A member of the Athenaeum once put up a notice after his umbrella was taken from the cloakroom. It read: ‘Will the nobleman who has taken my umbrella please return it.' A friend asked: ‘How do you know it's a nobleman?' He replied: ‘The rules state that this club is for gentlemen and noblemen, and no gentleman would take my umbrella.'
According to Somerset Maugham, the only value of being a gentleman lay in the fact that it wasn't a pretence (he also said it was almost impossible to be one and a writer), but with the world changing faster than a baton handover in an Olympic relay, is it possible to have a definitive picture of one? Clearly, he must have manners, humour, humility, talent and courage, but there will always be more materialistic giveaways, too.
Gentlemen then and now
1912 2012
The Proms Glastonbury The Quorn Duke of Beaufort's Rolls-Royce Land Rover Discovery Baden-Baden Rock Royal Ascot Glorious Goodwood Guinea fowl Venison Bloomsbury Group Hay Festival Norfolk Dorset Henley Henley Shooting at Elveden Shooting at Alnwick Belgravia Fulham Moustache Clean-shaven Cigarettes Nicorette Rudyard Kipling Antony Beevor Tobogganing in St Moritz Skiing in Val d'Isère Rectory Old Rectory Ballroom dancing Strictly Come Dancing Claret New Zealand Pinot Noir Epsom salts San Pellegrino Wisden Wisden H. M. Bateman Matt Fagging Counselling African grey parrot Buff Orpington Scotland in August Scotland in August Manservant No servant Kedgeree Muesli with blueberries Bread-and-butter pudding Sticky-toffee pudding Fob watch Diving watch Gertrude Jekyll Arabella Lennox-Boyd Dining room Kitchen Herbaceous border Wildflower meadow Royal Yacht Squadron Royal Yacht Squadron Arthur Conan Doyle Sebastian Faulks The Savoy Grill The Wolseley Nightshirt Turnbull & Asser pyjamas Ironed newspaper Today English setter Black labrador Whist BBC Ten O'Clock News White tie No tie 12-bore 20-bore New pair of Purdeys Grandfather's Purdeys Catching lots of salmon in Scotland Catching no salmon in Scotland Polo in India Polo in Midhurst
Five perfect gentlemen
Sir Walter Raleigh for courtesy
The Light Brigade for heroism when facing certain death
Beau Brummell for exquisite dressing
Ernest Shackleton for rescuing his men
Lord Carrington for knowing when to resign
Five gentlemen of literature
Lord Peter Wimsey
The Scarlet Pimpernel (Sir Percy Blakeney)
Mr Knightley
Raffles
Richard Hannay
Five things a gentleman would never do
Holiday in Florida
Own a yacht without sails
Wear fuschia socks
Order Cristal Champagne
Plant a hanging basket
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