MRS LANGTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2355, 13 April 1899, Page 44

MRS LANGTRY.

H.&B, RECOLLECTIONS. Mrs Langtry, professional beauty, actress, racehorse-owner, favours "M.A.P," ■with an interesting account of her life. She remarks amongst ither things : — lue love of horses (she says) lias been with me always. This passion was shared by my youngest brother Reginald ; that and the closeness of our age were the reasons why we were very gi-eat chums. My sporting career also began at the early age of eleven. I wa 1 ? still a child when this same brother purchased a racehorse. Most people interested in sport have heard of the victory of my horse Milford, but it is quite an error to suppose that Jie was my first winner, for I went through the trials and anxiety if ownership — I should say part ownership — at a very early and tender age. The name of our purchase was Flirt. She was a bay mare of uncertain age, and very uncertain forelegs. We gave the princely sum of £4 10s for her. ; The Jersey races were at that time \mder no rules whatevei, and the stakes hardly worth winning : only animals of somewhat ' blemished reputation and shady selling- | plate antecedents ever found their way to the Jersey racecourse. One reason, no , ■doubt, was that if the horses that were ! entered failed in fulfilling their mission of | winning a race, after their two hours' j rough passage across the Channel, they "were disqualified for any meeting under Jockey Club rules for the rest of their natural lives, and were, therefore, put up to auction and sold for whatever thejr would ■ fetch. ; From what I have already written, 3'ou •will have gathered that my father was a ' very long-snffering and indulgent parent, j end indeed he was : but we feared the effect , of introducing a racehorse to him. Flirt j was. therefore, brought to the Deanery ! stables as a hack, and put to steady train- . ing. In these proceedings I was again the ; victim. To save my brother's dignity, it : was I who had to be responsible for taking ■ out the alleged hack. I had to mount, or [ rather, was thrown, like another Mazeppa, ' on the back of the animal, while my : brother, on the staid and quiet Peggy, a perfectly safe beast, )f French extraction, on which I was accustomed to take my exercise, ambled by my side. But when we reached an adjacent common the saddles were exchanged, and Reggie and I led the thoroughbred as well as we could on her exercise gallops. Reggie must have had a, natural gift for training — for he certainly had had no experience in turf matters; — and the upshot of it was that, ridden and trained in this way, Flirt won a race, worth £30 to the winner, the " first time of asking." It is sad to relate that this race broke Flirt down completely, and, though we expended the whole of the winnings on advertised stuffs for blistering and so j on, we utterly failed to set our heroine on ' her legs again. I was not a prophetess in my own country I had never been spoken of or spoken tc of having any nttractions above the com- i mon. Once, and >nee only, was I paid a compliment before I left the island. A : well-known Tian jf fashion — still well known socially — said to me — but I must not '. repeat compliments. ! You will -judge, then, of the curiosity, ex- j citement, the mingled surprise and gratification, with which I began to find, on a visit I paid to London, that people showed -

' some anxiety to meet me. It all came upon me suddenly, and without the least expectation, or much less searching, on my ■part. : I was just a month in London when it began. The first time I became conscious of thus ■ attracting attention was, at-'anj-gyening party 'at Lady Sebright's. ffie^aMßjfewas on a j Sunday evening ; and liiOTH&ffßer still the j inner sense of wrongdoing with which I i went for the first time in my life to a I party on a Sunday. When I got there I | found that people seemed anxious to speak J to me, and that several distinguished men and women, whose names were familiar to me — but who up to this were remote — were introduced to me. I could only think at the time that London people were' extremely polite and good-natured, and that I was lucky in finding such kind friends. Then cune invitation on invitation; then paragraphs in the newspapers; and, in short, witti much surprise and astonishment, and with certainly a good deal less reason, I awoke- one morning, like Byron, and found myself, if not famous, at least a, good deal noticed. Then came a period of what I may perhaps call immense social success, winding up with a scene at a- Drawing room at Buckingham Palace, when a great lady showed her interest in me — but that is another story. Suffice it to say that I found that, even in the most exalted quarters my poor name ani fame had excited curiosity, if not interest. This was all agreeable, even intoxicating erough, but the day came when I had to face the terrible problem of making my own livelihood, a problem that, except for my health, strength, and good educational training, I was entirely unprepared for. I will nos speak of all the different projects which flashed across my mind cr were suggested to me; and, after all, the pursnits in which a wciran can earn her .own livelihood can be summed up with painful brevity, especially if she has had the soft rearing of a lady. I will say nothing of this epoch "of uncertainty and stress, furthei than I had abundant opportunity of seeing both sides and both faces of human nature — the side that greets those who are supposed to be successful, and the side from which comes the frown or the stare which confronts those who aie supposed to have met with disaster. But let that pass. After many vacillations I resolved that the best thing for me to do was to go on tho stage. It was hard work to start with. : I had to go over my part for hours every day for weeks, and often my heart sank within me. But I have, lam glad to say. a good deal of tenacity of purpose ; and I was determined to succeed. And before I ever appeared on the stage, 'two good friends, Sir Squire and Lady Bancroft, believed in ray ability, and gave me a good engagement ! at what was for a beginner a large salary. ' I need not recall that debut at the Hirymn'r. kofc Theatre ; suffice it to say that I went rm the stage trembling all ovfr; scarcely aW« to speak from excitement, nervousness, nvA , my sense of how much depended on my f;.i - ' lire or success in this new departure in i»*' life. Fow I acted Ido not know ; but t'id ; result was that I was started in ray ]vo- \ fession extremely well: that I drew \ms* houses in the Haymarket Theatre ; and thai; when soon after I went on a provincial tour, ; I played everywhere to large audiences, and ! when I came back there was a considerable | sum of money to my credit, and an offer to | go to America and play there.