New-York tribune., 1885-07-05
ASCOT WEEK.
BEING AN ACCOUNT OF A RACE MEETING
WITH THE RACING OMITTED.

LONDON. June II.
The elaborate picnic which the English call AS
cot Week is among those forms of social life whcn
show you the Englishman of the upper classes in
his most agreeable mood. To sec the whole thing
in its perfection you shoud spend tho week Mt one
of the many houses for which Ascot parties made
up. There are n great many such houses within
five or six miles of the Heath. few are owned py
those who occupy them. The great majority arc
hired for the week at price which often repre-
sents half or more than half the years
rental. The right people are get together. Inc
host sends down the better part OF his es.apn'n
ment in town horses. carriages servants. TIC n"s'
be able to drive all his guests over on each
of the four DAYS during which the Ascot races ast'
and give them lunch on the course. lie must nave
so composed his party that they shall be ab'o 10
endure dining together every highland not exhaust
their resources conversational or other. IL Is u
week of gaety; and it must be gay or nothing.
The whole business happily. is so well understood
and so perfectly organized that Ascot Week Is al
ways thought one of the most delightful Of the
wear by the few hundred who spend it in this way.
II YOU 90 down from London for tho day. return
iae IN time for dinner in town. you will get diner
cnt but still pleasant impression. Ascot Will thcn
seem to you simply big garden party, with n Ger.
tain amount of racing thrown In. There are Oh
course. great numbers of men and some women 10
whom the racing is the chief thing. Racing, now
ever goes on all over gland during great part
of the year, but there only one Ascot and perhaps
only one other race week, Goodwood, thae
comes near il in social Importance
The devoiee Of sport would say Newmarhe.
also. There are houses and parties Mt Newmarke,
certainly but the difference il that whereas u.
Newmarket the serious business OF life IS racing a'
Ascot the serious business is society rev people 20
TO Newmarket to whom the running OF horses is
not sort of religion. Many go to Ascot whose
dcvotions take the form of dressing ana dining
with fcrvor
Go how you will, you cannot but think ASCOT
pretty sight-on the whole the prettiest in England
of IFS kind There is no such vast concoIrse OF
people as at EPSON on tho Derby Day. The throng
outside the Grand stand and the Enclosure Is TO be
numbered by thousands instead of hundreds OF
thouaands The landscape is charming, but inc
eve wanders over no broad expanse of country 10
rest. As at EPSON the blue nils OF Surrey sct
softly against the distant horizon Ascot IL must
bo confessed is Hat its best feature IS the pet Oh
woods 10 the right which lie IN semi-crclc aoo"'
the heath and give il the look of natural ainphi-
theatre It's when you turn your back on TINS ana
look ocro.s the course at tho company that you
discover the attraction which IS peculiar
to this meeting. The Grand Stand has ranges
Of low open boxes filed with gayly dressed women.
The Royal Enclosure to the left Is gayer stili ana
together they will seem to you. as you survey
them from little distance, garden blooming Win
brilliant flowers.
The Grand Stand at Ascot is like other grand
stands Ii excludes nobody who cares 10 pay 80
for the privilege of going in. The long line OF
COACHES opposlte offers a very different point OF
interest. especially at luncheon time The most
ornamental youths of England are there assembled
in throngs; members OF the Four-in-liand Club and
of the Coaching Club The Guards send over q
bright detachment from Windsor. and there are
none who occupy themselves moro seriously with
racing or, perhaps. who are more perseVerihg III
filling the pockets Of the brawing mob of book-
makers IN the great yard below the Grand stand
II Won arc not bidden to lunch with the royalties
or with the Master of the Buckhounds. You cannot
do better than climb up TO tho roof Of drag whose
owner has been good enough TO bid you share his
chicken and champagne.
Bnt the outsiders view is not the real view. Inc
real Ascot must be seen from within. The secret
of the attractvencss OF the place Is the social ex-
clusiyenes which the social world has contrived to
establish out on this once lonely heath thirty miles
from, Iondon. Royal Ascot il the name which the
LOYALTY of the royalty-loving Briton has bestowed
on the place. | mentioned just now the Royal
E.nf
lish universe is TO be sought this week. At the
back of il rise two buildings Of no prctcnsions, but
uscful and convenient, such are 20 be seen on
any race-course. One Is the royal stand. The other
belongs IN whole or in part to the Master OF the
Ruckbounds In front of them Is lawn rallied of
from the course and the rest of the world perhaps
100 yards by 80. won't answer for my measure
mcnts but II it, in any case, but little breadth OF
ground to hold the aristocracy OF England. Adj
mission to il, read lately in some daily papers,
confcrs the stamp Of social distinction
That is strong thing to say. 1t might be difficult
10 mako sure that social distinction was TO be
gained by admission to any one spot or house what
soeyer But the right OF entrance Is coveted and
songht for by those whose claim to 1t IS doubtful
with an eagerncss hardly less than that shown for
an invitation to Marlborough House or to court
ball at Buckingham Palace.
.Juusdiction over this enclosure and something
Ike nlenary discretion in tho delicate matter of
admission restswith the Master Of the Buckhounds.
The Master of the Buckhounds is an officer of the
royal household who goes in and comes out with
Ministries Since Mr.. Gladstone came into Office
tbe most has been held by the Earl of Cork and Or
rcrv He lately described himself as being called
ON 10 find room for 5000 people in space that
would not hold more than 1.500. l believe he
compromised this year between the possible and
the impossible by issuing 800 tickets. 1t Is safe
to say that the applicants were twice as many.
Lord Cork, therefore. is in tho agreeable position
of being compelled TO offend rs many as he pleases;
many more, indeed since the majority OF those
present are present a matter of course II not as
n matter Of right. There arc many hundreds about
whose claim to admission possible question could
be raised. There is a list and tickets are sent out
rs invitations to a court ball are sent cut If 1900
seems large number for an enclosure reckoned
exclusives you have only TO consider that 1t is less
than the number which a great lady in London
NAV have Oh her visiting list. 1t is less than one
half the number of invitations issued by Lady
L ...rL.. ..-lin