REASONS FOR THE TERM — 'OLD Q' 185 



on his late brother -monarch's favourite, his better - 

 bred (?) son and heir did not. 



That neither Goodison nor Queensberry considered 

 Chifney a very ' clean potato ' the former's assertion 

 that he played ' booty ' on Escape proves, while the 

 latter always condemned his conduct in that race. 

 Perhaps this expression of his grace will tend to 

 throw further light on that miserable affair. 



As allusion has recently been made to his grace's 

 popular nickname, ' Old Q,' it may not therefore be 

 out of place to now explain its origin; a task I 

 have not seen attempted by any latter-day reference 

 to the eccentric Duke. On most of his vehicles his 

 grace contented himself with displaying in place of 

 armorial bearings a well-developed Q, surmounted by 

 a ducal coronet. A passer-by, seeing a little old man 

 snugly ensconced in a carriage thus distinguished, 

 naturally concluded it was ' Old Q ' himself. How- 

 ever, his grace had other nicknames which, with 

 the exception of one bestowed by H.R.H. the Prince 

 of Wales, need no mention. Nor can I fully explain 

 why H.R.H. called the Duke ' Old Tick.' The nick- 

 name, in a measure, was suggested by a dame of Po- 

 mona — an applewoman — then a more privileged class 

 at the entrance to clubs than their descendants have 

 since been ; but further reference is here impossible. 



