330 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
to the remains of his grandfather's fortune, through the death of his aunt, Miss
Henrietta Hay, who died at Dantzic about the year 1835.
The last Portrait in the group will-be easily recognised as the late EARL
OF EGLINTON, of whom we have already given a memoir. At the period
referred to by the Print, he was Colonel of the West Lowland Fencibles. The
regiment wore the Highland uniform ; to which garb his lordship was extremely
partial. He had served abroad in a Highland corps ; and while residing at his
paternal estate of Coilsfield, not the least important personage among his
retainers was the family piper, whose martial strains were poured forth on all
occasions prescribed by feudal or baronial usage. The Colonel was a stern and
brave soldier. It is told that,, on his return from the American war, he was
much annoyed by the interrogatories of his mother, whose maternal fondness
could never be satisfied wieh the narration of the toils and perils to which he
had been exposed. More than usually teased on. one occasion, he goodhumouredly
replied-" 'Deed, mother, to tell the truth, the greatest difficulty and
annoyance I experienced, was when, in endeavouring to clear a fence, I happened
to leap into a close column of very long nettles/"-no enviable situation for a
man with a kilt.
The ladies attired in military uniform, and whose figures are most prominent
in the Promenade, were the two eldest daughters of the late Sir William Maxwell
of Monreith, Bart., and nieces of the celebrated Jane Duchess of Gordon,
and the almost equally well-known Lady Wallace. The MISSES MAXWELL
were much admired in the fashionable world, of which they were distinguished
ornaments. At that period, when every citizen was a soldier, and everything
military the rage, it was the fashion for the female relatives of the noblemen
and gentlemen, who bore commissions in the regulars, fencibles, and volunteers,
to assume the uniforms of the respective corps to which their fathers,
husbands, and brothers belonged. The two young ladies are accordingly in the
uniform of the West Lowland Fencibles, of which their father, Sir William Maxwell,
was Lieutenant-Colonel. One of the sisters was married to William Murray,
Esq. of Polmaise, Vice-Lieutenant of the county of Stirling, and Lieutenant-
Colonel Commandant of the Stirlingshire Yeomanry Cavalry; and the other to
James Dupre, Esq. of Wilton Park, Buckinghamshire.
Of the other figures in the Print, the artist not having left even a record
of their names, no authentic information can be procured. That they are all
likenesses, and were well known at the time, there can be little doubt. The
costumes of the ladies convey a pretty accurate idea of the fashions prevailing at
the period.