Tea at Trianon: Crayke Manor

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Crayke Manor

From Country Life:

Crayke Manor sits at the bottom of Castle Hill, immortalised by its appearance in one of our best-loved nursery rhymes. Penny Churchill takes a look at this beautiful period home. In the rolling landscape of North Yorkshire’s Howardian Hills you’ll find the historic village of Crayke, which stands on the southern slopes of Castle Hill — the hill where, back in the day, ‘the grand old Duke of York’ reputedly marched his 10,000 men up and then down again. Half a mile below the village is Grade II*-listed Crayke Manor, for sale through Savills at a guide price of £2.25m. Sympathetically renovated over the years, this charming 5,858sq ft house is set in 17½ acres of gardens, parkland, pasture and paddocks. Most recently it’s been in use as a successful wedding venue, but could easily be reconfigured as a private family home — one with truly breathtaking period interiors that really must be seen. (Read more.)