LAN'D AN'l) WATKR 
November 27, 1915. 
Tho Order of tlic Royal Red Cross was institiiUd by Oueeii 
X'ictoria in iSSj " for tlie purpose of rewarding service 
rendered by certain jiersons in nursing the sick and 
wounded of the Army and Navy." Hitiierto it lias only 
consisted of one class, and has included the names (if 
about two hundred ladies, among whom are Lad\^ 
Wantage, Gcorgina Lad\- Dudlcv. Ladv Randolph 
CiuirchiU and Lady Sarah Wilson. To "whicli class 
the present possessors of the decoration will belong is 
not mentioned, but presumably to the Mrst Class. It is 
exclusively a woman's Order, "and thougii conferred bv 
the Sovereign, th'> Oueen is the head of it ; other Roval 
ladies who wear it, are the Oueen of (ireece, tlie Oueen 
of Italy and Princess Krcdcrica of Hanover. 
Tiic First Class will consist of a Cross, as originally designed, 
except it appears that the King's Effigy will take the place 
of Oueen A'ictoria's Effigy. The finafclause of the Ro\a! 
Warrant instituting the Order runs: " If any person "on 
whom such distinction shall be conferred shall by her 
conduct become unworthy of it, her name shall be erased 
from the register, but may be restored if such restoration 
shall be justified by the circumstj nc ->s of the case." 
Those who are interested in the intricacies of family trees will 
have a pretty puzzle to work out in years to come through 
the death of the eleventh Earl of Seafield, a title whicli 
has not brought luck in recent years. The seventh 
Earl died in iSSi ; the eighth in 1884 ; the ninth in June, 
i8<S8 : and the tenth in December, 1888 ; when the peer 
who has just died of wounds succeeded to tlie titles, and 
nothing but the titles, for all the estates and money were 
in the hands of the widow of the seventh luirl, Caroline 
Lady Seafield, who lived until 191 1, when she left the 
estates in trust for the eleventh earl and his successors. 
He lived most of his life in New Zealand, and married the 
daughter of Doctor Townend, of Christchurch, who 
sur\-ives him. There is one daughter of the marriage. 
This little lady, who was nine last April, is now Countess of 
Seafield, \'iscountcss Reidhaven and Baroness Ogilvy 
of Dcskford, and Cullen in her own right. These dignities 
are all Scottish ; the United Kingdom barony of Strath- 
spey, as well as the baronetcy of Nova Scotia, pass to 
. the brother of the late Earl, "who li\-es in New Zealand 
and is married, and has a son and daughter. The Earldom 
of Seaticld was conferred at the time of the L'nion on the 
fourtli Earl of Findlatcr, but the Findlater Earldom 
expired over a hundred years ago on the death of the 
seventh earl " without heir males of his body." 
Lord Feversham's efforts to raise a farmers' battalion within 
the area of the Northern Command are meeting with 
encouraging success, although many farmers and farmers' 
• sons, of course, joined the Army quite early in the war. 
i Another drawback to rapid recruiting just at present 
has been the problem of a shortage of labour on the 
■ farms. Still, even if it had not been for the knowledge 
'I of his good work in connection with the Yorkshire 
rj Hussars, it would have been generally agreed that there 
J can he few men so likely to succeed in such a task as 
".; that Lord Fcversham has now undertaken. What a 
.[ crowd of endeavour in every direction Lord Feversham 
has crammed into his thirty-six years of life ! 
The Smithfield Cattle Show, which begins on Monday, Decem- 
ber 6th, will this year be notable for one of the most 
remarkable jumble sales ever held in this country, for 
the, odds and ends to be bought will include fat beasts, 
; a pen of fat sheep, a brown four-horned Manx ram, and 
seeds and cakes and ploughs and liarrows, and thrashing- 
i machines. Lord Northbrook. Sir Gilbert Greenall, Mr. 
; Norris Midwood, Mr. Cridlan, and Mr. Adeane are among 
the donors. The proceeds go to the Agricultural Relief of 
tlie- .Allies' Cominittee, viflto are doing a great work. 
The Smithfield Show promises to be well supported; 
the entries including 241 iiead of cattle. i.}o pens of sheep 
and ().', ])ens of pigs, and also a large entry of poultry. 
They ha\-e introduced some dry white wines from Anjou and 
Touraine, at the Ritz and the Carlton, which it is thought 
may eventually take the place of Hock and Moselle. 
They are clean wines and pleasant to the taste ; the 
.\njou resembles more nearly a light Chablis than a German 
wine. Of course it has always been said that more than 
liah'' tlie Hock and Moselle drunk in this country has been 
liroduced in France, and therefore there should be no 
reas(jn why henceforth we should deal direct with the 
producers instead of by way of the valleys of the Saar, 
Moselle and Rhine. 
Lieutenant-Colonel James Attenborough, C.M.G., whose 
marriage had to be postponed from day to day until such 
time as he could obtain leave, is the eldest son of Mr. 
Stanley Attenborough, a solicitor well known in the West- 
eiid, who has already lost a son at the Front, while serving 
with the Canadians. Attenborough is an unusual name, 
and is always associated with the famous pawnbrokers' 
who are not Jews or even of Jewish extraction, as so many 
people believe them to be because of their calling. They 
come of good yeoman stock, out of Nottinghamshire, 
and have been strong Tories and Church of England people 
for several generations. 
There was a hearty welcome for L'Enfanl Prodi^ue on the firs^ 
night of its reappearance at the Duke of "S'ork's Theatre, 
and 1 shall be disappointed if it does not outlast the Christ- 
mas Jiolidays. It is not only a novelty to the present 
generation, but is so beautiful in many ways, and it is 
admirably presented. We have been" hearing a good 
deal of the extraordinary ignorance of the French language 
that prevails in high political circles. But it is general 
ignorance. To test it, ask the meaning of " L'Enfant 
Prodigue " at any dinner party of English people, and 
probably not a single person present will detect in the 
phrase our old friend • The Prodigal Son." 
Two Children's Parties are being organised by Winifred Lady 
Arran for the British Women's Hospital Building Inind 
■for the" Star and Garter" Home' for Disabled Soldiers and 
Sailors at Richmond. They will take place at the Hotel 
Cecil, on Tuesday, December 28tli, and Monday, fanuary 
,5rd, and are under the patronage of the ])uchess of Suther- 
land, Lady Derby, and Lady Gosford, among others. There 
will be many attractions. The parties will be run on 
exactly the same lines as the one at the hotel last year 
for the Belgian I-und, when 1,300 children were present. 
Mrs. Spottiswoode, the widow of Mr. Hugh Spottiswoode 
informs me that she has undertaken in the future to edit 
Printers' Pte and Winter's Pic. the excellent creations 
of her husband. Winter's Pie came out this week. 
A West-end hotel tliat in a year like the present is able to 
meet its hxed charges, pay 25 per cent. . on ■ its share- 
capital, and carry forward nearly £15,000, is to be con- 
gratulated. It is the Piccadilly, which shows a profit for , 
the year ending July 31st, of nearly /^o oio. Much of it 1 ' 
has been made in its grill-room, wliich is, in its way, tl'ie 
most remarkable restaurant in London, for it is alwa\s 
crowded ; it attracts people in every sphere of life, audit 
IS not cheap as cheapness goes nowadays. Casali lui'^ 
good cause to be gratified over his first y-ear of general ' 
management. To keep everything up to concert pitch 
in these days is no easy task, but he has succeeded. 
In reference to the Foxhound Kennel Stud Book, Mr. H. E. 
1 reston of Moreby, York, writes that he will be much 
obhged to Masters of Foxhounds (or in their absence to 
Secretaries or Huntsmen) if they will forward him, with- 
out delay, tleir lists for 1915. 'in the event of lists not 
be,ng,printcd, he will be grateful for written lists of entry 
^915. Hkrsies.- ' ' 
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