230 REMINISCENCES OF 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE FIFE MOUNTED RIFLES. 



One evening in March, i860, a party of gentlemen 

 were assembled in the smoking-room at Dysart 

 House. One of them read an extract from a news- 

 paper stating that the Duke of Manchester had 

 appeared at a recent levee in the uniform of a 

 volunteer regiment of Mounted Rifles. Lord Lough- 

 borough said, " Why should we not have a cavalry 

 regiment in Fife.'^" and, turning to me, asked if I 

 would undertake it. I replied, "If you will give 

 me something to start upon — a requisition with a 

 sufficient number of names." A paper was at once 

 drawn up and afterwards handed round in the hunt- 

 ing-field, and very soon 1 11 names were on the list. 

 On the 24th of March a dinner was given to 

 Lord Loughborough at Kirkcaldy by the Conserva- 

 tive electors of Fife, and attended by about 400 

 gentlemen. After the usual toasts I proposed the 

 health of " The Tenantry of Fife," and said : " I am 

 very grateful to the chairman for allowing me the 

 privilege of proposing this toast. Few landlords in 

 Fife, I believe, enjoy the privilege of so extensive a 

 circle of personal acquaintances among that body 

 as I do, and amongst the tenantry of Fife are many 



