A conqueror
Sir: Mr Gavin Stamp is an excellent writer and I am sure a man of honour. On reflection I hope that he will feel it his duty to apologise for his mean little attack on Basil, the fourth Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and Maureen, his surviving widow, loved by such a wide circle of friends (`The Last of the Dufferins', 11 June). Surely nothing coarser has appeared for a long time in The Spectator than his reference to his marriage as 'a necessary injection of Guinness cash'. As best man at their wedding, I can testify from intimate know- ledge that it was a real love match.
Soon after the marriage Basil was play- ing tennis at Charlton, the home of the Birkenheads, and insisted after each game on rushing over to kiss Maureen who was sitting beside the court. Incidentally, Mr Stamp has been sadly misinformed about the Birkenhead influence.
By the time he was 29, Basil, a former Brackenbury Scholar of Balliol, was Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, with a great career ahead of him. For a time, he admittedly had a drinking prob- lem. But he overcame it and recovered his health by strict self-discipline and was passed Al for active service. While he was engaged in highly dangerous operations in Burma, where he was to lay down his life, I understand that he stuck to ginger beer while others looked for Dutch courage. I wrote in an obituary in the Times: 'Before he left for the East, he was already a conqueror.' Perhaps Mr Stamp will ponder on these facts and act as suggested earlier.
Longford
18 Chessil Court, Chelsea Manor Street, London SW3
Gavin Stamp writes: Lord Longford is quite mistaken in thinking that I in any way wished to disparage Basil, Fourth Mar- quess of Dufferin and Ava. From the many accounts I have read of him, it is clear that he was a fine and remarkable man.
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