English School, circa 1850

The loss of Lord Dalhousie's white Arab Maharaja (see previous lot) was keenly felt, and when the horses health finally failed, he proclaimed in a letter 'he was indeed a beautiful animal, and a perfect [horse]' (Ed. J. G. A. Baird, Private letters of Marquess of Dalhousie, London, 1910, 264). His attachment to Lady Dalhousie's favourite dog Minna was stronger still. 'Perhaps I should be ashamed' he writes on Minna's death 'to confess how much it has grieved me. But she was the favourite and companion of my poor wife - never left her side during her life, and could hardly be persuaded to leave her when she died. There are few people left that I care for now, and I cared for this old dog more than for some even of that few'.