240 1ktn0s ot tbe 1flob t IRtfle, anb (Bun 



afterwards Earl of Glasgow, notably their famous mid- 

 night coaching race for 500, in which both nearly 

 lost their lives, I have told in "Kings of the Turf." 

 With half a dozen bottles of claret under his belt 

 there was no adventure, no feat of sporting or athletic 

 prowess, too hare-brained and foolhardy for this wild 

 Berserker spirit to undertake, and back himself for 

 thousands, if need be, to accomplish. At game-shooting 

 he was, as I have said, very hard to beat. Sir William 

 Maxwell, of Monreith, himself, though one-armed, one 

 of the best shots of his day, credits Lord Kennedy with 

 having killed to his own gun over dogs in a single day 

 1 20 brace of partridges a grand feat in those muzzle- 

 loading days. 



At the coronation of William IV. (one of whose 

 daughters by Mrs. Jordan had married Lord Kennedy's 

 younger brother) the Earl of Cassillis was created 

 Marquis of Ailsa, and his eldest son assumed by 

 courtesy the title of Earl of Cassillis. For a brief 

 space the new earl was induced to devote himself to 

 politics, and was elected member for Evesham. His 

 father was a red-hot Liberal, who voted for the first 

 Reform Bill ; what Lord Kennedy's politics were, if 

 he had any, I do not know. Probably he merely 

 entered political life to oblige his father, who, no doubt, 

 made this a condition of doling out further supplies 

 to the reckless spendthrift. 



But those who thought that Lord Kennedy as Earl 

 of Cassillis had sown his wild oats and would settle 

 down into a steady and sober life were grievously 

 mistaken. He went the pace as fast as his crippled 



