New York Herald, Wednesday, 8 January 1868

NEW YORK, NEW START FOR A DUKE’S DAUGHTER?

We are delighted and intrigued to note that one of the passengers who disembarked yesterday from the RMS Scotia was Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott, the second daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. Lady Margaret was accompanied by Mrs. Marion Scrymgeour, about whom we can glean nothing at all, save that she is the relic of a minor British diplomat and no relation to her ladyship.

Readers who are imagining a faded, aged spinster peeress and her down-at-heel paid companion should prepare to have their expectations quite confounded. Lady Margaret is twenty-one years of age, flame haired, and perfectly proportioned, according to our source on board the Scotia, with a charming and unaffected manner. Not the average English Rose that the British aristocracy export, not by any stretch!

Why has this matrimonial prize been permitted to escape the Old Country? What does she hope to find here in the New World? The New York Herald has no time for scurrilous rumors and ancient scandal. America is the Land of Second Chances as well as the Land of Opportunity. Whatever her past misdemeanors, Lady Margaret will be welcomed with open arms into the heart of society in the Metropolis and will, we have no doubt, fast become the most sought-after guest at any and all of the current season’s events.

Though the most eligible of our bachelors may balk at wooing a lady who is already their senior (and in Gotham terms on the shelf), in the event that she wishes to ally herself more closely with her adopted home, her noble birth must ensure that she has her pick of any number of wealthy widowers. The Herald bids Lady Margaret a wholehearted welcome, and will closely monitor her progress.

Lady Margaret is currently residing at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, where she has been allocated one of that luxurious establishment’s premium suites.