THE STAR OF PICCADILLY. 6i 



present, who gained his nickname from once pinning to the 

 table, with a fork, the hand of an officer whom he suspected of 

 foul play. Roche and Lord March had some dispute in which 

 the nobleman gave the ' savage' the lie. The latter rose calmly 

 from his seat, laid hold of Lord March by the ears, lifted him up 

 by those appendages from the ground, and said, with supreme 

 contempt, to those present, ' You see, gentlemen, how I treat 

 this despicable little cocksparrow. As a man he is too much 

 beneath me, or I would treat him as a gentleman.' Lord March 

 bore the affi-ont meekly, and never made any attempt to resent 

 it — a fact that does not say much for ' Old Q.'s' pluck. 



The year 1789 witnessed 'Old Q.'s' greatest triumphs on the 

 Turf. He matched his horse Dash, by Florizcl, against Lord 

 Derby's Sir Peter Teazle for 1000 guineas, on the six-mile 

 course, at the First Newmarket Spring Meeting of that year. 

 Lord Derby tried to back out of the match, and offered half for- 

 feit ; but that offer was refused, and the race came off. Dash, 

 who carried 6st. 7lb. against Sir Peter's pst., winning easily. In 

 the Second Newmarket Spring Meeting, with the same horse, 

 Dash, he beat Mr. Hallam's b. h. by Highflyer, over the B. C, 

 for 1000 guineas, each carrying 8st. 7lb. In the Second October 

 Meeting of the same year Dash won his third match against the 

 Prince of Wales's Don Quixote, Sst. 7lb. each, six-mile course, 

 for 900 guineas ; and on the following Tuesday week he won 

 his fourth match against Lord Barrymore's Highlander, at the 

 same weights, three times round the B. C, for 800 guineas, thus 

 winning for his owner 3,700 guineas in matches within less than 

 six months. 



' Old Q.' continued his active and energetic support of the 

 Turf until he came into the dukedom of Queensberry, in 1778. 

 After that he was a less ardent patron of racing, though he con- 

 tinued to run horses until 1806. As he grew older he became 

 more and more of a voluptuary. His country pleasures were 

 mainly confined to his villa at Richmond, which was a marvel 

 of sumptuous splendour. Being a bachelor, he conceived that 

 he had no ties to bind him to respectable decorum, and there- 

 fore resolved to live just as he pleased, without caring what the 

 world thought or said of him. Popular divines preached at him ; 

 satirists launched their keenest shafts of ridicule at him ; carica- 

 turists portrayed him as the hero of a thousand ludicrous and 

 disreputable scenes. But ' Old Q.' never troubled his head about 

 them : he lived solely for enjoyment ; and so long as he had his 



