Quotes from Walter Scott's The Abbot

[cimorene]

"And, by my faith, he is a man of steel, as true and as pure, but as hard and as pitiless. You remember the Cock of Capperlaw, whom he hanged over his gate for a mere mistake—a poor yoke of oxen taken in Scotland, when he thought he was taking them in English land? I loved the Cock of Capperlaw; the Kerrs had not an honester man in their clan, and they have had men that might have been a pattern to the Border—men that would not have lifted under twenty cows at once, and would have held themselves dishonoured if they had taken a drift of sheep, or the like, but always managed their raids in full credit and honour."

What a fascinating look at 16th century Scottish border life. It's totally honorable to steal a large herd of cows from an English target, but the fewer you steal (presumably because of the relative poverty of their owner) the more morally questionable, so the most honorable lads are raiding large quantities of livestock from wealthy English landowners. Meanwhile, stealing any amount of livestock from another Scottish person is punishable by death.

Their stately offices—their pleasant gardens—the magnificent cloisters constructed for their recreation, were all dilapidated and ruinous; and some of the building materials had apparently been put into requisition by persons in the village and in the vicinity, who, formerly vassals of the Monastery, had not hesitated to appropriate to themselves a part of the spoils. Roland saw fragments of Gothic pillars richly carved, occupying the place of door-posts to the meanest huts; and here and there a mutilated statue, inverted or laid on its side, made the door-post, or threshold, of a wretched cow-house.

Mostly I'm just sad we don't have documentary photo evidence of this practice.

"My master has pushed off in the boat which they call the little Herod, (more shame to them for giving the name of a Christian to wood and iron,)[...]"

Old Keltie, the landlord, who had bestowed his name on a bridge in the neighbourhood of his quondam dwelling, received the carrier with his usual festive cordiality, and adjourned with him into the house, under pretence of important business, which, I believe, consisted in their emptying together a mutchkin stoup of usquebaugh.

Love to see whiskey in Gaelic.

“Peace, ye brawling hound!” said the wounded steward; “are dagger-stabs and dying men such rarities in Scotland, that you should cry as if the house were falling?”

Comments

[cimorene]

Oooh, well!

I think rococo and baroque churches, at least from what I've seen, are generally a bit more pleasing to look at and be inside of than palaces, but the contrast is interesting. Churches have a natural focal point and they also tend to have very high ceilings in the fanciest space, which allows the visual composition to spread out and sort of... Visually move around the space more. There are other rooms in palaces, and particularly operas, that are similarly suited to rococo, but a lot of rooms have a much larger footprint with comparatively low ceilings. Even a lot of creative use of windows can't fully compensate, and the gilt details become heavy and cumbrous without sufficient light, while the layout of a big space without a clear focal point reduces the ability of the gilt to create emphasis, especially if it's overused.

Sorry, that rambling didn't teach you what to look for!

Personally I love wallcoverings and light fixtures and yes, furniture, especially marquetry designs, carved wood, and (in general) the legs. Rococo marquetry is very very fancy, with individual objects often being imo comparable to paintings by a master. Light fixtures are a general (not just rococo) interest of mine, but palaces are probably heavier on unique crystal chandeliers compared with, you know, stately homes of the middle class and lesser nobility, where you get to see a lot of torchieres and wall sconces.

And when I say wallcoverings, palaces and churches are more likely to have incredible murals than wallpaper or fabric or hand-painted graphic motifs like you see in middle class homes. Tbh, in many respects I find so-called folk rococo and the slightly less fancy interiors of wealthy and noble homes that are a bit less grand than palaces more interesting, at least when it comes to furnishings and wallcoverings. But there's no question that the murals are usually much more exquisite works of art. Ooh, and also fireplaces, mantels, and masonry stoves (though again, that is less likely to be found in a palace than in a mansion).

Porcelain is also a great miniaturization of architectural trends, especially in big pieces like urns and vases, but also teacups and plates and the like. Though I suspect there's a lot of imported Asian porcelain in the noble and royal collections of this period in addition to the rococo stuff.

A very fun thing to look for is when neoclassicism starts to appear. It has a pretty substantial overlap with rococo and a gradual transition, so you start to see motifs from Greek and Roman antiquity incorporated into a rococo aesthetic after about 1750 I guess (but Wikipedia pinpoints an Italian forerunner even earlier), and then later lots of neoclassical designs still dominated by the colors and rhythms and compositions of rococo.