The House of Buccleuch

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22250, 26 October 1935, Page 6 (Supplement)

The House of Buccleuch

POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE ROYAL' ROMANCE

MEVER in the history of our land has the "in-law" circle of the Royal family been so large and so British as now. Tho marriage of tho Princess Royal brought in the big Lascelles connection, that of tho Duke of York the BowesLyon clan, and now the large family and wide connections of tho Montague-Douglas-Scotts arc to be included. Lady Alice Scott, the future Duchess of Gloucester, possesses as many relations as anyone in Britain. Her paternal grandmother, Queen Victoria's last and Queen Alexandra's first Mistress of tho Robes, was one of the seven daughters and thirteen children of the first Duke and Duchess of Abercorn. Through her mother, a daughter of tho fourth Earl of Bradford, Lady

cleuch is one of great historic interest, as tho first Duke was a natural son of King Charles 11. by Lucy Walters, and it bears the Royal Arms of "the Merrie Monarch"; both Lady Alice and the Duke of Gloucester, therefore, have common ancestry in Charles I. The oldest title held by Lady Alice's father, the late Duke, was that of Baron Scott of Buccleuch, a peerage conferred in 1606 upon Sir Walter Scott, who served with distinction in the Netherlands under tho Prince of Orange. This Baron Scott was a descendant of John Scott, who is said to have risked his life by retrieving and bringing back to the King a buck which was being hunted by one of the Scottish Kings, and which fell into a steep ravine or " cleuch." For this he was rewarded with the right to add " Buck's cleuch" to his name. His son Walter, married Mary, daughter of tho 9th Earl of Errol, hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland, and was created Earl of Buccleuch in 1619. On his death ho was succeeded by his son Francis, a supporter of King Charles. A pretty little point of precedence seems to arise out of the Royal engagement. The Duke of Gloucester is older than the Duke of Kent, and so his wife should be tho fifth lady in the land — but not, as some have suggested, the fourth, since Princes Elizabeth would tako precedence were she grown up. But tho Duchess of Kent is Royal by birth, whereas the future Duchess of Gloucester will only be Royal by marriage. The Duke of Gloucester is not so well i known as his brothers, partly because lie lias been occupied with his military duties. Those who come in contact with him, however, find him affable and unaffected. Invited tn house-parties, he will amuse himself for hours playing hymn tunes on the piano with the finger of one hand. Ho is fond of music and regrets his inability to play.

lIIIIHMHIUUMUIBIIIIIumiIIIIIIHIMiaMUIimiaiIUMHIMHI : It is a good and safe rule to £ jj sojourn in every place, as if you j j meant to spend your life there, j : never omitting an opportunity of | : doing a kindness, or speaking a ■ • true word, or making a friend, j : —Ruskin :

SiiiHHiiiiiiniiiiiniiHiiiiiiKHiiiiiaiiiiiHiiiiifiiiiiiniiiiiif Alice Scott is cousin once removed of the Earl of Harewood, the King's son-in-law, and her eldest brother, the Earl of Dalkeith, married a member of the Lascelles family. Both Lady Alice and her sister-in-law to be, the Duchess of York, come of large families, and both are the third daughters, the Duchess of York being tho older of the two by a little more than a year, as Lndy Alice will not celebrate her 34th birthday until Christmas Day. The Buccleuch title ranks second in seniority amongst the Scottish Dukes, tho premier being tho Dukedom of Hamilton and Brandon, which was created in 1613, twenty years before that of Buccleuch. Tho House of Buc-