The Life of Fred Archer 269 
being tremendous, while thousands of ladies waved their hand- 
kerchiefs as Ormonde was led in. The Duke was so proud 
that he led the horse twice round the paddock and half way 
down the course to the stables, for he did not seem to want 
to part with him. 
Ormonde won the Imperial Gold Cup, andwas then sent to the 
stud, but his career there is outside the scope of these memoirs. 
As might be expected. Archer got many curious letters, 
and at any rate one incident can be vouched for. 
An old widow in very poor circumstances, residing in a 
small country town, wrote to Archer a short time only before 
his death and asked him to put the sum of five shillings upon 
some horse for her in a race then coming off. In her letter 
the poor woman stated that she had a crown piece given to her 
by her mother, and that she, being very poor, wished to try and 
make some money out of it. She added that she could not 
afford to lose it, and wished Mr. Archer to place it upon a horse 
that would be sure to win. 
Archer was kind enough to answer the epistle, and, what 
was better, gave the old dame excellent advice. He advised 
her to keep her crown piece, and by no means to risk it, and 
not to dabble in horse-racing. Besides this, he enclosed in 
his letter a sovereign, as a solatium for the unpalatable 
advice he was forced to give. Poor Archer was always ready 
with his money when distress of all kinds tugged at his coat- 
skirts, and this was only a small one of the many generous 
acts on his part. 
Towards the end of 1886 Archer sent photographs 
of himself and his little girl to some of his patrons, and 
amongst the replies he received were the following : 
" Abergeldie Castle, 
" Ballater, Aberdeenshire, 
" October 2, 1886. 
" Colonel Teesdale is desired by the Prince of Wales to 
