Robert Barclay Allardice, Esq. of Ury, succeeded his father in the eighteenth year of his age. He was born in the month of August 1779, and at eight years, was sent to England to receive his education. He remained four years at Richmond School, and three years at Brixton Causeway. His academical studies were completed at Cambridge; after which, he embarked on the great theatre of life, under the protection of curators, who managed his affairs, in terms of his father’s settlement, until he arrived at the age of twenty-one.
He is descended from an ancient and honourable family[18], and is known in the sporting world by the title of Captain Barclay. His favourite pursuits have ever been the art of agriculture, as the serious business of his life, and the manly sports, as his amusement or recreation.
The improvement of his extensive estates has occupied much of his attention, and he is well acquainted with every thing relative to modern husbandry. His taste for rural affairs is hereditary, and his knowledge of them is derived from experience. The example of his father, who raised his rental from three hundred pounds a year, to several thousands, was an irresistible stimulus to an ardent mind; and Capt. Barclay, by pursuing the plan adopted by his immediate predecessor, has greatly augmented the value of his property, which is still increasing, and in a few years will produce ten thousand pounds annually.
His love of the athletic exercises may proceed from the strong conformation of his body, and great muscular strength. But his predilection for the manly sports has never interfered with his important business, or in any manner, retarded the improvement of his estate. And what may appear difficult or impossible to a man of ordinary frame, is to him quite easily accomplished. His usual rate of travelling on foot is six miles an hour, and to walk from twenty to thirty miles before breakfast, is a favourite amusement. To a person so constructed by nature and habit, long journies on foot or on horseback—the chase, or gymnastic sports—are nothing more than that moderate degree of exercise which is necessary to the preservation of health.
His style of walking is to bend forward the body, and to throw its weight on the knees. His step is short, and his feet are raised only a few inches from the ground. Any person who will try this plan will find, that his pace will be quickened, at the same time he will walk with more ease to himself, and be better able to endure the fatigue of a long journey, than by walking in a posture perfectly erect, which throws too much of the weight of the body on the ancle-joints. He always uses thick-soled shoes, and lambs-wool stockings, which preserve his feet from injury. It is a good rule to shift the stockings frequently during the performance of a long distance; but it is indispensably requisite to have shoes with thick soles, and so large, that all unnecessary pressure on the feet may be avoided.
Capt. Barclay’s great muscular power has been evinced in his various pedestrian feats, recorded in the previous Chapter; but it remains to be noticed, that, in his arms particularly, he possesses uncommon strength, as exemplified in the following performances.
In April 1806, while in Suffolk with the 23d regiment, although only twenty years of age, he offered a bet of one thousand guineas, which was not accepted, that he would lift from the ground the weight of half a ton. He tried the experiment, however, and having obtained a number of weights which were fastened together by a rope through the rings, he lifted twenty-one half hundred weights. He afterwards, with a straight arm, threw a half hundred weight the distance of eight yards, and over his head the same weight, a distance of five yards. In the mess-room, Capt. Keith, the paymaster of the 23d regiment, who weighed eighteen stones, stood upon Capt. Barclay’s right hand, and, being steadied by his left, he thus took him up and set him on the table.
He has performed many similar feats; and few men are able to match him in those sports which are analagous to the English game of quoits, or what the ancients termed the Discus. But the deltoid muscle of his arm is uncommonly large, and expanded in a manner that indicates very great strength.
His predecessors have always been remarkable for their muscular power. Colonel Barclay, the first of Ury, was upwards of six feet in height; and his sword, which still remains, is too heavy to be wielded “in these degenerate days.” Many popular stories are told of the feats of strength performed by his great-grandfather; and the late Mr. Barclay of Ury, it is well known, was uncommonly powerful. The name Barclay is of Celtic origin, and implies great strength[19].