The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-13
Picturesque Horse Dealer

Rancher, swordsman hmtaihmtaihmh
yet claimant to an earldom, strong man,
broncho buster, essayist traveller and ex-
member of Parliament. 1t is truly the
most picturesque of all her literary men
whom, in the person of Robert Bontine
Cunninghame Graham England has lust
sent to South America as head of COM
mission which will buy horses in that
country.
Most Americans, probably, are familiar
with Cunninghame Grahams graceful
and scholarly writings-his essays, travel,
studies and little masterpieces of fiction
but possibly they may not be aware how
many sided and oddly experienced a char
acter Is this amazingly democratic men,
Der of the British aristocracy whose years
now number 81. and who, like everybody
else of any consequence in England is
gladly doing his bit to serve thescountry
which he never has been slow to criticise.
Few men in England know South
America better than r. B. Cunninghame
Graham who spent years in ranching on
the River Plate. as well as in Mexico, and
who married a daughter of Chill. While
in Chilli he acquired true cowboys
seat" and learned to use the bolas and
the lasso like any guacho Later in Mex.
leo he learned trick which used to be
regarded with Amusement by the tenan-
after his return to his native heath.
Standing man against the trunk Of a
large tree, the laird would ride round and
round the tree at full speed on a fiery
Mexican mustang, throwing knives with
such extraordinary dexterity that one by
one they formed an outline, on the trunk.
of the living target which they encircled
For many years Cunninghame Ora ham
has been guilty of the most atroclous
a n q. Il froew .or,y-x
said, has set a whole newspaper staff
from editor to office boy to work to de-
cipher-and for this he blames an acct
dent with young horse in South Amer
lea, which crushed him against a tree and
injured his hand. His iron strength Ia
proverbial among his friends, and he
used to boast that he could sign his name
with IS pound weight hanging from his
little finger Once. when he was narrating
this fact to well known editor, the lat
ter remarked ironically. IT suppose you
generally write your manuscripts that
way
Graham looks like Scottish cavalier
with dash of the Spanish hidalgo, which
Is not surprising when you know that he
is descended from King Robert Bruce of
Scotland, and knows Spain as he knows
London. Apropos, there is a good story
that George Bernard Shaw is fond of tell
iHs' tHou6u Tie punt ID rather against
himself or rather against his political
views. Shaw was walking with his
mother in Regent street one day when an
Immediately attired man. raising his
bat passed with courtly bow that
would have exalted a grandee of CASTLE
who is that George?" asked Mrs.
Shaw.
"Oh, that is Cunninghame Graham
the prominent socialist" replied @. B. s.
Really" was the naive rejoinder, "r
thought he was a gentleman.
Certainly IL Cunninghame Graham is
not a gentleman 1t would be hard
to say who is, for. not to mention the
fact that his mother was a granddaugh-
ter of the famous Lord Elphinstone, his
father, William Cunninghame Graham,
who died in 1868. was the representa-
tive of the Grahams of Gartmore. who
trace their line back to younger son
of one of the Earls of Menteith In the
sixteenth century. 1t was to the DOR
mant earldom of Menteith that Cum
ninghame Graham laid claim, not that
he-rabid democrat--coveted the title,
but because a claim suddenly had been
lodged by one Barclay Allardyce, an ex-
mayor Of Lostwithiel. who had not. SO
Cunninghame Graham claimed. a ves-
tige OF a case. AS matter of fact, none
Of the three parties-for a third
promptly turned up--succesded in es-