Zorfc fteimety? 241 



resources would allow him. And his mad recklessness 

 and hasty temper brought him prematurely to his end. 



In the August of 1834 Lord Kennedy was in a 

 precarious state of health and under strict medical 

 treatment. He was expecting a visit from his doctor 

 one day. The appointed hour came, but the doctor 

 did not appear. His lordship was in an irritable mood. 

 " I'm damned if I'll wait in for all doctors in the world 

 if they don't keep time ; I'm off fishing," said he. And, 

 taking his rod, he went salmon-fishing. 



When the doctor arrived and heard what his patient 

 had done, he exclaimed, " Then, if he's in the water 

 he's a dead man." 



His lordship was in the water standing up to his 

 middle in it, and thus, in defiance of the doctor, he 

 continued to fish for several hours. The next day a 

 chill struck him, and within a week he was dead. 



It was one of " life's little ironies " that his death 

 should have taken place on the morning of " The 

 Twelfth," a day to which he always looked forward 

 with intense eagerness ; and the grouse on the moors 

 around Cassillis Castle were for the first time in their 

 history allowed to rest undisturbed on their annual day 

 of doom. Had they known that their deadliest foe 

 had met with the fate to which he had consigned them 

 by the score, how every cock would have crowed with 

 vindictive triumph ! 



Lord Kennedy was only thirty-seven when he died, 

 but he had already squandered his wife's fortune and 

 his mother's, and dipped largely into his expectations 

 as heir to the Marquis of Ailsa. 



16 



