THE YELLOW EARL: THE LIFE OF HUGH LOWTHER 5TH EARL OF LONSDALE, K.G., G.C.V.O., 1857-1944. By Douglas Sutherland.

(1965) 2015 3rd edition. 8vo (159 x 240mm). Ppxvi,268,ad. B/w photographs. Black cloth, spine titled in gilt.

"As a penniless, wayward, younger son who had not expected to inherit, Hugh [Lowther] had joined a travelling circus for a year after leaving Eton, then moved on to America, spending months buffalo-hunting. He pawned his birthright to make his fortune from cattle ranching in Wyoming and was practically destitute when the scheme failed. But then his older brother unexpectedly died, Hugh took both the title and the vast fortune that went with it, and the rest is history: a close friend of Edward VII, a great public benefactor and an unforgettable showman in everything he did, his biography is a pacey, elegant and fascinating tribute to one of aristocracy's greatest eccentrics." The appended letters giving Lonsdale's views on foxhunting are worth the price of the book by themselves. Other sporting activities crop up during the course of the narrative, terriers and lurchers, beagling, Cumberland wrestling, football, as well as a picture of a Grasmere pole-vaulter clearing 11'7" to land on the same turf he took off from. Chapters include: The Victorian; The Edwardian; The Georgian. Additional material includes: Memories of the Yellow Earl; Family tree; A letter of criticism to Thatcher, Huntsman to the Cottesmore; A letter reminding Gillson, huntsman to the Cottesmore, of his duties; Hugh Lonsdale's philosophy on foxhunting.