MAID IN MAYFAIR

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 156, 3 July 1937, Page 3 (Supplement)

MAID IN MAYFAIR

Flora Macdonald's Little Gold Ring. i

A DEBUTANTE WHO IS STUDIOUS.

(From Our London Lady Correspondent.) j

THE little gold ring set with a cluster of Inilli.nits, presented to Flora Macdona M 1«\ Bonnie Prince Charlie, as a souvenir "t the help she had given and tlm courage she had displayed, was sold in bullion recently, together with other ; interest in- .lacobife relics belonging to' the estate "I t.ie late Allen Macdonald,! nf \\ aternish, Skye. Another souvenir of the romantic days of long ago was purchased at the same time. This was a pair <>I cull links, made of old Spanish coins dated 1741, 1742, 1744 and 1745, worn by i'i inee Charlie himself. The delightful |>art of the story is the fact that the purchaser, himself a member of an oJTI Scottish family, intends to ! make the graceful gesture of sending j both the ring and the links to the great" I (rreat-grcat-grand-daughter of °Flora Macdonald, to whom, he feels, they i really belong. Studious Folk. Princess Priscilla Bibesco is likely t<s have a great success as a debutante. She is clever and unusual, and, because of her varied and well-planned education, is already a very good conversationalist. I Her grandmother, Lady Oxford, who has I been devoted to her ever since she was j born and used to delight in taking her i about when she was a little girl, is very! proud of her. Princess Priscilla belongs,! of course, to the group of girls who | delight m study. A first season does not i make anything like the appeal which it used to do so far as they are concerned: indeed, many of them regard presentation and its accompanying conventional gaieties as just something which has to be got through, and a definite interruption in the course of studies in which they are interested. Mothers of these debutantes found a few years ago that "coming out" is nothing like the simple business that it used to be. "We Three." A little old lady in Victorian dreas, with shrewd, kindly eyes, was seen presiding over the conference of the National Council of Women. In this manner the council honoured the recent eightieth birthday of Ishbel Marchioness of Aberdeen. The wonderful old lady herself has just come back from Ireland, and, after travelling half across Scotland. came south for a gathering, which Ims a special interest to her family. For three generations were represented. Lady Aberdeen having made a special request that her granddaughter, Miss Margaret Sinclair, might come, to the dinner. Miss Sinclair is one of the most brilliant scholars (Jirton lias turned out in recent years. She was senior student there before embarking oil a world tour and devoting her energies to child-welfare work. Ideal Types. When the exhibitors in the dress section of the Paris Exhibition were searching for the itteal Englishman of whom a model could be made to show off v* -cut English suits, the choice fell u, ,i Mr. Anthony Eden. But a grouj of tailors responsible for Paris clothes decided that the strong, athletic figure was too vigorous to be well proportioned They wanted a more slightly-built figure, rather narrow chested, but notice ably muscular, and so some remoulding of the original clay model had to be doni to conform to French ideals. Of the selected photographs of younger mei who might serve as models, 25 wen Etonians —some of the best-lookin; youths in the kingdom. Miss Dian* Chamberlain was chosen as the idea type of English beauty to model for th display of women's dress, and two othe well knowns in society, Mrs. Charle Sweeney and the Countess Howe, wer also selected to sit as models for th sculptor.

Locked In! At the Paris Exhibition, the Council' for Art and Industry arranged a series of typical British scenes in the United Kingdom pavilion. There is a racing scene at Epsom, all the dummy figures dressed correctly in British attire. ° The country house scene shows the right things to choose for a week-end party, and the men's club scene demonstrates the acme of perfection so far as tailoring and British materials are concerned. A good story is told about Boodle's, the exclusive precincts in St. James' Street, sacred x.o nten. To obtain a fair impression of the club background, the woman who designed the setting went along to take a sketch. No woman has ever been there before, and it was felt that the very sight of one might upset the: equanimity of the members, besides! shattering a great tradition. On arrival, j therefore, the artist was gravely con- j ducted to a room which would enable her to get her background, and locked in alone until she had finished her work. The Vernon Family. Lady Vernon gave an "Empire Day"' coming-out dance for her only daughter Avice, who was born on the day of the signing of the Versailles Treaty. The Vernons are one of our most ancient families, descending from the Lords of Vernon in the Duchy of Normandy. Soon after the Conquest, the family settled in Derbyshire, and their matrimonial ramifications have connected them with a good proportion of our nobility— notably the Manners. Harcourts, and Talbots. Haddon Hall passed to the Manners through a Vernon marriage; and here Henry VIII. spent much of his youth —long before Dorothy Vernon ■ made it immortal. Aviee is an old family name, which recognises the substantial addition to the family fortunes ' involved when, in Plantagenet times, Richard de Vernon married Avice de Avenell of Haddon. Mucli Ennobled Hostess. The Viscountess St. Davids, who gave a coming-out dance at 5, Carlton House Terrace, for her only daughter, the Hon. Lelgarde Philipps, is a peeress several times over in her own right. In 1920 she was declared by a resolution of the House of Lords to be a co-heir to the Baronies of Botreaux, Hungerford, de Moleyns, Hastings, Strange of Knokm and Stanley (created in 1299), and the abeyance in the Baronies of Strange of Knokin, Hungerford and de Moleyns was -terminated in her favour. Lord St. Davids, the first Viscount, was formerly, as Sir John Wvnford Philipps, in the House of Commons for 16 years. He is Lord-Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire, and was a director of various shipping companies. Like Lady St. Davids, his lineage is an ancient one, for he traces descent from the Lord of Dyvett (wao died in 1089), who was of the same tribe as Vortigeen, King of Britain, paternally descended from Maximus, King of : Britain and Emperor of Rome. Buskers as Stage Stars. I The new Chariot revue at the Vaude- > ville "Stars and Strips," is in one i respect a romantic affair. The star per--5 formers are two genuine street musicians, or buskers, named Rhodes and t Goodman, who have had no musical - training whatever, and came straight » to the "stage from entertaining theatre e queues. Their intention is, when the f) run of this revue is over, to go back to l their Leicester Square pitch again, a Rhodes uses with refreshing clarity and i 1 vigour a sound tenor voice, whilst Goode' man exhibits dazzling virtuosity on an ,1 • accordion. They lifted the whole show e 1 on its first night performance to a higher ri level of verve and vim. Next to these s I two men, the most noticeable feature of e' the revue is the display of unadorned e | feminine loveliness. The beauty chorus ' is a most alluring one..