3-i 'OLD Q' 



was one of the ' fathers ' of the sport as we know it at 

 the present day. But Lord March's tastes, rank, and 

 connections led him into pursuits and society other 

 than those of Newmarket, none of which shall escape 

 notice. I shall have much to narrate that will in- 

 terest not only the sportsman, the student of old 

 customs and manners, but also the general reader. 



In this place I may advert to a connection of the 

 Earl of March and Ruglen — his cousin, the eccentric 

 and historic Catharine, Duchess of Queensberry. His 

 lordship was often with her ; but, singular to relate, 

 it is difficult to find any direct reference to their 

 meetings. Perhaps the matter-of-fact clear-headed- 

 ness of Lord March did not meet with sympathetic 

 response from his ducal relative, whose eccentricities 

 would make a charming book of small-talk for the 

 boudoir. That this lady had once been one of the 

 beauties of her time, we have on the authority of 

 Pope, whose own personal defects gave the usual 

 accentuated zest to the charm of beauty. Who, 

 worthy the name of a reader, has not come across 

 these lines by him on her Grace of Queensberry ? — 



' Since Queensberry to strip there 's no compelling, 

 'Tis from a handmaid we must take our Helen.' 



Others, including Prior and Gay, besides the ' note 

 of interrogation,' sang her praises in choicer language 



