INTRODUCTION 



BY 



VICTORIA, COUNTESS OF YARBOROUGH 



During the life of my dear husband, it was often suggested 

 to him by his intimate friends and others, that he should write 

 an autobiography — that such a life as his had been, full of 

 interest, especially in connection with matters relating to sport, 

 had better be told first-hand by himself. 



Indeed, I often represented to him myself that his life-story, 

 written in the charming manner that characterized his articles 

 in the Daily Telegraph, and in his introduction to the book, 

 " Gentlemen Riders," published in collaboration with his friend 

 Mr. Finch Mason in 1910, would be a welcome addition to the 

 literature of the sporting world, but, alas ! he was not spared to 

 carry out my wish. 



His only surviving near relative — his sister, Miss Mary E. 

 Richardson — has, however, undertaken this task, with Mr. Finch 

 Mason contributing the chapters on my husband's racing career, 

 and to them I leave it with every confidence that they will 

 carry out the work ably. 



They will, I have no doubt, be able to interest the outside 

 public in my husband's career, and show that in a life apparently 

 given up to the pleasures of sport for enjoyment alone, he was 

 keenly alive to the duties that should accompany the lot of a 

 man whether he be true statesman, or true sportsman, if in 



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