- He would be, and quite right.

- [Mary] But thanks are also due to the likes of the third Earl, who supported David Douglas, enabling him to transform Scottish forestry into the billion pound industry it is today.

- [Lady Mansfield] Hello Brian, it's Lady Mansfield.

Have you still got Mary with you?

- I sure do.

- [Lady Mansfield] Please could you bring her to the Royal Garden?

Thank you!

- We're on our way!

- Today, Brian and the family are carrying on the spirit of the third and fourth Earls, with plans to reinstate the orchard in the four-acre Victorian walled garden.

We've got here, it's been quite a trek!

- That's marvelous!

You know I said that when we had important people to come and visit us, we really liked it if we could manage to get them to plant a tree for us?

- There's a lovely, great hole there, looks perfect.

- So, it would be just fantastic if we could ask you to plant a tree.

- Come on, let's get going.

- [Brian] If I give you the planting spade.

- [Mary] Gosh, that's beautifully shiny.

- [Lady Mansfield] And Mary, we've chosen a William pear.

- [Mary] Oh, it's got a good root.

(bright music) - [Lady Mansfield] Getting into this now.

(laughing) Fantastic.

- In she goes!

Is that okay?

- [Brian] That's beautiful, thank you.

- [Lady Mansfield] That's absolutely perfect.

- Well, I feel in very good company with all the royals at Scone Palace.

Let's hope it grows to be a very fine tree.

(dramatic music) As my visit draws to an end, the palace is gearing up for what will be a real treat, a grand dinner for 40 of Lord and Lady Mansfield's great friends, followed by traditional Scottish reeling.

(upbeat music) Now, I've got to get my bearings here.

This must be where the dancing is, but last time I saw it, there was a table the whole length of the room.

I hope all those statues stay like that, with the bouncing up and down of the reels, because it certainly will make the floor bounce.

I can see that you're busy, Jean.

Is this an exciting time for you?

- Yes, it's lovely, lovely, really exciting, really exciting.

This is for the pre-dinner drinks tonight.

We're having champagne.

- Nothing but the best.

Talking of nothing but the best, were you here when the Queen came?

- Yes.

- What drink did she have?

- Dubonnet.

Dubonnet, and she had to get a new bottle because, well, we kinda thought maybe somebody had served her a bad drink, maybe a bottle they'd had in the back of the cupboard for a number of years.

It's the same with Princess Margaret, when she's only once ever been here that I know of, and when she came, she made up her own gin and tonic.

- Did she?

And did she like it?

- Yes.

- We've heard she enjoyed it, of course.

- Yes.

- I've been tasked with coming up with a suitably Scottish pud for the party.

So, I've recruited William and a bottle of Scotch, and I'm inspired to make an old favorite, full of fine Scots ingredients.

Cranachan couldn't be more Scottish.

In fact, my mama would be very proud of me.

- Will you help me?

- I'll try to help.

- The first thing to do is to caramelize the oats to make them nice and crunchy.

So, equal amounts of light muscovado sugar and jumbo Scottish oats go into the pan with a knob of butter.

Just get turning with that.

- Oh yeah, so this is flip it around?

- Flip it around, preferably not all over the floor!

And I've got these raspberries.

Now, am I right in thinking that this area is particularly famous for raspberries?

- Yes, yes, yes.

This would be the raspberry bowl of Britain.

We have very long summer days, a bit of rain, it is Scotland, but long summer days, that's the key.

- Now for the cream.

As this cranachan is for a special occasion, I'm going to make it extra luxurious by whisking double cream into rich mascarpone.

When the oats are beautifully brown, put to one side to cool.

Now we need the whisky.

Shall we judge it?

What do you think?

Like that?

- [William] I think that looks perfect.

- We'll see how we go.

Fold the cooled oats into the whisky and cream, along with those lovely Scottish raspberries.

It's a bit like Eton mess.

- It is, yeah.

- But it's Scottish.

- Scottish mess.

- Scottish mess!

It is really sheer luxury.

Come on.

- All right.

(dramatic music) I reckon you might have topped the chart with that, that's very good.

It will give us good energy for the dancing to come, as well.

- And we'll need it.

Well, some of us will!

(both laughing) - Always serve at the guest's left-hand side.

Water and the wine at the guest's right-hand side.

(gentle music) - Down in the kitchen, Steve Gilroy, the head chef, is hard at work, and I can't wait to see what he's serving ahead of my pud for tonight's grand dinner.

May I come into the chef's domain?

- Hello.

- [Mary] What's going on, Steve?

- Yeah, we're preparing canapes for the dinner that you're attending.

- Lady Mansfield said you're going to have venison in some form?

- Yeah, we have venison, lovely roe deer from the estate.

It's the same dish that I did for Lord Mansfield's 60th last year.

- So, it's well practiced?

- Yeah, it's well practiced!

- Well, that's good.

Goodness gracious, what is this?

- This is a haggis bonbon, and it's with a whisky jus, so you eat the haggis and then drink the jus.

- You don't want too many of those!

- No, well, it depends!

(both laughing) (bright music) - A huge array of the Murrays' family friends have gathered for the night, and I'm told that there are many fine Scottish dancers amongst them.

And I've got my mother's Wilson tartan sash to help me fit in.

- Mary, can I introduce you to Jane McNab?

- Hello, how do you do?

- How do you do?

- This is Brian Ivory, Sir Brian Ivory, and this is Jane's husband, Jamie McNab.

- Hello.

- Hello.

I have to look, is that badger, or.

No, what is it?

- No, it's horsehair.

- Horsehair!

You can see how ignorant I am.

(dramatic music) - How many's that?

- [Chef] Three, four, five, six, seven.

14.

- Perfect.

- Come on, then.

- [Mary] Dinner is served, and Jean is in her element, keeping everything flowing smoothly.

- Thank you.

- The seared venison is the star of the show.

And, with the palace sparkling and fully brought to life, it's easy to imagine the many royals enjoying the Murray hospitality throughout the centuries.

(dramatic music) - [Steve] The one that Mary's done was like that, all right?

- [Chef] Right, okay.

- [Mary] And the chef has made sure there's enough of my cranachan for everyone.

- Let battle commence, ha-ha!

(upbeat music) - [Mary] One day you will be the Earl of Mansfield.

- I will.

- Have you thought how you'll feel about that?

- Quite the responsibility.

That's 16-plus generations.

One thing that I've always been keen to ensure is I don't want to be known as William who just went home.

That's what I could very easily do, but I wouldn't be able to cope with that.

I want to go out in the world and earn my own stripes.

- And the relationship that you have with your staff is quite extraordinary.

It means a lot to you, doesn't it?

- It means a huge amount to me.

I mean, theoretically speaking, they should call me now My Lord, which I find really strange.

So I insist upon them all still calling me William, because that's what they've called me for years.

- So you wish to carry on the traditions of Scone?

- Very much so, and, yeah, I want to continue the tradition and marry the old to the new and sort of drag Scone into the 21st century and beyond, and I'm very excited by that.

(dramatic music) (bright upbeat music) - [Man] And back!

- [Mary] It's all coming back to me.

Sort of!

But what fun to be reeling again.

- [Man] And turn!

And now to (indistinct).

- [Mary] It's been so wonderful to be here amongst all this incredible history at Scone.

- [Crowd] Woo-hoo!

- [Mary] And get a taste of the royal pleasures that so delighted all the kings and queens who came here over the past 12 centuries.

I'll never forget being given this one-off peek into the private side of this Scottish national treasure.

And it's good to know that, with William and his family and their loyal staff, its future is in safe hands.

(people clapping) (all cheering) (audience applauding) (bright music) Next time, I visit Powderham Castle on the Devon coast to meet the youngest generation of one of Britain's oldest families.

- The cream before the jam.

- Who are taking on the challenge of a great estate.

There's an awful lot for you to do here, Charlie.

And doing things a bit differently.

- The best thing about the staircase, obviously, is going down on a tray or on your bottom.

(Mary gasps) (bright upbeat music) (gentle music)