Dominic Regan raises a glass to some of history’s most infamous & often tragic tipplers
There is no doubt that liquor has had a profound impact upon the lives of many. Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, was infamous for being caught up in a notorious divorce case but was also caught up in a variety of incidents involving the bottle. One servant, partial to whisky, was sent a solicitor’s letter requiring her to stop calling the Duchess “a silly old whore” in front of guests. On another occasion her maid was prosecuted for making expensive foreign phone calls at the expense of the Duchess but was acquitted after evidence that the Duchess had authorised the calls but was permanently pickled and had forgotten this detail.
The great but forgotten film actor, Robert Newton, who starred as Long John Silver in Treasure Island and scared the life out of me as a child, was a legendary drinker. The best tale is of when he was playing in Richard II and went on a lunchtime bender before a matinee performance. As the performance started he went on stage
