I wish to introduce my readers to a group of people taken about this time. All the men are members of the Viceregal Staff. Lady Wenlock is in the centre, handsome Lord Alwyne Compton (died in 1911) is seen sitting behind her; he was one of the A.D.C.’s. When not on duty he had an affection for a brown velveteen coat and yellow button-hole, which suited him exceedingly well, his hair, eyes and skin, being almost Italian looking. Lord William, Military Secretary, is on Lady Wenlock’s left, and beside him sits Lady Charles Beresford, his sister-in-law. Then comes Mr. Primrose, Private Secretary to the Viceroy (now the Right Hon. Sir Henry Primrose). On the extreme left is Capt. St. Quinten, another good looking young man, who was a favourite A.D.C. in the viceregal household. Sitting at Lady Charles Beresford’s feet is Capt. Clough Taylor, who hailed from the same county as the Ripons, he also was A.D.C. His wife, Lady Elizabeth Clough Taylor (died in 1896) is sitting on Lady Wenlock’s right. Behind her stands the Hon. Miss Lawley. Sitting at Lady Elizabeth’s feet is Capt. Muir, A.D.C. (now Colonel) and Commander of the Body Guard. In the arm-chair below Miss Lawley is the Hon. Charles Harbord, A.D.C. (now Lord Suffield), and next to him Capt. Rochfort, A.D.C. (now Sir Alex. Rochfort, Governor of Jersey).
It will be observed their Excellencies liked good looking men on their staff.
STAFF AND GUESTS AT VICEREGAL LODGE, SIMLA
Left to right: Capt. Rochfort (now Sir Alex. Rochfort, Governor of Jersey); Honble. Miss Lawley, Capt. Harbord (now Lord Suffield), Lady Elizabeth Clough-Taylor, Lord Alwyne Compton, Lady Wenlock, Lord William Beresford, Lady Charles Beresford, Mr. Primrose, Captain St. Quinten
On ground, left to right: Capt. Muir and Capt. Clough-Taylor
Now I am anxious to tell you about the fancy dress balls.
Some of the dresses worn in India on these occasions are marvellous, people out there seem to take much greater pains to do the thing properly, and there have been many anxious moments in case the dresses should not arrive from Paris or England in time. One fancy dress ball I remember as being particularly amusing, but it was not at Simla. Lord William appeared as a Chelsea Pensioner, and was quite excellent. A good looking woman, wife of an Artilleryman, was “A Wasp”; she naturally had a tiny waist. The wondrous dress with its stripy bands of yellow, black gauze wings, and the little antennae in her head, all well carried out, but the wings made dancing difficult, so she sat in a corner with the Chelsea Pensioner a good deal. The poor old Pensioner did not like much light—it hurt his poor old eyes. But the chief joke of the evening was when a big hefty hospital nurse carried into the ballroom a very lusty looking big red-faced baby, with a distinctly blue line along the upper lip. A white rosette-adorned cap tied under his chin, a short white frock reaching a little below his knees which stuck out all round from the amount of material it contained, which, however, helped to support a big blue sash, matching the shoulder knots; frilled kicksey-wickseys, white socks and sandal shoes completed this child’s costume. The bottle of milk which he was sucking, or pretending to suck, was fixed to his sash, and had a long tube. The nurse put down her charge to toddle along the floor, still holding his hand, but the baby if left for a moment began to cry.
It was not long before we discovered in the baby a hard riding man who had brought some hounds out from home and given us some amusement with them in the cold weather, his nurse was an officer in a smart cavalry regiment. Before the evening was over so many practical jokes had been played on the poor baby that he and his nurse in self-defence retired and changed into ordinary evening garments; but not before supper, when Lord William insisted on feeding the baby with a tablespoon, and dived first into one dish and then another so quickly that the already red-faced baby became apoplectic; it was after this he escaped, having been severely patted on the back for a choking fit.
India has changed since those days when the natives used to be rather shocked at ladies appearing publicly in evening dress, and at some of the flirtations, perhaps not entirely peculiar to the East, but to-day they have become so civilised and Westernised it takes a good deal more to shock them.