Clearly, he must have manners, humour, humility, talent and courage, but there will always be more materialistic giveaways, too
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
