'Old Q.'

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 214, 7 September 1895, Page 12

'Old Q.

.The Fourth Duke of Queensberry.

A Glorious Gambler,

(from our special correspondent.)

London, July 5. Those who believe in heredity, and who desire some explanation of the amiably eccentricities and inexplicable irregularities which seem to mark more or less so manY members of Douglas family, may be safely referred to Mr John R.Robinson's ' Old Q. Thia work gives some account of their ancestor, the fourth Duke of Queensberry, the notorious sportsman and society celebrity of the laeb century.

'Old Q." was a nickname, and derived probably from the facb thab his Grace had in place of a crest a large Q surmounted by a ducal coronet painted on his carriage panels. When the Duke was observed in his carriage one day someone casually mentioned, • That's " Old Q." himself,' and the nickname was gradually applied till ib became general. He was born in 1,725. and though the usual educational advantages of the day were open to him, he very early showed a desire to receive the education of the 'world.' Having exhausted the meagre turf knowledge thab Edinburgh could give him, he came bo London in 1746 and began his extraordinary gambling career. To show the lighb in which hazardous play was regarded in the lastcentury it may be mentioned thab Lady Mordington pleaded her privilege as a peeress when prosecuted for keeping a common gaming house, bub the Lords resolved not to allow the privilege in such a case. Lady Cassillie was Lady Mordingbon's partner in bhe business, and from her the young nobleman probably derived his passion for card and gambling. Having come south. Lord March (as he was then) started a stud at Newmarket), and showed his astuteness by taking a house overlooking the course so as to observe the trials, and for the nexb 50 years his lordship was one of the keenest racers and a prominent member of tho Jockey Club. Ib was in 1750 thab Lords March and Eglington laid 1,000 guineas againsb Count Taafe and Mr Sprowle, that they would run a four-wheeled carriage drawn by four horses 19 miles in one hour. The ingenuity displayed in winning this wager was worthy of a better cause. The carriage was like a horse-trainer's break, and with the harness —made of ailk—only weighed 2£cwt. The time taken was 53min 27sec. Another curious wager was made anenb sending a letter 50 miles in one hour. Lord March won this by engaging some expert cricketers, who formed & circle and threw the letter, encased in a cricket ball, from one bo bhe other round and round. The letter travelled more that 50 miles in the hour. In the betting book ab White's Club are recorded many of Lord.March's eccentric wagers, in 1764 'Lord March bets Lord Orford, thab Sir Robert Rich, Lord Ligonier and General Guise are nob all living on January 15th, 1765;' and when far advanced in years he betted on his own life, and having outlived a fixed date, cheerfully paid £500. the amount of bhe wager. With a fixed determination to remain a bachelor, he betted 50 to 20 thab a Mr Sb. Leger would be married before him. Ib eeems that nearly every event of life wae a subjecb for gambling to Lord March, and yeb he was shrewd, and knew when to stop. He never took more than 50 guineas to a public gaming house, and when thab was gone he left. The wib George Selwyn was Lord March's confidanb and friend, and their connection with bhe Countess Fagniani became talked of when Selwyn adopted the Countess's daughter, to whom he left his private fortune of £33,000. • Mie Mie, , as this young lady was familiarly called, became in 1798 Lady Yarmouth, and inherited from the Duke of Queensberry some £150,000. Lord March succeeded as Duke of Queensberry in 1778, and towards the end of his long life resided in Piccadilly. His custom was to sib out on the balcony, having a footman behind him. holding an umbrella to keep the sun off, and there receive the admiration of the passing fair ones, to whom the Duke was always a greab attraction. In these later years he devoted much time to the opera, though more to the artistes, and on his death-bed were some 50 letters from ladies of all shades of character. The Duke held the office of Lord of the Bedchamber for 30 years, and was at one time Vice-Admiral of Scotland. Being very careful of hie'health and manner of living, he lived to the advanced ago of 85, dying in 1810, having for some years paid his medical attendant £600 per annum to keep him well, with the proviso thab nothing would be left him.