New-York tribune., 1907-11-22
DUKE OF ATHOL TO WE'D
First Peer Legally to Marry His
Dead Wfe's Sister.


Gear IS according TO the cable dispatches TO en-
.ov the distinction OF being the first peer of the
realm TO take advantage Of the recent law permit
ting marriage with deceased wives sisters bv
leading the altar the widowed Lady Forbes Of
Newe, sister Of the late Duchess OF AthoIl and of
f,eorgiana Countess of Dudley. In the same ,raz,
ss the latter Lady Forbes has retained in an alto
eether marvellous degree the beauty for which
she and her sisters the other daughters of Sir
Thomas and Lady Moncreiffe, were so cAIel,ra a5
forty years ago. Like Lady Dudley she has
number Of grandchildren. and among her daugb
ters ere Mrs. Willie James, of West Dean psrl
who has recently been entertaining the King and
Queen Of Spain there, and Lady St Oswald The
duke has long been deeply attached to his sister
tn-law, Lady Forbes. and it was this more than
anything else that caused him a couple of wears
ago 10 deny IN such an extremely peremptorv and
curt manner the report Of his engagement to Mrs
Potter Palmer.
OF all the great mobiles OF Scotland he d ~,
one who Is most distinguished by pride OF race
and who has preserved more than any other grand
seigneur Of the Northern Kingdom the old feudaI
customs and ideas on his estates He eniovs the
distinction. unique not only in Great Britain but
also in Europe OF being permitted to maintain a
full fedged armed bodyguard, with artillery com,
plete. about one thousand strong composed ex
clusively Of members of that Murray clan of which
ne the chieftain and its regiuen+a1 colors 1ero
presented to ii by no less a parsonage than the
late Queen Victoria on the occasion Of one OF
her many stays at Blair AthoI
The latter is a hideous whitevvasba6 ol5 rYaoo -
no architectural pretensions whatsoever Its only
remarkable feature is the incompatible double
avenue OF elms by which It is approached A part
Of the ediAce dates back 10 the thirteenth century,
and II Is held oy the Duke OF AthoU from the
Crown by one OF those strange tenures which are
occasionally TO be found in Great Britain the d,,a
being under the obligation of presenting To the
sovereign a white rose whenever he or she visits
the castle, under penalty OF forfeiture Another
feature OF Blair Athou, though Of more modern
o-igin ie
the dome OF the Mahdis tomb at Omdurn1an and
which now figures on the top of one OF the towers
at the castle It was brought home from the
6oudan by The dukes eldest son. the MARQUIS of
Tullibardine. who greatly distinguished himself
under Lord Kitchener at the battle of Or1durroau
and who picked up this trophy as his own particu-
lar piece OF loot The marquis is married 20 the
very pretty Miss Ramsey, and when he brought
her home to Blair AthoIl the first time as his wife
ne caught her up in his arms and carried her
ecross the Threshold of the castle in accordance
with the requirements Of the ancient custom OF the
house that the bride who enters the castle for the
first time must not walk into It
The duke who IS the only member Of the House
OF Lords who can speak Gaelic with fuency, owns
considerably more than two hundred thousand
in Scotland, and lives almost entirely on his
estates. where he has planted about two million
larches tree which he has been the first to intro
duce into Scotland. He is a very useful member OF
the British peerage, beloved by all his people on
his vast estates, for whose moral and material
welfare he considers himself responsible His
mother Of the favorite ladies' and most
intimate confdantes OF the late Queen Victoria.
He himself is a boyhood friend OF the King and
with him ar the university. His wife died
three years ago. and her loss was A terrible blow
20 him, for he devoted to her
The news OF his impending marriage reminds me
that there is IN the ueighborhood Of the castle
inn which goes by the name of the Duke of
AthoIPs Arms. In former times there stage
coach running thence called the Duchess Of
Atholl, and the hour Of its arrival and departure
announced IN capital letters IN the newspapers
Of the district in the following manner: The
Duchess OF AthoIl starts from the Duke of AthoIrs
Arms every morning sharp at o'clock"
PRINCEss-DUcHEss HERE TO-DAY.
Among the passengers on board the Mauretania.
which is due in New York to-day is the widowed
Princess and Duchess de Polk who has a strong
strain Of American blood IN her veins and is COM
ing here to see her American relatives and
10 look after her property IN the United States
Her mother, who Miss Mary Ray. of the
old New York family OF that name. which played
q conspicuous role in the early annals of the En-
pre City, was one Of the very first American
women TO marry titled Frenchman. IN the perEon
OF the Nicornte de Courval. grandson Of General
Moreau and related 10 the ducal houses of Mar
,nier and Choiseul. Her daughter Madeleine mar
ried In 1883 the only son Of the Due and Duchesse
de Mouchy. The duke IS the head Of the younger
branch Of the old Crusader and ducal family Of
De Noailles, and the Duchess de Moucly was lhat
Princess Anna Murat who. born at Bordentown,
y J., OF American mother Miss caroline
Fraser, Of Philadelnhia, was the close friend ana
most intimate companion Of Empress Eugene. The
latter, indeed, treated her younger sister or
adopted daughter, and may be said to have brought
about her marriage with the Due de Mouchy
The Duchess de AIouchy, who is now a woman
about sixty-four, retains but little trace Of her
former beauty and elegance and leads a very re-
tired life indeed with her husband broken by the
death Of her only son, the late Prince de Polk ana
also bv the loss Of greater part Of the duchess's
own fortune and that Of her husband. In fact they
are generally understood 10 have been saved from
total ruin by the financial assistance Of the En-
press who since that time has not seen very much
Of them.
The widowed Princess de Polk has three chlIoreh'
q daughter Of ten and two sons the eldest of whom
Is nearly eighteen years of and who bears his
fathers title Of Prince Due de Polk and will on his
grandather's death inherit the additional title OF
Due de aiouchy. These titles are both French and
Spanish. the latter carrying with them the gran
dezza. The princess and her children spend their
summers az the ducaI Chateau de HIouchy, in the
Department of Disc. and the winters at her house
ln Rue Paul Baudry, which she inherited from her
mother the late Vicon1tesse de Courval and in the
salons Of which many of Nine. de Courvals coun-
trynen and countrywoInen received their first in
PRODUCTION 70 the old French aristocracy.
LORD TrAsTINGs's BROTHER COMING.
Another {. The passengers on board the Maure-
tania is the Hon John Jacob Ashley, who is coming
% this country I understand. a guest Of An
rhony Drexe He is the brother and next heir to
the peerage and estates of the present Lord Hast
ings until ousted from that position in the line OF