New-York tribune., 1903-08-24
LORD TRIMLESTOWN HERE
An IRISH Peer 5citb american Rela-
tiCeS-Lord RibbIesdale Erpected.


OF the most ancient titles in the kingdom Of
ireland, his peerage having been created in March
44oI by KING Edward ", the baronies Of Dunsany
and of Kingsae. the latter dating from 1928 being
the only ones that are Of remote origin. The
patronymic CT his house is Barnewall and the
family was founded by Sir Michael Barneval who
accompanied Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke to
Ireland in HIP. Its chief to-day is Sir Reginald
Barnewall, of Crickstown Castle, County Meath
Lord Trimlestown being the head Of one of the
junior branches
The present lord experienced some difficulty in
establishing his rights to the peerage. For. the
death without male issue OF the sixteenth lord in
lSS' II became necessary go back TO the descend
ants OF the younger son of the seventh baron who
lived in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in order to
hnd the heir to the title and to the estates. This
remote kinsTnan of the sixteenth lord CHRISTOPHER
Barnewall by name, presented to the committee
Of privileges Of the House of Lords all the neces-
sary proofs in support OF his succession to the
Trimlestown peerage. But he died before any
decision rendered, and il was not until 1888
that the committee of privileges finally granted
verdict in favor Of his younger brother and
heir, the present peer, in whom the barony of
Trimlestown then declared by the crown to
be vested, and who recognized as possessing
the right TO in the election of the representa
uVes Of the Irish peerage in the House Of Lords
at Westminster
Lord Trimlestown is married to an Australian
woman owns about 1000 acres of land in ireland,
chiefly in County Meath. and makes his home at
Ramsgate, in Kent. Let add that the tenth
Lord Trimlestown had his title attainted by King
William III for his loyalty to the last of the
Stuart dynasty. King James H. and that it was
not until 1875 that the thirteenth lord his de-
scendant, obtained from the crown repeal Of
the attainder and confirmation of his rights to
the parony.
There are quite large number of members Of
the BarnewaI family in this country. chiefly in
the State OF New-York In the neighborhood Of
Albany, Robert BarnewaIl. well as Samuel ard
William. all grandsons of Sir Bartholomew Barne-
wall. of Crickstown, County Meath having come
to the United States and settled here in the early
portion Of the last century.
Emperor William has just presented to the
Hohenzollern Museum at Berlin the famous death
dice" employed by one Of his ancestors. IN the
middle of the seventeenth century, to decide a
difficult case. beautiful young girl had been
murdered. and suspicion fell upon two soldiers.
Rudolph and Alfred by name who had been rivals
for her hand Both denied their guilt strenuously,
and torture failed to extort e confession from
either of them
Frederick William OF Hohenzolern. known
the Great Eector of Brandenburg, and father Of
the first King of Prussia. ordered dice to be
brought in order that the two soldiers should
throw fer death, the loser to be executed the
murderer. This trial by chance conducted with
great pomp and ceremony, the Great EIector at
tending in person to supeTintend this appeal to
Divine intervention for such he regarded it.
Rudolph had the first throw. and he threw two
sixes thus obtaining the highest possible number
On seeing this Alfred fell his knees and
prayed: Almighty God. Thou knowest that I
guiltess. Protect me, I beseech Thee" Then
he threw the dice with such force that one CT
them broke into two parts. TIE that bad
remained unbroken Showed six. one-half of the
broken dice also showed six, while the second por-
ton Of the broken dice showed one, thus giving
Alfred a total of thirteen, more than Ru-
dolph had thrown. The whole assembly is re-
ported to have been filled with astonishment at
the wonder, and Rudolph regarding It a sign
heaven, ted he
murder, being thereupon sentenced to death by
the Great Elector
LORD Ribblesdale, who is about to sail for this
country as the principal member OF a royal Paria-
mentsry commission for the Improvement of street
traffic and which is bent seeing how matters
in that line organized in this country, is a
rather impressive member of the House of Lords
standing nearly six feet three inches with clear
cut high bred features. which, curously enough,
have never been narred by istio encounters in
which ne is adept sharing with Lord Lonsdale
the boxing championship of the House of Lords
He Is likewise a noted sportsman has been on
several occasions master of the royal buckhounds,
has broken most of the bones Of his body in hard
riding, has written most learnedly sporting
matters, a member of that exclusive intel
lectual body known THE Souls" to which
Premier Arthur Balfour also belonged, and enter
tains a pronounced aversion to headgear lnvari-
ably golfng and often riding without either hat
o. cap.
Very courtly and distinguished in appearance ne
recalls much the stately beaus of the eighteenth
century that the present King used to nickname
him The Ancestor" name which is certainly
appropriate than that Of 'Dribblesquash,"
with which he has been invested by his most
intimate friend and crony. Vice-Admiral Lord
Charles Beresford.
The earl first achieved fame as 1.-THE man who
interviewed Parnell." Lord RibbesdaIe happened
TO travel from London to Holyhead in August 1857
alone in the same compartment with Parnen. The
great Irish leader did not know the peer but the
latter knew bn, and determined interview
him. ''IIe never much as looked at me-" wrote
Lord Ribblesdale afterward in the magazine
article describing the trip. but having arranged
his effects with almost old-maidish precision COM
posed himself to read Lord Ribblesdale then
goes on to state that he started IN with the
weather. finding however. Parnell "discouragingy
unanimous" Ultimately the Irish leader was
induced to talk about the bill for relieving
tenants IN arrears with their rent, which was then
the main topic Of political interest and before the
Journey ended the ordinarily impenetrable chieftan
of the Nationalist party had been cleverly inveigled
into uubosorning himself about number Of inter
estine measures relating the Emerald Isle which
subseq quently appeared in one Of the leading London
magazines over the earrs signature Parnell never
denied the interview or its accuracy, merely in
sisting with a twinkle in his eye that it had
been obtained under false pretences."
Lord RibbIesdale is married TO a daughter OF
Sir Charles Tenant, and is. therefore brother-in-
law 10 that clever lady. Mrs. Asquith, formerly
known as Miss Margot Tenant, and generally
understood to have been portrayed as "Dodo" by
Mr. Benson, in his well known novel Of that name.
He has q son Of twenty-five who earned the
Distinguished Service Order for gallantTy IN the
Boer war. from which he brought back couple
of wounds.
The earl is the head Of the Lister family one
Of whose members Sir Thomas Lister. while pri-
vate secretary TO his uncle. Foreign Minister Lord
Clarendon. had his forged TO a document
which The London Times believing it TO be
arythe anti Is iSsn n Anrfl