BALL GIVEN BY MEN OF KENT

Southland Times, Issue 23740, 11 February 1939, Page 16

BALL GIVEN BY MEN OF KENT

Duke And Duchess Of Kent Attend

Men of Kent and Kentish Men dined with the Duke of Kent,' and met 300 Fair Maids of Kent at a ball afterwards, says the London correspondent of The Press Christchurch. The Duchess of Kent attended one of these annual functions for the first time. There is a difference between the Men of Kent and the Kentish Men. The former are those that live on the London side of Rochester. It is a distinction that periodically calls for humorous exchanges. The Fair Maids of Kent take their picturesque name from the famed Fair Maid of Kent, wife of the Black Prince, and mother of Richard 11. The Association of the Men of Kent and the Kentish Men dates from 1879, when it was founded by those who wished to hold on to the traditions of Kent, watch over its progress and welfare, and look after its poor. Membership is open to squires and tradesmen, to farmers and sweeps. Arriving for the ball, the Duchess of Kent wore no jewels except a diamond necklace. Her pastel-blue dress w..s embroidered from the waist upwards with sequins, which flashed purple under the lights. Her tailored coatee was embroidered to match. When the Duchess came down the stairs of the ballroom with her husband, guests welcomed them with a barrage of “Kentish fire.” 'The Duchess started dancing at once to the traditional tune, “Stop Beating Around the Mulberry Bush.” The Duke was her first partner. At the dinner the Duke spoke of the achievements of Kent—the pick-a-back Mayo aircraft built at Rochester, the Dartford to Purfleet Thames pilot tunnel, and the bracing air of Sandwich, where his own children spent last summer.

“Foreigners,” he said, “think that Englishmen are unable to speak about anything except the weather. Well, I am an Englishman, and I must refer to it. I know how serious was the damage done to the fruit crops last February and March. I hope that in 1939 things will be better.” During an interval in the dancing, the Duchess of Kent presented a silver shield given by the association for a shooting competition between the Territorial Army and Air Force units of the county. It was competed for for the first time last year, the winners being No. 3 Company (Fortress), Royal Engineers, Northfleet.