The Washington herald., 1911-11-02
ENGLISH TOWN TO HAVE
DUKE FOR ITS MAYOR

executive Of the Chesterfield next year,
the city (which is IN the center of the
Dukes own county. This reminds one
that 1t used to be regarded as a good
joke that the Lords of Chatsworth were
Dukes of Devonshire by mistake and
that they in reality were created Dukes
OF Derbyshire. Now, to tell the truth,
II has never been decided whether that
was so or not, but even so 1t would not
be an unprecedented occurrence. Lord
Annesley, for instance, who at Cam
bridge was so very well known as Lord
Glerawley, ought to have been Lord
dlenawley, but for an error in the patent
creating the peerage. Still, that was
almost one and one-half centuries ago.
Certain 1t is that the Duke of Devon
shire owns an enormous part Of the mid
land shire. while neither he nor his an
cestors ever did own any property In
Devonshire. In Derbyshire the duke
however owns two of the most historic
places in Great Britain Besides Chats
worth, he has Hardwicke Hall, which is
near to Chesterfield and which now will
give It's duke the right to call Its mayor
next year his grace"
The record in ducal mayors is held by
the Duke Of Norfolk, who was the first
mayor of Westminster, and has been
mayor of Sheffield and Arundel.
When Princess Henry of Battenberg
the other day left BalmoraI after her
visit to the King and Queen, the former
being her nephew, she went to Stirling
shire to spend some little time with Sir
Archibald and Lady Edmonstone at
Duntreath Castle. This visit has a Pc
culiar interest from the fact that, while
the Edmonstones of Duntreath never
have risen above the baronetage, they
boast family connections with the British
royal house.
The first laird of Duntreath was
welded to that Princess Mary Stuart
who was the daughter Of King Robert
III. She was, therefore, the sister of
King James I Of Scotland. Princess
Mary had four husbands, and the Dunt-
reath laird was the last of them.
Princess Henry of Battenberg is, in a
sense, one of the most Scottish of the
British princesses. albeit one of her sis
ters and one of her nieces, the princess
royal, married Scottish dukes, and be-
cause Princess Henry, as the youngest
of Queen Victorias children, spent more
OF her youth at Balmoral than any of
her brothers or sisters, and her daughter,
the Queen of Spain, is the ONLY British
princess OF the first rank who was born
in Scotland. She always has been keenly
interested in her Stuart ancestors, and
as old Duntreath is saturated with re-
minders Of the historic past, the princess
always has pleasant memories of her
visits there. Lady Edmonstone was one
of the Forbes of Newe, and she was
married TO Sir Archibald sixteen years
ago.
Sir Robert Peel has spent three months
in deciding whether he shall sell Dray-
ton Manor. making for himself bene-
ficiary income Of E1SOOO over and
above the present income from his
estate. Sir Robert has had q career that
was anything but uneventful. but the
past three months no doubt have been
exceptionally trying for him. For years
he has been that extraordinary paradox,
a rich man. and yet poor. As he re-
marked the other day, ION an estate
like his the outgoings-taxes, convey
ances, upkeep, fire Insurance, and other
to between G6,OO0 and
e7,00O a year" And when you are of
fered a sum of G3OO,OOO for a not too
accessible, and not very extensive, prop
erty, it must require a positively heroic
spirit of loyalty to refuse 1t. But Sir
Robert has done this. And he Is deserv-
ing of due credit for his action
At the same time, Drayton is Peel,
and Peel is Drayton. 1t is a case Of the
personal association Sir Robert, after
three months very hard consideration"
has decided to stick to the roof tree
Of his ancestors. 1t would certainly have
a trihe merCenary to have de-
serted It, anyway. For the great Sir
Robert loved Drayton Manor with a
child's simple love. His father, who |
made his pile" out of cotton-spinning. |
built the modern Drayton, and the prime
minister spent hundreds Of thousands of |
pounds upon its galleries, furnished with |
Ousts and portraits of the artists, poets |
authors, and statesmen that he loved |
best.
Two years ago his descendant, the pres
ent barOnet, relieved his financial neces- |
stiles by selling several thousands of |
acres around the house, and for several |
lays the Drayton acres were being knock
I'd down to bidders at auction at Bir-
ningham. All that Sir Robert preserved |
we're the house and 5000 acres around it.
As he realized 10000 on the first day of |
he sale he probably had no great cause
o complain of the result, but all the
same, 1t is good to know that the asso-
,iatiOn of the Peel and Drayton Manor
S to remain undissolved. But perhaps
here is another side to the story. When
IN American millionaire is willing to
transplant an old castle like Tattershau
o the United States one can understand
hat Drayton Manor should be enough to
make his mouth water
Lowther Castle, where ex-King Manuel |
# Portugal has spent considerable time
ately in grouse and pheasant shooting
Ls the guest of the Earl of Lonsdale,
S a fit place for royalty. The exiled
King Is not the first sovereign to shoot
here. The late King Edward, when
Prince of Wales, as well as the German
Kaiser, enjoyed the CHEEKY and splendid
hospitality of the Earl Of LonsdaIe, who
himself is a great lover of the sport.
Lowther Castle is a magnificent build
ng, standing in a beautiful park, which
contains much fine timber The earl can
Ifford to offer right royal hospitality to
IFS illustrious guests, for besides being of
he sunniest and most cheerful DISPOSE
ion personally, he is one of the twelve
greatest landowners of Great Britain
This is what he calls his own: 5000
cres in WestmOreland, 5000 more in
many broad acres in Rut-
andshire, and very extensive mineral
lights in White Haven, Workington
dillom, and other places. And, to top
all, he owns the sporting and other
lights on more than 100 900 acres of conn