The Saint Paul globe., 1903-12-06

nURING the next session of the
- British parliament the house Of
lords will have a knotty problem to
unite. 1t will be called upon to decide
the claims of John William Boak, who
is now acting as janitor of build
ing in Providence, r. l., to the earldom
of Lennox, and incidentally will like
wise determine whether or not he is
Lord Kincaid and belongs to the peer
Rge of Scotland, heir of ancient family
and of castles and lands now held by
others. Mr.. Boak claims that he is the
rightful earl and he has engaged firm
of lawyers to prosecute his claim.
The old earls of Lennox were
naughty and hard-fighting mobiles in
Bcetlands early days. One of them
figures in that now almost forgotten
romance, 1.-The Scottish Chiefs, and
Sir Walter Scott wrote of them and
took pleasure in the history of the no.
Bile house. In books of the peerage the
earldom of Lennox is put down as ex-
tinct There is duke of Lennox, but
he is another story, being descendant
from Charles II. and the fascinating
Duchess of Portsmouth. and has no
connection with the Scottish family of
Lennox- -Kincaid.
L.
and prove, that the earldom is not ex-
tinct by any means, but is still repre-
sented in the person of the Providence
1anitor, a Yankee, born in Lowell, Mass.
THE last acknowledged earl of Lennox
died in his castle in LennoXtown in the
eighteenth century, leaving no male
heirs, and from that day to this the an
cient title has not been used.
Seems to Have Good Case.
The evidence which Mr.. Boak pre-
sents seems clear and the story he tells.
while romantic sounds convincing and
has been partially corroborated. he
firmly expects to exchange the hum
bic tenement where he now lives for
Lennox castle. When questioned about
the title by reporter, Mr.. Boak ex-
claimed:
Damn the title! I want the money!"
The story of the janior-earl sets
forth that while the last earl of Lennox
had no sons he did have daughter
Lady Marian. In the village below the
castle there lived a sturdy young weaV-
er named David Boak. Although their
stations in life were far apart Lady
Marian and the weaver fell in love with
each other The old earl was furious,
but Lady Marian had a will of her own,
and one night she slipped out of the
castle and eloped with her lover to
H6lSnDOIIuS WH0IG lHSy were
married. From that time until his
death the old earl refused to have any
communication with them.
The weaver and his--wife lived
happy though humble life. The earl
dom of Lennox, it is claimed by Mr..
Boak, was what is known as a female
fief' and descended to daughters IN de-
fault of sons. When the old earl died
Lady Marian Beak became countess of
LennoX and her eldest son after her
became the rightful earl. From that
eldest son John William Boak, of Prov
idence, is descended. The estate which
should have gone to the weaver's wife
was seized by collateral kindred of the
Lennox- -Kincaid blood, but as long as
she lived Marian Moak received an in
come from it. When she died, how
ever, the income ceased and the holders
of the Lennox- -Kincaid property forgot
the descendants of the weaver and his
wife.
Lineage Seems UnassaiIabIe.
David and Marian Boak were the
great-great- grandparents of John Will
liam Boak, of Providence, the presen