At this time a most eccentric figure played a conspicuous part in Society, in the person of the Duchess of Newcastle. Her attire and equipage were so peculiar that she never sallied forth without a crowd of boys and girls following to look at the quaint display. Such a sight would delight Pepys, who several times mentions, with genuine disappointment, the fact of not being able to see her properly on account of the crowd of onlookers who formed her escort. She was a great attraction in the Park on this May Day, for we read: “Thence Sir W. Pen and I in his coach, Tiburne way, into the Park, where a horrid dust, and number of coaches without pleasure or order. That which we, and almost all went for, was to see my Lady Newcastle; which we could not, she being followed and crowded upon by coaches all the way she went, that nobody could come near her; only I could see she was in a large black coach adorned with silver instead of gold, and so white curtains, and every thing black and white, and herself in her cap, but other parts I could not make. But that which I did see, and wonder at with reason, was to find Peggy Penn in a new coach, with only her husband’s pretty sister with her, both patched and very fine, and in much the finest coach in the park, and I think that ever I did see one or other, for neatness and richness of gold, and everything that is noble. My lady Castlemayne, the King, my Lord St. Albans, nor Mr. St. Jermyn have so neat a coach that ever I saw. And Lord! to have them have this, and nothing else that is correspondent, is to me one of the most ridiculous sights that ever I did see, though her present dress was well enough, but to live in the condition they do at home, and be abroad in this coach, astonishes me.” Reviews were held frequently. In the autumn of 1668, Pepys attended one of these: “Colonel the Duke of Monmouth in mighty rich clothes, but the well-ordering of the men I understand not,” he writes. A “thousand coaches” were present, for it was a gay sight. The soldiers on these occasions made a brave show with their Cavalier hats and bright coats, while even the horses were bedecked with ribbons on their heads, manes, and tails. The next year saw the fulfilment of a long-deferred hope in Pepys’ fashionable life, for he then started his own coach. His words are too quaint to omit: “Thence to Hyde Park, the first time we were there this year, or ever in our own coach, where with mighty pride rode up and down, and many coaches there; and I thought our horses and coach as pretty as any there, and observed so to be by others. Here staid till night.” The new coach was put to frequent use. A fortnight later he writes: