THE CAREER OF ORMONDE 277 



he received, and cheerfully devoured all the 

 dainties offered him by the ladies — sugar, flowers, 

 anything. The Queen of the Belgians fed 

 him with lawn grass and carnations. Some of 

 the Indian princes went to the flower-beds and 

 plucked geraniums, pelargoniums, and other 

 blooms for Ormonde to eat. Eventually I 

 had to interfere, because I was afraid some of 

 the flowers that were being given him might be 

 wired. If you had a buttonhole in your coat 

 when you went near Ormonde he would be sure 

 to grab and eat it ! The Duke was very proud 

 of having Ormonde to show to his guests that 

 day. 



The late Richard Chapman is authority for 

 the statement that Ormonde's first stud season, 

 at Eaton, was of a normal character. There 

 were no indications of the coming troubles. He 

 got a fair proportion of foals, and several of 

 them proved high-class winners. In 1889 Or- 

 monde was leased to Lord Gerard, and stood 

 at the Moulton Paddocks, Newmarket. He was 

 allowed to leave Eaton because Bend Or and 

 other stallions were there, and, though a relief 

 farm a few miles away was being used, the stud 

 was pressed for paddock accommodation. While 

 at Newmarket, Ormonde had a serious illness, 

 caused by a chill. The consequence was he 

 could not fulfil all the duties that had been allotted 

 to him ; in fact, he only served a few mares. 



