[George Punter, commonly known as Lord Hippo, Eldest Son and Heir of Peter, sixth Earl of Potamus] Lord Hippo suffered fearful lossBy putting money on a horseWhich he believed, if it were pressed,Would run far faster than the rest:For someone who was in the knowHad confidently told him so.But on the morning of the raceIt […]

[William, eighth Earl Lucky, subsequently fifth Duke of Bradford] Lord Lucky, by a curious fluke,Became a most important duke.From living in a vile HotelA long way east of Camberwell He rose, in less than half an hour,To riches, dignity and power.It happened in the following way:–The Real Duke went out one dayTo shoot with several […]

[Alcibiades, third Baron ABBOTT of Brackley in Southamptonshire] Lord Abbott’s coronet was far too small,So small, that as he sauntered down White HallEven the youthful Proletariat(Who probably mistook it for a Hat)Remarked on its exiguous extent.Here is a picture of the incident.

[Christopher, sixth Baron Canton] The reason that the Present Lord CantonSucceeded lately to his Brother JohnWas that his Brother John, the elder son,Died rather suddenly at forty-one. The insolence of an Italian guideAppears to be the reason that he died.

I have said that in Charles of Orleans the middle ages are at first more apparent than the advent of the Renaissance. His forms are inherited from an earlier time, his terminology is that of the long allegories which had wearied three generations, his themes recall whatever was theatrical in the empty pageantry of the […]