It is not surprising to find that during the reign of George the First
his mistresses Schulemburg and Kielmansegge were much in evidence. They
were particularly hated by the populace, also the Turks Mustapha and
Mahomet, possibly on account of their association with them; but these
latter infidels also appear to have had the honour of dressing and
undressing their master the King.
The Court of George the First had not by any means been a refined one;
the old King greatly loved the society of ladies who were not over
particular in their conversation.
The following, taken from Mr. Wilkins’ “Caroline,” will illustrate
this. Lady Cowper, who was extremely proper, writes of an entertainment
at Court:
“Though I was greatly diverted and there was a good deal of music,
yet I could not avoid being uneasy at the repetition of some words in
French which the Duchess of Bolton said by mistake, which convinced me
that the two foreign ladies” (presumably Schulemburg and Kielmansegge)
“were no better than they should be.”
It appears that the Court of this King was graced or disgraced by the
presence of many such ladies. One night three mistresses of former
Kings met there: the Duchess of Portsmouth, the particular lady of
Charles the Second; Lady Orkney, who occupied a similar position with
regard to William the Third; and old Lady Dorchester, the favourite of
James the Second. The latter was evidently a lady to her finger tips.
“Who!” she exclaimed, “would have thought that we three w...s should
have met here?”
Of the Duchess of Bolton, who was a lady also rather free of speech,
the following anecdote is related.
She was very fond of the play, and recommending anything especially
good to the old King. On this occasion she was telling him of Colley
Cibber’s “Love’s Last Shift,” the title of which conveyed nothing to
His Majesty. He asked her to put it into French. The Duchess, who was
fond of a joke, replied gravely: “_La dernière chemise de l’ amour_,”
whereat the King laughed heartily.
The lovely Duchess of Shrewsbury was another of the King’s favourite
companions, of whom the prim Lady Cowper--herself much admired by His
Majesty, who did not always express his admiration in the most refined
terms--said as follows:
“Though she had a wonderful art of entertaining and diverting people,
would sometimes exceed the bounds of decency.”
But as it has been before stated, the favourites of the King who
excited the most resentment of the populace--who were very free in
expressing their opinion--were Schulemburg and Kielmansegge.
On one occasion Schulemburg was so beset by the crowd that she ventured
to argue with them, and thrust her red wig and painted face out of her
coach to address them in the best English she had.
“Goot pipple,” she exclaimed, “what for you abuse us, we come for all
your goots?”
“Yes, d..n ye,” added a man in the mob, “and for all our chattels, too.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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