Two Dances from 1795

Published by Cahusacs: Thomas Cahusac, Sr., and his two sons Thomas, Jr., and William Maurice were instrument makers in London during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

Racing Women

In 1748, the Bath Journal of August 8th:

‘Advertisement, the following ASSES were entered to run on the Town-Common Thursday last; the Names they were enter’d by were, Merry Pintle, Spanking, Roger, Morecock, Turpin, Mouse, Perrdy, Spider, Picksey, Pug, Jan Parsons, Roger &c. They were rode by Boys, and the Plate was won by Jackey Skares’ Ass Merry Pintle - There were Six Thousand Persons on the course, and some of Distinction who came many miles to see the Sport - a Smock and Hat were run for at the same Time by Girls.’

There are a couple of things of interest here; firstly, how popular ass racing was and how well-known many of the asses were. The second is that it is an early Bath reference to the popular Georgian sport of smock racing. It probably also tells you something about contemporary attitudes toward working-class women: the Asses were the main attraction and were named.

Another advert for a similar event featuring asses and girls provides further information. The Smock race would consist of three heats; the winner would get the smock, the second would get the hat, and the third would get half a crown, which gives some idea of the considerable value of the clothing. Women who wished to compete were required to report to the Common-house by 3 p.m. on the day. The asses won a guinea for first, 5 shillings for second and half a crown for third. 

Smocks or shifts were the essential all-purpose undergarment for Georgian women worn beneath stays and gowns during the day and often also in bed at night. The smocks offered as prizes were usually made of high-quality linen and often trimmed with lace and ribbons. The prize smock was often displayed hanging from a nearby flag pole or tree branch. 

Rowlandson 1811

Smock races were popular entertainment throughout the Georgian period partly because they served the almost insatiable demand for opportunities for gambling but also, and perhaps primarily, because they allowed opportunities for the male spectators to see young women wearing loose clothing, which often became disarranged and flushed from physical exertion. This is amply illustrated in the above Rowlandson print.

From all the reports and the many prints, competition among the often desperately poor women was fierce. There do not seem to have been any actual rules, and the women freely tripped and barged over their rivals, often knocking them into the dust. The more violent the race became, the more audiences would roar their approval and acclaim the eventual victor would receive.

Smock races took place in various locations around Bath throughout the eighteenth century, including the Parades and Lansdown and were a feature of many fairs.

First well documented race meetings in Bath

William Capell

John Cheny (1727–1750), in his racing calendar, carries details of the first well-documented race meeting in Bath on the 25th of September 1728. The meeting took place on Claverton Down when William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex’s horse Smiling Ball, beat three other horses over three four-mile heats coming first in all of them for a prize of 50 guineas.

Smiling Ball, we learn from "The Turf Register and Sportsman & Breeder's Stud-book" by William Pick, had been bred by Mr Gaze of Lincolnshire and sold to the Earl of Essex.

Smiling Ball’s sire was bred by Sir Matthew Peirson, Bart and got by Old Merlin out of a dam bred by Mr Curwen, got by his Bay Barb; grandam by the Curwen Old Spot, out of a daughter of Lord D’Arcy’s Woodcock.

At Newmarket, in April 1728, Smiling Ball, carrying 9st, beat Lord Gower’s Miss Wilkins, carrying 8st 7lb over four miles for a prize of 200gs. Incredibly only three hours after that race, and carrying 7st, he beat Lord Hallifax’s Partner, by Jigg, carrying 9st over a four-mile course, thus winning the Earl another 200gs.

He won 80gs at Stamford, beating Mr Bertie’s Ladythigh; walked over for 50gs at Oxford; his next race was the meeting at Bath,

After Bath, he went north and won the Gold Cup, value 50gs at Warwick, beating Mr Cole’s Singlepeeper and Mr Howe’s Lampire.

So in a single year, he won his owner 710gs worth or approximately £65,000 at today's values. This, of course, does not include his Lordship's winnings at the betting post.

In 1729, he won £50 carrying 10st at Guilford, beating Lord Onslow’s Singlepeeper and Mr Bennet’s Bumper He then won another Gold Cup, value 50gs at Andover and £30 at Grantham, beating Mr Heneage’s Whitenose and three others; 40gs at Leicester; and 10gs at Epsom.

At stud, he sire several notable horses, including Mr Mewburn’s Smiling Ball, Sir Harry Harpur’s Darling, Mr Shaw’s Ploughman, Mr Barker’s Venture, Mr Arundale’s Fancy, Lord March’s Roderick Random, and several others. 

The other horses in the race were:

Mr. Kirby's Black horse Collier
Rev. Mr Thorpe's Chestnut gelding Frostyface

In Bath, we have another record of racing on the 1st and 2nd November 1728 featuring two races, one for six horses over three four-mile heats for 20 guineas won by Mr Longton’s unnamed grey horse. The second race was for Galloway’s and was won by Mr Proctor’s grey mare Northern-Nancy.

Bath Races 1757

"It is thought there will be good Sport at our Races several horses are already here and many more are daily expected" Bath Journal September 1757.

The 1757 meeting started on Wednesday the 5th of October 1757 on Claverton Down with a race for a purse of fifty pounds for any horse, mare or gelding, that had not won the value of fifty pounds (matches excepted); five-year-olds to carry eight stone seven pounds; six year olds nine stone seven pounds; aged ten stone seven pounds bridle and saddle included; best of three-four mile heats.

Five horses were entered ahead of time:

• Mr Smart’s Grey mare Grey of Greys Five years old
• Mr Moore’s Chestnut horse Six years old
• Mr Butler’s Grey Horse Sterling, Six years old
• Mr Parham’s Bay horse Vortigern Aged

On the day, Lord Bruce entered his horse Fox at the post

Lord Bruce

This is almost certainly Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury KT (30 April 1729 - 19 April 1814), styled The Honourable Thomas Brudenell until 1747 and known as Lord Bruce of Tottenham between 1747 and 1776. He subsequently served as Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 1780 to 1782.[1]
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Vortigern won the first heat but took the turn at the post too short in the second which brought down both horse and rider. Victory in the race finally went to Starling.

On Thursday the 6th on the same course, they ran for a purse of fifty pounds, for any horse, mare or gelding that has not won more than one fifty pound plate this year; five years old to carry ten stone four pounds; six years old eleven stone four pounds; aged twelve stone, bridle and saddle included; the best of three-four mile heats. Six horses were entered before the meeting:

• Mr Scudamore’s Grey horse Sober John Six years old
• Mr Howe’s Bay horse Mercury Five Years old
• The Earl of Eglington’s Grey horse Gog Magog Aged
• Mr Cornwall’s brown horse Redstreak Aged
• Mr Roger’s Grey mare Chastity Five years old
• Mr Jennison’s Grey horse Why not Aged

Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton, one of twenty siblings, was the eldest son of the 9th Earl of Eglinton and Susanna Montgomery, Countess of Eglinton the earl's third wife and a renowned society beauty. Alexander planned and built the conservation village of Eaglesham in 1769 around the basic plan of a capital 'A' (for Alexander). The Earl introduced the young James Boswell to the joys of London society in the early 1760s, and figures prominently in Boswells London Journal, 1762-63. He was the Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Scotland from 1750-51. We know that the Earl was present in person because the Bath Journal records his arrival sometime between September 19th and September 26th. 

There were no horses entered at the post despite pre-meeting expectations that there would be.

Mercury won the first heat and Redneck the last heat by a narrow half-length. The purse was awarded to Redneck but Mercury won the stakes as the "second bell horse."

The horses had to be shown and entered on the Saturday before the day of running, between the hours of twelve and six, at Mr Figg’s, at the Lamb Inn in Bath, and be subject to the articles produced at the time of entrance. Certificates of their qualification for each of the purses had to be produced at the time of entrance, or before the day of running no less than three reputed running horses had to start for either of these purses. Owners had to pay two guineas entrance per horse if they were subscribers to the Bath races, and five shillings to the Clerk of the Course; a non-subscriber paid three guineas and five shillings to the Clerk of the Course, or double at the post. In the event that only one horse, was entered for a race, his owner would win ten guineas for the walk-over, and his entrance money returned and if only two they would get five guineas each, and their entrance money returned. Any disputes would be settled by the gentlemen who could afford to be in the stands.

No horses were to be plated (shod) by anyone but a smith that had subscribed half a guinea to the organisers. No persons would be allowed to sell any liquor on the Down unless they had subscribed one guinea. The stakes of each day for the second bell horse, etc. The winning horse etc. of the first day not to start for the second purse.

There were back sword contests in the Market Place Tuesday before the races and on Friday after the races and the will be a Ball each night of the races in the Town Hall.

1. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume I, page 63. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.

The Equestrian Circus in Monmouth Street and the Child of Promise

On 17th April 1788, the following advertisement appeared in the press:

'By particular Desire of several Ladies and Gentlemen positively the last night. At Ryle’s Ride, the top of Monmouth Street, will be presented a variety of equestrian exercise; consisting of horsemanship by the whole troop, tight rope dancing, by the unrivalled Signora Riccardini, and the Child of Promise. Slack Rope Vaulting by Master Smith, Mr Smallcomb will pick up a watch blindfold. Mr Handy, in the character of harlequin, will make several surprising leaps through a hogshead of real fire (Beatles fans take note), to conclude with the tailor's disaster Or disagreeable journey to Brentford, with the hunter and road horse, by Mr Smallcombe. The doors open at half past five, and begin at half past six. Front seats, 2s. Back seats, 1s. Mr Handy returns his best thanks for the great encouragement he has been honoured with in this city.'

Stephen Ryle, who put in this advertisement, kept equestrian premises in Monmouth Street from which he sold carriages and horses and ran a stud. He also offered riding tuition in his ‘Circular Riding School.' 

Benjamin Handy began his career as an ostler with Hughes Equestrian Circus. Hughes had been a performer with Phillip Astley’s famous circus in London but left to create his own company and amphitheatre with the intention to break Astley’s virtual monopoly. Handy’s appearance with his own company in Bath seems to have been one of his first. The company mostly consisted of members of his own family and former members of the company Astley had brought to Bristol in the 1770s. 

The Tailor's Disaster Or Disagreeable Ride to Brentford was a well established clowning routine which would have been familiar to those who had attended Astley's shows.

Signora Riccardini was Handy’s wife who could perform on 'One and Two Horses in a capital Manner’ and famously would stand on her head on top a spear surrounded by fireworks. She and  Benjamin had married in Birmingham in 1873.

The 'Child of Promise' was the Handy's daughter, Mary Ann, whose star turn was riding on another rider's shoulders ‘without the assistance of Hand or Rein, having nothing to keep her up but her perpendicular Balance, and which is allowed to be the greatest balance ever attempted.’ She would have been around four years old in 1788. A year later, her father refused an offer of 365 guineas a year from Astley for the services of his daughter. 

The Master Smith mentioned in the bill was Handy’s indentured apprentice; however, by the 1787 -8 season, he had run away from his service, and by 1793, he had become a major star of the London circus scene.

Astley's Amphitheatre in 1777

At Bristol on 25th April 1788, in 'a large commodious yard at the back of the Angel, in the Borough Walls, leading from Redcliff Street to Thames Street, ' a group of performers from Astley’s and Hughes’s riding schools in London were presenting riding, rope dancing and other entertainments, but the group was called (Benjamin) Handy’s Troupe in the advertisements. Featured were 'the celebrated Mr Franklin, the Child of Promise' (Mary Ann Handy), Signora Riccardini (Mrs Handy), and Benjamin Handy. Mr Franklin was Thomas Franklin the son of a clown, famous for his feats of strength.

In December 1788 and early January 1789 ‘Ryle’s Circular Riding-School,’ which by now had been granted a Royal Patent to Host Equestrian Entertainments, hosted the same troupe of performers. The wonders promised included: ‘Mr Franklin will carry the Child of Promise over the leaping bar on two horses in the attitude of a Flying Mercury.’  This show did not feature Handy’s wife possibly because she was incapacitated by the illness of which she would later die. By October of that year, Ryle’s was putting on a show, under the patronage of the Mayor of Bath, that did not include the Handy family probably because of the death of Handy’s wife on the 25th September. But they did include Franklin and many other members of the Handy troupe. The performers also included Mr Parker throwing 'a Somerset (sic) off the horse at full speed.’ (Beatles fans may wish to take note here too!). Parkers celebrated actress wife, she was said to be the best Columbine in England, joined him an was a member of the company at the Theatre Royal for the 1789/90 season.

By November, Ryle and Franklin had formed a partnership and put on their own shows at what was now billed as 'Ryle and Franklin’s Amphitheatre' with facilities comparable to Astley’s London arena: e.g.: heating, and ringside boxes which could be reserved, as in the Theatre, by sending your servants to occupy them. There were three performances a week. The Ryle Franklin enterprise doesn't seem to have thrived because by March 1790, Franklin and Hardy had become partners and were again in Bristol building a new riding school and ring for performance behind the Full Moon in North Street, St Paul’s. Construction was delayed, however, and the planned opening on 8th March was postponed until the 22nd. Meanwhile, the two men offered riding lessons to the ladies and gentlemen of Bristol.

Even though they had so recently erected an arena, on 10th May 1790 Franklin and Handy announced plans for a more elaborate riding school and performance ring. They promised their patrons that as soon as 500gns (of a total of 1000 gs needed) should be subscribed, construction would commence. They also noted they would be in attendance six months of the year to teach riding to Bristolians and to break horses for them. They continued to perform in their old circus at Bristol throughout May and then left to perform elsewhere. Their new establishment in Bristol opened in 1792, but Handy seems to have sold his interests in the Bristol establishment in 1793. Handy went on to have a long and successful career both as a performer and proprietor, eventually owning a part share in Astley’s Amphitheatre in London. Jacob DeCastro the comedian, in his memoir of 1824, said that Handy 'lives as an independent gentleman, and a magistrate for the county of Somerset, very near the famed city of Bath . . .'

In February 1793 Franklin brought his company to Monmouth Street four a week. The company consisted of 9 performers and 9 horses. The programme offered, horsemanship, rope-vaulting, ground and lofty tumbling and Egyptian Pyramids. Performers included:

• Mr Franklin himself performing his "much-admired trick with oranges and forks
• The astonishing eight year old "Young English Mercury" whose speciality was playing the violin while on the shoulders of Franklin while he rode two horse
• Master Smith
• The Little Devil performing somersaults on horseback
• Mr Crossman who had learned his trade with Astley

Franklin’s Bristol venture never seems to have been adequately capitalized and appears to have failed around 1794. DeCastro says that Franklin went to America where he died. Ryle seems to have gone back to focussing on his core business, and his 1804 advertisements announce his hiring of a fashionable London riding master to teach the gentry alongside his livery and horse hire services. He also seems to have acquired additional livery accommodation in Pulteney Street.

In July 1813 the newspapers announced that 'Mr Sam Ryle, former livery stable keeper and master of the riding school in Monmouth Street; he retired to bed in his usual state of health and in the morning was found dead.'

And what of the Child of Promise? She went on to have a successful career as a performer on horseback but, more famously, as a slack rope dancer until her tragic death at about thirteen. Travelling with her company from Liverpool to London in the packet Viceroy, she drowned when it sank in St Georges Channel in December 1797.

James King

In Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey, Henry Tilney is first introduced to Catherine Morland at a ball in the Lower Rooms. When he was “treating his partner to tea,” he laughingly accused her of keeping a journal in which he feared he should make but a poor figure. “Shall I tell you,” he asks, “what you ought to say? I danced with a very agreeable young man introduced by Mr. King; had a great deal of conversation with him; seems a most extraordinary genius.”

James King was a real Bath character. The son of a respectable Irish family, he had served with distinction in the British Army during the American Revolutionary War.

The office of Master of the Ceremonies was a very profitable one. Each Master has a ball in the winter and spring seasons, and subscription books were provided in the Rooms to provide an opportunity for those of the company who did not subscribe to balls, in the words of the New Bath Guide, “an opportunity of shewing those gentlemen marks of their respect.”

For this reason, when  Captain Wade resigned from the office of Master of the Ceremonies on the 8th of July 1777, no less than seven men applied to be his successor. The candidates were eventually whittled down to two: William Brereton and William Dawson, Esq's. To preserve the peace and harmony of Bath, it was proposed that Mr Brereton should officiate at the Lower and Mr Dawson at the New Rooms. Mr Brereton continued in office for about three years. On his resignation, Richard Tyson was elected in his place. On the resignation of Mr. Dawson in 1785, Mr. Tyson was unanimously elected by the New Rooms subscribers, and Mr. King was elected to the Lower Rooms.

Each MC was given a medallion to wear as a mark of office. Mr. King’s medallion was made of fine gold enamelled blue and elegantly enriched with brilliants. On one side was a raised figure of Venus, with a golden apple in one hand and a rudder in the other; the motto Venus deceus. The reverse is a laurel wreath with the motto, Arbiter Elegantia Communi Consensu.

In 1805, Tyson stood down from his position at the Upper Rooms, and James King was elected to succeed him.

The Lower Rooms went into a period of decline following King's departure and did not really recover until the rooms were rented to a new tenant, a musician called Lanza, who appointed a new MC named Francis Guynette. New tenants Finegan and Hobbes, working with Guynette, further enhanced this revival.

Finegan and Hobbes tried to introduce vocal concerts and promenades at the Lower Rooms on Monday nights, something which they agreed with Andrew Nash, the proprietor of the Upper Rooms, but King, to safeguard his Monday Balls, objected. Hobbes retorted that with 10,000 visitors each season, there was room for two simultaneous amusements. King won the day allegedly because King threatened Finegan.

From 1801 to 1816, King divided his time between Bath and Cheltenham.

In the words of the New Bath Guide for 1819, Mr King 'discharged the duties of his office, with distinguished politeness and universal esteem, till the the period of his lamented death in October 1816.'

HORSE RACING ON CLAVERTON DOWN The O’Kelly years.

The first recorded racing on Claverton Down was in 1729, but the racing there was at its zenith between 1771 and 1783 when the town was visited annually by the extraordinary Col. Dennis O’Kelly, his much-envied horses, his enormously wealthy friends and, possibly, by his infamous 'wife' Charlotte Hayes. O’Kelly had come to England from Ireland and initially earned his living as a sedan chair carrier. A series of adventures led him to the Fleet prison, where he met and joined forces with Charlotte Hayes. Together, they made an immense fortune based on gambling, brothel keeping and horse dealing. The latter led him to acquire 'Eclipse,' the horse from which some 95% of today’s racehorses are descended.

Count O'Kelly

1771 was an important year for Dennis and racing as it was the year 'Eclipse' went to stud, and his progeny featured in all the Bath races from 1776. It was also a big year for Bath with the opening of the New Assembly Rooms: race meetings took place just before the opening of the season and generally lasted three or four days.

Claverton Down was used for many equestrian activities; the race course was laid out over two miles in front of Claverton Down House, facing Hampton Down, and from at least 1773, there was a grandstand erected on the course, but Genteel spectators were either mounted or in coaches often riding alongside the horses in the race. Racing in the 18th century was as much a test of stamina as speed and typically was settled by running three, four-mile heats. Claverton Down horse racing attracted sizable crowds, enormously wealthy owners and gamblers. HRH, the Duke of Cumberland, regularly sent horses to run there and may have attended in person. Many businesses in Bath sought to profit from this, and tradesmen paid substantial fees to have booths on the course and to provide services such as shoeing. The Assembly Rooms would also take advantage of the crowds and put on special pre-season balls, while local eateries would provide special meals.

A typical race was the first one of the 1771 meeting, which was for a prize of £50 (about £3000 today). The race was open to any horse, and all runners had to carry a minimum of 8st 7lbs except horses who had won a King’s Plate, which had to carry 9st. The result was to be determined by the outcome of three, four-mile heats. As it happened, only two heats were run by only three horses. Mr Hugo’s grey mare, Frolic, beat Mr Carpenter’s grey horse, Danger, and Mr Brereton’s bay horse, Star. This could be the same Mr Brereton who was banned from the Jockey Club coffee rooms for making accusations of cheating against two fellow members. 

'Frolic' won the first heat easily, the general opinion being that the other two had not really tried. Surprisingly, the odds going into the second heat went as high as 20:1 against 'Frolic' winning again. However, despite 'Danger' having run much better, 'Frolic' won by several lengths. Two other horses had originally been entered, but Mr Bishop’s 'Daniel' had gone lame, and Dennis had been paid not to start his horse, 'Helen.' It's quite likely that 'Helen' was a nine-year-old mare that appears in the records as having been bred out of Daphne, a daughter of the Godolphin Arabian, one of the three founding Arab stallions of thoroughbred breeding,  by the noted stallion 'Spectator,' winner of the Jockey Club plate. This first race set something of a precedent with the crowd, who were surprised by and often suspicious of the way races were run and the curious movements in the betting market.

At the end of the meeting, Gyde’s Rooms held a ball, and The Chronicle declared the meeting to be equal, if not superior, to any meeting in the kingdom, which may reflect the impact of O’Kelly. The massive popularity of the races can be judged from the estimated 1000 carriages on the Down on Wednesday of that week. 

Another typical race was a sweepstake, such as the second race on the second day of the 1772 meeting. A fifty guinea sweepstake for three-year-olds over a four-mile course which was competed for by:

Mr Parker’s grey filly. Mr Parker is almost certainly John Parker of Saltram house in Devon, who represented Devonshire in Parliament and who would go on to win the 1783 Derby. The grey filly was probably a horse called 'Charlotte' out of a Regulus mare, and by the stallion 'Shakespeare,' 'Shakespeare,' bred by Sir John Moore, was not a very successful racehorse but had a solid reputation for breeding good mares.

Mr Wildman’s grey colt was entered on his behalf by Mr Coxe. Wildman was a wealthy wholesale butcher and stock dealer who had bought the horse 'Eclipse' at the sale of the Duke of Cumberland’s stud. It's not clear who the J. Coxe that entered Wildman’s colt was, but he was almost certainly a connection of the Coxe family who owned Ston Easton Park. The grey colt was probably a horse called 'Lamplighter' and was bred from 'Antinous' by the 3rd Duke of Grafton at Euston. 'Antinous' ran for six years from the age of four, beating the top horses of his day in big purse matches.

Mr. O’Kelly’s chestnut colt, Young Colin.

Lord Corke and Mr Coxe paid forfeits of 25 guineas each to withdraw their horses.
Betting before the start was: Mr Parker’s filly, evens. 6 to 4 against the grey colt and 2 to 1 against 'Young Colin.' In running, bets were offered that 'Colin' would not come last. The race reports described it as a very fine heat won with difficulty by the filly carrying 8st 5lb against the colts' 8st 7lb. The winner took the prize of 200 guineas (about £24,000 today).

The third race of the 1780 season was for three-year-olds over one two-mile course. The field consisted of HRH, the Duke of Cumberland’s colt 'Polydore' by 'Eclipse' out of a Spectator Mare. Mr Luttrell’s bay colt 'Tetrarch' by Herod, dam by 'Careless.' Mr O’Kelly’s colt 'Budroo' by 'Eclipse' out of a Sweeper mare. Mr Parker’s brown colt by 'Matchem' out of an Old England mare. In fact, 'Budroo' and 'Polydore' had in May competed in the first running of the Epsom Derby, 'Polydore' coming 6th and 'Budroo' coming 2nd out of a field of nine. But this day, 'Budroo' won and 'Polydore' came last. The following year 'Budroo' beat the winner of the first Derby, Sir Charles Bunbury's 'Diomed' at a 300 guinea rematch at Newmarket.

As well as pre-advertized races, two owners often agreed to race their horses against each other in a match. In 1774, the match planned between Dennis’s 'Catchpenny' and Mr Fenwick’s 'Playfellow' for 200gs was called off because O’Kelly objected to how Fenwick proposed paying with a credit note payable in America. This undoubtedly reflects his concerns about the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the British government and the American colonists.

At the end of each meeting, the subscribers chose one of their number to be the steward who organised the following year’s meeting. Among the many colourful characters who undertook this role in Bath was the notorious gambler Sir John Lade, Dr Johnson’s godson and soon to be the husband of the even more notorious Letty Lade.

Letty Lade