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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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stately homes
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The large country houses of the aristocracy, particularly those open to the public. The phrase was perhaps coined and certainly popularized by Mrs *Hemans in her lines: The stately homes of England How beautiful they stand! Amidst their tall ancestral trees, O'er all the pleasant land. Noel Coward's song The Stately Homes of England borrows the first couplet and follows it with: To prove the upper classes Have still the upper hand.
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