DUKE OF BEAUFORT.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7616, 29 July 1890, Page 2

DUKE OF BEAUFORT.

The Beauforts claim to be descended from. John .ot Gaunt, ''time-honoured Lancaster," add have, therefore, the blood of the Piahtagenets flowing in their.vcias. It is true that the lineage was crossed by the bar sinister ; but Edward lll.'s famous son had all his child.fen by Catherine Swynford, whom he eventually married, legitimated, and gave them the name of Beaufort from the castle in Anjou, where they were born. One of the sous was the celebrated Cardinal Beaufort, a name familiar to all readers of Shakespeare's " Heury V 1.," hi. death-bed scene in the second part of that History being an often-quoted passage. Recent historians have, however, whitewashed the Cardinal, who_piayed so important a r6U during the Wars of the Roses, from tho orioles imputed to him by old chroniclers, and make him out to have been a very good fellow iudeed. It was from the eldest of Catherine Swynford's sons. Sir John Beaufort, created in 1896 Earl of Somerset, and aFterWards Marquis of Dorset, that the house of Beaufort is descended, through CharlesSomerset.auillegitimate son of Sir John's successor, Henry Duke of Somerset. Charles, however, was a man of such commanding talents that he was created, by Henry• v 111., Earl of Worcester. Henry, the fifth Earl, was a hero both of history and romance. His defence of Ragland Castle for his Royal master, Charles 1., from 1612 to 1646 with a garrison of 800 men, without during all that time levying contributions upon the country, has been celebrated in both fact; and fiction. Tbe son of this nobleman, Edward Marquis of Worcester, was a great scientist, who first described the power and application of the Steam engine, in a work entitled " A Century of Inventions,** published lv 1655 ; in this he gives an account of a steam apparatus, by means of which he raised a column of water to the height of 40 feet, and to him, therefore, belongs the honour of being the pioneer of the greatest of modern discoveries. It. was! l h° soa °' this Marquis whom Charles Ml. created Duke of Beaufort,and from that time Marquis of Worcester became the title of the eldest son of the house.

Henry Charles Fittroy Somerset, eighth Duke of Beaufort, who now holds the title* was born in February, 1824. t As Marquis of Worcester he held a commission in the 7th Hussars, and was one of the most noted dandies of the day. Perhaps at the period when the young Marquis began to ace life English society was at its best, the disreputable "bucks, bloods, and Corinthians" of the Regency and last Georgian days, the Major Hangers, Colonel Berkeley-, Sir John Lades. ißeaa B-fufnii&eils, Barrym-.-.,"..-., had died out or sown their wild oats and their- successors thanks to the influence of a purer Court. frew up to respect the cotmaaneei and eceneies of society r many of ..he»©ld school still lingered, and their sploy stories gave a zest to the new order of things J but though as much relished by the youngsters as a cerulean anecdote is at the present day by a highly-respectable City man, the day for imitation had passed, and the golden mean had jßeeu reached; men feasted aud drank: and worshipped at the shrine of Venus, and indulged in nil the usual peccadilloes of youth > but tbey stopped fihort at the brutal excesses of their forefathers f'they-did not make a practice of falling under the table after every dinner, nor eat thomselves into the condition ot prize pigs, nor flaunt their amours ia public: they were men who enjoyed lire to the utmost withoutgiving unbridled licence to their passions! Those were the days of the D'Orsay's, T6nr| Duncomb-S, the George Paynes, - tha Benjamin Disraelis, Grosvenors, the Bulwer Lyttons, the Whyte-MelvUlea, which hare been ao brUliautly reflected

in the novel* of .Bjriwer, Disraeli, and last dandles betted, broke tha aiventh 'comm*hdrnen|, but they Wi! essential-?* gentlemen—geDtlemen j*w the crOwa of their hata to the soles of theh boots,, which Is more than can be said ol tpeir predecessors, and certainly ruueh Oiore than can be said of their successor* *It was in 1853 that Henry Flt_rr» i succeeded to _tho title, and resigning hu commission la the Hussars, ho turned h'» military knowledge t<» account by taking / the command of the Royal Glouceatershlw ' . Yeomanry. But the Duke's deeds ai derring-do have been principally confined Ito the hunting field. Situated In one of the flnestof the English shires—Gloucester, shire—ln a park with a circumference ol nine miles, in the midst of a ui.agui_.e_j range of country, Badminton, the seat oi the Beaufort., is peculiarly favourable for field sports, and for generations the Bean, forts have been our greatest huntina family. The walls of the mansion are hu D f with ancient pictures of famous sportlna events and famous hounds, some palatecenturies back. From an early date sta_. hounds were kept here, but these in I'm were exchanged for foxhounds. Hunttuff at Badminton had always been conducted on a grand scale, with all the pomp a circumstance of the feudal ages, and the meet on Badminton lawn, which mora than one painter has done justice to was one of tho sights of rural Eugland. When the present Duke caiuo to the title tha houuds were iv great perfection unde. the care of William Long, who had hunted for tho family for half-a-century. In 185s however, the Duke elected to ba himself huntsman and carry the horn Three years later Thomas Clarke under." took the care of the kennel, and continued to hold the appointment until 1803, when the Marquis of, Worcester ruled the roast, During the time of the last two du\et% the grand meets had fallen lata desuetude, but it had long been the dealr. of the new owner of Badminton to revive them in all their ancient glory; the occasion of a visit of the Duchess 0! Cambridge and tho Princess Mary offered an excellent opportunity, and ou the Bth of February, ISoO, it waa advertised .hafc the hounda would meet on the lawn, *I_§ announcement caused the greatest .._. aation among gentle and simple through, out the West country, many among talm were too young to have witnessed these gatherings theinse.vea, but had frequently heard them enthusiastically described by their elders. Gn the eveutful day a« the appointed hour drew near, carriages aad horsemen might have been seen approaching in droves from every entrance; t_« assembly was immense, aa may be judte. from the fact that some five hundred persons sat down to the luxurious d<ri«_«f provided forthedelectallou of the vlsiton. Carriages were arranged two or three desa ou tho margin of tho drive, which i. three miles long; tho aristocracy for &_ immense distance round, foreign rj__g. nates from London, dusty citleens _J Bristol, celebrities from all parts, all t_. Beaufort Hunt and representatives from all the neighbouring Hunts were present, Just before noon tho hounds eighteen spleudld couples selected from the mixed pack, with tho huntsmen an. whippers in clad in the Beaufort limy, blue with bun* facings, and tho second horsemen in green plush, tho rear b_k„ brought up by some two thousand two hundred stalwart yeomanry. No liner ot more imposing spectacle could k imagined; here was the English noble ia the plenitude of his power and splendour, a real potentiality; here was a picture which preserved all the pictureaquoMsa of medioevalism without its tyranny an. barbarism. There was plenty of sport to* both hounds and huntsmen, for the park contained two thousand head of deer, ol which three hundred were red deer, with game of every kind in abundance, and ' foxes galore, as may be judged from tha i fact that sixtyfour representatives of . Monsieur Reynard were onco killed in _ ! single season. Sport at Badminton, where I its owner; keeps open house, has j always been on a princely scale; tha j stables, Tas a rule, contain abaus \ seventy horses, of which about forty-are \ are hunters. The great mansion, er..tsd 1 in 108_ by the first Duke, in a magnificent i specimen of French architecture, of the 1 Louis Quatorze style, ot which Versallka | is the chef d'wuvre ; it is celebrated for iti | Ericeless works of art, pictures by Ratfaslle, f arlo Dolcl, Guido, Sulvator Rosa, Set., i most of which were brought from Home f by the third Duke. There are also four | teen family portraits, going back to Joha I ofGaunt. M '••'■ . I It was about 1555 that tho blue aarl $ white hoops and red cap of the Dafceet I Beaufort were first seen on a rdceetHstw, I I The Duke commenced racing on a *raj | small scald ;in 185<ihe purchased a foal ho | named Furioso at Her Majestv'e vearllnj -$ s_Je at Hampton Court, and placed 'it ]"■' under the care of John Day at Daaebury; ,| a couple of races, the Hurstbourne Stake? | at Stockbrldge, and a Selling Stakaaat. | Newmarket, were all that Furloso placed | to his owner's account. In tho meantit-. g he had purchased 7 Other racers — | Vigil,, half-sister to the notorious % Cruiser (of Rarey fame), Lass of Richmond I Hill, Schoolboy, and Gl»; Glu captured tho ■_ Lunsdowhe Biennial at Bath, and the , _S| | Stakes at Newmarket, and was eonald.rca § good enough to be backed for the Derbj, | won by Beadsman. Iv 1«57 tho Duke ■wm a elected a steward of the Jockey Club Ja ths | place of the Earl of Zetland, resigned. 14 p this time be was one of the famous Dana- | bury plunging brigade, fostered by cfettt 1 old John Day, and the blue and whit. Sj hoops, the scarlet and white of tm | Marquis of Hastings, the .green an&wliita I of the Earl of Westmoreland, aud the f Violet and white of the Duko of Newcsstlo 1 were closely associated aud extr.mtiy | popular on every racecourse. His tel ha- 8 portent win waa the One Thomml | Guineas of 1885 with Sabrlna, ffordhftiu tip, I which was the commencement of that 1 famous Jockey's afterwards close eonm- § tion with the lord of Badminton. Punfl- | the following season Rustic was greasiy f fancied for the Derby, and it was ateniae* 1 blow to the Danebury party, Whose m<m? I he carried, to a pretty consldema I tune, when he only manag-*d tap f third to Lord Lyon and S&verat**. 1 all. three, by a curious coincldeuca s<s« | of the mighty Stockweli. Ceyloa hm* I ever, made a good thing tor »» I ducal owner by capturing the Crsw | Stakes add the Grand Prix de Paris. » f 1867 Vaubau won the Two Thwms ? Guineas iv such good style that ha hmm | a hot favourite for the Derby, Oa m- f never-to-be-forgotten day *Vau»an w»» ww i. observed of all observers, no one has jfi f, eye for any other horse, unless 16 Wrt»«* $' that beautiful galloper, Marksmfta; w f; through the blue and white hoops | the fore, aud the yellow J_ckat «f Mf | Merry close behind, until saddeßljr § || horse that had only evoked the cos* | = temptuous pity of the knowing jf carrying the rose jacket of young** h Chaplin, poor Hermit, who had btotes a {1 blood vessel not long before, and was «&; ' | aldered quite outside the raoge « < possibility, dashed through tbe 4*t- | log snowstorm aud won by a neck, *-** s terrible were the consequences te *[-» | E" lunging brigade was exemplified law* % larquis of Hastings, and his fei»* | plungera were all hard hit. Vauban »u-j | ward* won the Goodwood Cup, and&noW" $ Beaufort horse, 6o»ie»» the f Stakes; but the Derby defeat hsa_}<*° % our Duke enough of- racing for- ths ti.ii**; r. and'in 1888 he sold off allhla horses w« | were in training, the solo | £15,480. Nevertheless, in the toho* 1 ?* ! season he . took the One 'Xhoa&jg 1 Guineas with the roaring b* 10 '?;, I Queen* from that time until lW *"%* S he again won the Two Thoas»«a «■-- | Petronel, George Fordham up, the UW f of Beaufort's cdnhection with the w* was very irregular. Neither *»• ij 1 figured very prominently &iacc &-fJ * j. tbe best of his recent horses was Ip $£ I { he won the Oaks with Reve dOr l* Jj'» { but last year did not win a sin? 1 * ST ' Thl* year's City and Suburban fell to W«w and he has won a hurdle race at M*»W _ If ever there was an all-round epf re ■ C \ it is the maa of whom we are talking *■ f. his yodhger days ho was a noted *w and though he seldom now haaflie* ** ribbons, he is still president of the r»», 1 In-hand and the Coaching Clubs. », t miuton has always been a great P s^_:) 4 1 cricket practice, and it» owner * ever, taken the greatest the- Gloucestersfilre* team being Vl original mover of the National presented to Dr, Gmee iv 1877, w*«°«s Duke wae president of the M.ttu ** a matter of Badminton is still s» man about town as he was in the ""P ,- the dandles, and he is equally at al| eompanlea—in the hunting fie Id, ca race-course. as a country ..., literary aud artntics salons, in tha c» ; . iug-rooms of Beigravia, behind the 1 &*•■ |. of the theatre, or. in the JoUln»tio-i* , < Bohemian gatheriiig--anvl he pm l *** £U, _» OttP society to the other without •**»%£( $& aiidus though each were equally *fl»* s * a 0 *4j'. to-him. The: Duke of'-Beaufort 'i& town hou.ie, hut Urea in •P«^*2 l .% ;?4' St. James's Park. A clever obaervey.. >'i deacrlbed him as "* ; M»U,oP«iv^ f 0 representative of the English squire, with the title of a great pert <-, p.. the top dressing of a mau about w*"- | \ The easiest money to nAud, 6fid .■-, hardest money to aave, i* that w nief * p ; have not yet earned. / w