Built / Designed For: John Murray, Lord Bowhill

House & Family History: The game of Rugby was invented at Bowhill (not, as commonly thought, at Rugby); it was then known as Caterhaugh Ba Game and involved much larger opposing teams than today's standard of 15 players. The man responsible for overseeing the first game was Sir Walter Scott. Bowhill was called "Sweet Bowhill" by Scott in his novel "Lay of the Last Minstrel."

Collections: One of Britain's great treasure houses, Bowhill has an outstanding collection of art, most of which King Charles II gave to his illegitimate son, James, Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch. The collection includes paintings by Canaletto, Guardi, Claude, Ruysdael, Gainsborough, Raeburn, van Dyck, and Wilkie, with particular standouts being Reynolds's "Pink Boy" and Canaletto's view of Whitehall. In addition, the only Leonardo still in private hands, "The Madonna of the Yarn Winder," is in the Bowhill collection (though it is currently on loan to the Scottish National Gallery). The Leonardo had been lent to a gallery in Milan before World War II and was stranded in Italy during the war. After the Italian surrender, the Leonardo was discovered, amazingly, undamaged in a cellar; the 8th Duke brought it back to Britain wrapped in newspaper. Bowhill contains one of the most important collections of miniatures in the world, with works by Nicholas Hilliard, Isaac Oliver, Samuel Cooper, and Hans Holbein. The collection of over 800 pieces features images of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Mary I, Pepys, James VI and I, Elizabeth I, Katharine of Aragon, Henry VIII, and even George Washington and Benjamin Franklin! Relics in the collection include Monmouth's saddle and execution shirt, the proof editions Sir Walter Scott's works, and the famous portrait of Scott by Raeburn. The collection also includes Queen Victoria's letters and gifts to the Duchess of Buccleuch, her mistress of the robes. The gallery hall contains three great Mortlake tapestries depicting the triumphs of Julius Caesar. The tapestries were woven in 1670 from Mantegna's magisterial nine canvases, collectively called "The Triumphs of Caesar," which have hung at Hampton Court Palace since 1630. Considered among the finest achievements of Italian Renaissance art, the paintings were created circa 1484-92 for the 4th Marquis of Mantua (Franceso II Gonzaga) and were acquired by Charles I in 1629, when he purchased significant parts of the Gonzaga family's art collection.

Garden & Outbuildings: John Gilpin designed the garden and landscaping.

John Bernard (J.B.) Burke, published under the title of A Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, among other titles: Vol. II, p. 198, 1853.

Country Life: John Cornforth in CLVII, 1448, 1558, 1618, 1678, 1975.

House Listed: Category A

Park Listed: Designated Garden & Designed Landscape

Current Seat / Home of: Richard Walter John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch and 12th Duke of Queensberry

Past Seat / Home of: John Murray, Lord Bowhill, 1708-14. Francis Scott, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch, 1747-51; Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and 5th Duke of Queensberry, 1751-1812; Charles William Henry Montagu-Scott, 4th Duke of Buccleuch and 6th Duke of Queensberry, 1812-19; Walter Francis Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch and 7th Duke of Queensberry, 1819-84; William Henry Walter Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch and 8th Duke of Queensberry, 1884-1914; John Charles Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch and 9th Duke of Queensberry, 1914-35; Walter John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch and 10th Duke of Queensberry, 1935-73; Walter Francis John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch and 11th Duke of Queensberry, 1973-2007.

Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust

Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home

House Open to Public: Yes

Phone: 0175-022-204

Email: info@bowhillhouse.co.uk

Website: https://www.bowhillhouse.co.uk/

Historic Houses Member: Yes